The Highlander — Restaurant in Boise

As I read some of these reviews, all I can imagine is the people writing them are employees, friends of employees or people with low expectations. I’ve been to the Highlander twice and, likely, won’t go back. At least, for a few months. Give them a chance to iron out some of the details. First time I went I sat inside. The bartenders were very unfriendly. Not just busy unfriendly but unfriendly in general. Had to practically beg for a cocktail. There were two other patrons seated inside and only about a quarter of the outdoor tables were full. Ordered some appetizers and three of them were out of stock… It was 5:30 in the afternoon. Went again yesterday and, wow! Attempted sitting on the patio only to be told we weren’t allowed to take any chairs from any other tables. You weren’t allowed to move their furniture. Waited 35 minutes, yes! 35 minutes for water. And when it was delivered, it was delivered with an attitude. I ordered a gimlet and it arrived half full. In four sips, the entire drink was gone. No lime, just a sad, wilted leaf of some sort floating in it. $17 for that drink, which took another 25 minutes to receive. All of the staff is dressed as they please so there is no cohesion. Just makes the place look sloppy. They’re also doesn’t appear to be any sort of organization regarding tables and table numbers, as peoples food and drink orders were delivered or attempted to be delivered to the wrong tables. Everyone just scurrying about not really knowing what to do. As we finished our drinks, we were asked by somebody who works there three times if we were ordering something else. When we explained that two of us were simply finishing their drinks, he glared at us as he walked away. When I stood up to leave my chair was practically pulled out from under me as they were rushing to seat somebody at our table that wasn’t even empty or wiped clean, yet. Strange, because there is no reserved seating. Missed opportunity, here. There are many better options for bars in...

Waited for 20 minutes for a server to arrive at our table to give us a menu and he simply says, “ Do you guys know what you want?” We tell him we need a menu and he proceeds to serve other tables for about 10 minutes. We ask another table for their menu and decide what we want. He comes back and he tells us that all of the appetizers are sold out except for 3. Keep in mind that it’s 6:45pm and they are almost out of food. We order the artichoke dip and some old fashions and we wait…. And wait…. About 30 minutes later our drinks arrive. In the meantime the poor food runners are running around and have no clue what table the food belongs to and wander around the entire restaurant looking for the owners. After an hour and fifteen minutes our appetizer never arrives and our drinks are empty with not server in sight. He finally comes by and says it’s been a crazy night and he doesn’t know if the kitchen can get the appetizers. The tables on either side of is has a similar experience. To our waiter’s credit, he comp’d is one drink but his lack of attention was inexcusable. I know it’s the first week since they have opened but there was some very basic things like table numbering that obviously had not been addressed after a full week into service. The atmosphere was great but after 1.5 hours for one drink we were not in the mood to come back in the near future. Plenty of other great...

We had our second date night at the highlander since our daughter was born, and it exceeded expectations. The view is amazing, and the space was unique especially for Boise.

Our bar tender Chris provided some of the best service I've had in Boise and made our experience so amazing. I love bar tenders who get to know you, and especially those who expresses their passion and dedication to working in an industry that most people take for granted or underappreciate. It was a refreshing experience, since most people in the industry here don't seem to care or are jaded.

The food was excellent I thought overall some things were better than others, but I know they've only been open a week, so I imagine things will only get better. The artichokes were a show stopper, the duck fries are amazing, I thought the ceviche was solid, and the sliders were a little dry in the buns but had great flavor.

Cocktails were well curated and with well crafted ingredients that were fresh.

We will be back, and I hope that as long as this bar is open, they continue to hire more people like Chris to put in that level of thought and detail to a customer experience. Boise needs more service industry people like him. Thank you for a...