Cracking the Code to Idaho’s Coolest Hidden Watering Holes

🍸🗝️Boise may bill itself as a riverside, trail-running, family-friendly kind of town, but once the sun drops behind the foothills the downtown alleys start whispering. Passwords in phone booths. Bookcases that pivot. Mirrors that swing open to reveal UV lights and bartenders in waistcoats. If you love the speakeasy thrill as much as I do, put these two secret spots at the top of your Gem-State hit list: 1️⃣ GATSBY – “The Library That Pours” 📍 Unmarked red-brick façade on 8th St. ⏰ Wed–Sat 6 p.m.–close (try 5:45 p.m. phone call) How to Enter Call the number on the web site that afternoon – a voice gives you the daily code word (last time: “West Egg”). Knock on the plain wooden door, slide the little hatch, speak the code. Doormen in bow-tiers swing it open. Dress code: no baseball caps, no flip-flops. Think “cocktail attire” not “raft-guide attire.” Inside Vibe You step into a dim library lounge – leather club chairs, globe lamps, vintage aviation maps. One bookshelf is actually a hinge; push and you’re in the oval bar room. Jazz trio on Thursdays, candle-level lighting every night. What to Drink Amelia Earhart – Aviation riff with local gin, crème de violette, lemon air (yes, a foam cloud on top). Ginger Rogers – rye, house-made ginger beer, smoked rosemary sprig flamed tableside. Both arrive under glass cloches filled with apple-wood smoke that wafts away when the dome lifts—Instagram catnip. 📸💨 Pro Tip Reserve via Tock; walk-ins possible but you may end up sipping in the alley while the bouncer whispers passwords to everyone else. 2️⃣ THICK AS THIEVES – “Glow-Menu Magic” 📍 Look for the vintage brass phone on the wall off Bannock St. ⏰ Tue–Sun 5 p.m.–close How to Enter Pick up the antique candlestick phone, dial the four-digit code taped inside the cradle. A tiny red light blinks; the mirror-panel to your left unlatches and a bartender greets you with: “Welcome to the den.” Feels like stepping into a magician’s workshop. Inside Vibe Low ceiling, brick archways, black-light murals that only pop under UV. Each table gets a pocket-sized fluorescent lamp—shine it on the menu and boom, hidden cocktails appear in invisible ink. Gen-X kids will remember spy-pens; everyone else will just grin like it’s Christmas. What to Drink Peter Pandan – white rum, pandan cordial, calamansi, coconut cream; tastes like tropical rice-cake custard in a glass. Medicine – mezcal, Fernet, activated-charcoal, eucalyptus tincture. Looks like ink, finishes like a dentist’s office on fire. (Interesting, but one was enough for me.) They also do shareable punches served in crystal skulls if you arrive with accomplices. Pro Tip Happy-hour (5-7 p.m.) = $3 off any UV-hidden cocktail. Sit at the bar to watch bartenders paint Angostura “fireflies” on top of drinks with tiny UV flashlights. 🗝️ Speakeasy Survival Guide Reservations = key. Both bars cap capacity at 60; weekends sell out a week ahead. Bring phone battery – you’ll need flashlight for menu hunting and QR codes. Don’t overshare location on IG while inside; half the fun is other guests wondering how you vanished into a wall. Tip in cash – some bartenders split the glass and will remember you next visit (maybe with an off-menu surprise). 🌃 After-Party Route Gatsby closes at midnight, Thieves at 1 a.m. If you still have password stamina, crawl two blocks to The Mode for 1980s dance floor, or grab late-night ramen at Yoi Tomo (open till 2 a.m. Fri-Sat). Boise’s secret-bar scene is tiny but mighty—two venues, zero tourist buses, infinite “how did you find this!?” bragging rights. Put on something swanky, practice your Prohibition face, and go unlock the Gem State after dark. 🔑✨ #US #ID #Boise