Sockeye Brewery to open new Boise location

As part of its 25th birthday bash, Sockeye Brewery of Boise announced on June 23 that it would establish a second location in northwest Boise, in the retail space formerly occupied by the 36th Street Garden Center & Bistro. The brewery anticipates that the new brewpub will be open for business by the spring of 2022.

“Since we shuttered our location at Cole and Ustick, we have been on a deliberate search for a site that would make a statement and reflect the next chapter of Sockeye Brewing,” said Janice Skinner, Sockeye’s business manager, in a statement. “We are thrilled to have found a spot that’s not only beautiful, but will be central to Boise’s foothills and well within reach of downtown and other portions of the Treasure Valley.”

The new site

Sockeye will open its new bar and restaurant at 3823 N. Garden Center Way. This location is just off off Hill Road on the eastern edge of the Collister neighborhood. Sockeye has leased just over 12,000 square feet in a retail-and-office center with abundant outdoor patio space and an attractive frontage with over 80% ceiling-to-floor windows. The new location will feature a full-service restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining areas, a bar area for beer and wine with over two dozen taps, and a large indoor event space for both public and private events.

“Between the event space, outdoor seating and a food menu specific to this location, we see this as an opportunity to push the boundaries of what Sockeye Brewing can be,” Skinner said.

While Sockeye has continued its beer production and its restaurant operation on Fairview Ave., the brewery closed its original brewpub at Cole and Ustick in 2019. Sockeye was at the Cole location for 17 years before shutting its doors in a parting of the ways with its new landlord.

The Cole location was in a shopping center bought by Idaho Asian LLC in December 2017 with the intention of creating a Chinatown-style mall. In a March 2019 press release, the brewery said that Idaho Asian’s vision for the property was inconsistent with Sockeye’s. After negotiating with the new property owner, Sockeye decided to close the Cole location and seek a new home.

Anniversary events

The announcement for the new location is only one of several events that the brewery arranged to celebrate its 25 years in business. The brewery sponsored a concert at EXPO Idaho on June 25 by Hell’s Belles, an all-female AC/DC tribute band. Sockeye also threw a party on June 26 at its Fairview location, with featured Sockeye owner Fred Schuerman’s antique car collection on display in the parking lot plus tours of the vintage trolley car that the brewery restored and installed at the Fairview location at the end of May.

Sockeye Brewery was founded in 1996. It opened its Cole location in 2002 and its Fairview location in 2014. Sockeye brews more than 10,000 barrels of beer annually and is one of the top-producing craft breweries in Idaho. Its signature brand, Sockeye Dagger Falls IPA, is the best-selling Idaho-made craft beer in the state.