The James Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Boise

I was pretty excited to take my partner to a new spot for date night and The James looked promising, so that’s what I chose. Upon arriving, the man that greeted us (which I’m assuming is the manger) said I have a table open in here, or at the bar or even outside and just let us wander not giving direction. After we sat we noticed everyone else got seated by him or the people serving/hosting. Odd. We sat at a table and menus were given to us fairly quickly. We were given 2 waters, one with a bug and one with a hair. It took a bit for someone to take our order. We got our order in, ordering an appetizer and an entree. We waited a bit thinking the app would be out first, but nope everything came at once. I guess we are supposed to specify we wanted our STARTER out first. Our mistake. At that point, we asked for sparkling water due to the bug and hair, which we had to grab a different server for because we weren’t being checked on. We never got our water. Our food finally came, so we busted into the food as it looked pretty delicious. We got spinach artichoke dip and the fish and chips. We started to try things and it was a little messy and we realized we were never given napkins or utensils. So we waited hoping someone would check on us. That didn’t happen for a bit. Finally our server came over and we asked for the utensils and napkins then told her we ordered a sparkling water 10 minutes ago due to the hair and the bug and never got it. No sorry, just an “ohhhh no” then proceeded to get us our napkins and sparkling water. The best thing on our plates were the fries. The fish batter was soggy on the inside so we just ate the ends as they were crispy and cooked through. The dip I would say not terrible and the chips were good. We got checked on once after that then we were done which was pretty clear and waited about 15 minutes just sitting there after being done. We asked for the check and were told our water was comped, which yes is nice but it didn’t make up for the terrible service. We felt invisible and even seeing everyone getting seated when we didn’t, felt not great. We never really understood who was serving us as we dealt with 4 different people. It’s also weird when you see all the servers talking it up with other groups through out their service and we had to raise our hand or ask for help. Also trying to make up for it as we are paying by asking about what plans we have and the weather won’t change a thing when from the jump it was not a pleasant experience. Needless to say we won’t be returning the James and hopefully James can get things figured out, if...

My friends and I do a girls monthly dinner and The James was my friend's choice for our monthly meet up. I made a reservation last week which was really easy. 2 of the 3 of us showed up at our reservation time and we got sat right away.

There was a little miscommunication about who was serving us but once the girls figured it out, Natalie came and greeted us. She was awfullly sweet. She got our drinks taken care of and got some gorgonzola fries started for us. Once our 3rd person showed up, Natalie for our dinner orders started.

I snagged Passenger Side mocktail as my drink. It was good but it honestly tasted like a 10 dollar limeade in a fancy glass. It was good but there was nothing exciting about it. Despite the drink being ok, all the food was fantastic! We started off with the gorgonzola fries. Mannnnn were they good! The potatoes were nice and soft. The addition of the gravy, gorgonzola and bacon made it that much better! I couldn't stop picking at the little bits on the bottom of the bowl. It was tasty! My friend and I shared a pepperoni pizza. We added olives to that baby. I also grabbed a Ceasar salad as well. The pizza came out hot! It was loaded with pepperoni and olives. The cheese pull was nice! The crust was perfectly baked and chewy. The balance of sauce, toppings and crust was perfect. It was a great pie! My salad was nicely dressed. The dressing on it was very good! It tasted like homemade Ceasar and not your generic Ceasar that must restaurants use. It was delicious. We ended our lovely meal with a piece of cheesecake. One of the best cheesecakes I have ever had! It had a sugar crust kinda like a creme brulee would. It was also drizzled with a lemon sauce. I love the tartness of the sauce with the sweetness of the cheesecake. It's a must get dessert!

My only complaints about the joint was where we were sat. It's a nice little room but it echoed really bad so it we hard to hear. My drink was also average. But the top notch service that Natalie gave us, the pizza being so fantastic and our dessert being so delicious trumps my basic complaints. I do look forward to coming back and sitting outside next time and enjoying another round goodies...

I rarely write reviews, but this restaurant experience was disappointing enough that I felt I needed to share.

First off, the manager was rude. We were told there were no tables available and were seated at the bar top for dinner. When I handed over my valid temporary paper ID along with my voided hard copy, the staff refused to let me sit at the bar. This paper ID clearly states that it should be presented with the voided credential—which makes it valid. As a bar owner, you should be familiar with acceptable forms of identification, especially when they are issued directly by the DMV.

I shouldn’t have to carry my passport just to sit at the bar when I have both forms of ID. Even my husband, who is LEO, confirmed that this is standard practice, and the sheriff's office verified the same when they issued my new ID

Eventually, we were moved to an outdoor table, but we waited over 1.5 hours for our food—nearly two hours total at the restaurant. When it finally came, the Caesar salad I ordered was literally bagged salad in a bowl—completely underwhelming and not worth the $20 price tag.

I genuinely feel bad for the staff working under such poor management. I won’t be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone looking for a respectful or quality...