Epi's A Basque Restaurant

When I found out Boise had such a large basque population I wanted to find authentic food. Based on Epi’s reviews we decided to eat here. It DID NOT disappoint! Dinner was so flavorful and delicious! You get a soup, salad, house vegetable and fries to share. It was just fantastic! I’d highly recommend - but get a reservation to guarantee you can get in! Our server, Riley was awesome!

Really nice concept since the restaurant looks like a house outside. So, it feels like coming home to grandma's for Thanksgiving. But once inside, the atmosphere changes. It is way too noisy, like you're in an arena and in the middle of an MMA fight! Our server can't even hear us she has to lean over to us to take our order. The service staff are really awesome. The appetizers are great. The entrée comes with a soup, which is really good. After that, it went downhill to the bottom pit. We waited way too long for the food while other guests chatted like they had to outdo one another. It was torture!😫 Then our entrée finally arrived. The halibut dish is fishy and overcooked. The ink(squid) dish is too sweet and blah. The tongue dish is sliced too thin, and bland tomato sauce poured onto it. We barely ate it. Turned down the dessert because we felt aggravated already by the loud customers. The prices of their entrées are overpriced for the taste of their dishes. If not for the awesome staff and appetizers, I'll rate this a 1 star. Big time disappointed.

My friends…. This place - it deserves 500 stars. The food. The people. The atmosphere. After making a reservation, I called thinking I had to cancel realizing I would be an hour late (traffic ya know?). Erik went above and beyond to work with me, and personally checked in with me and my party - so personal and thoughtful. Christina was without a doubt the best waitress I’ve ever had - so extremely attentive and kind.

The instant we crossed the threshhold of Epi's, my husband and I were greeted by the owner. The restaurant, which was once a home, provided a cozy, relaxed, family-feel kind of atmosphere. The menu had many delicious items to choose from. We ordered their brussell sprouts with chorizo and an order of mushrooms as appetizers because we couldn't decide on just one! The brussel sprouts with chorizo were well balanced in flavor with their delicious dijonnaise sauce. The mushrooms were velvety and tantalized our tastebuds with a backend flavor of sherry. For the entree, we decided to split their Rib Rye because we splurged on appetizers but still wanted dessert. The rib eye came with rice and roasted peppers. It also came with salad, bread, and soup. Their soups of the day were red bean soup and cream of mushroom soup. I couldn't decide on which soup, so they were so gracious and brought out a small cup of each! The bread was fresh, crisp on the outside, and soft in the inside. The house salad was a very good portion size. The soup was delicious. I was expecting something basic, but instead, I was pleasantly surprised by the richness of both soups. The rib eye was flame broiled, cooked to our liking, and satisfied our palate for a juicy steak. Now, onto dessert!! The dessert menu had many four options. You could have bread pudding, flan, or their citrus flavored pudding called Gateau Basque. What caught my attention was their ice cream cake, of which you had to ask the server because it is seasonal. After inquiring, their ice cream cake was a churro ice cream cake drizzled in caramel sauce, topped with 2 churros. She had me at Churro!! It was fantastic!! The feeling was a "melt-in-your-mouth, can't stop eating it" kind of feeling. There is a very cool story to how Epi's came about, so you should definitely call/text for a reservation, come in to eat, and find out! We regret not trying this place sooner, even though we have read the countless articles that circlated through the Valley. So come on down, you won't regret it, and we will probably be there because we are definitely coming back!