Westside Drive In — Restaurant in Boise

One of Boise’s oldest institutions, Westside Drive In is whipping up incredible food with a quintessential retro vibe. The menu is packed with all kinds of meals, it can be hard choosing what to get!

I had to try the Finger Steaks ($13.69), dubbed “Boise’s Best.” One bite and I can attest to that statement. The basket came generously piled with these golden beauties on top of crispy, crunch tater tots and served with a slice of garlic bread, fry sauce and cocktail sauce (I think? Wasn’t a fan of this one). Yes, these are definitely some of the best finger steaks you will ever have! High quality cut meat coated with wonderfully seasoned batter cooked to crispy perfection - I was in heaven!

My husband ordered the Famous Daddy-O burger (two patties, two ham slices, four bacon slices, Swiss, and cheddar, $17.49 for a small) with a side of fries and a strawberry milkshake ($3.89 for 12 oz). The price tag is steep on this guy but it’s absolutely justified. The burg was massive - so tall I struggled to get a bite. There was a lot going on and the blend from all the ingredients is phenomenal. Add a lil’ fry sauce before each bite and it’s a symphony of flavor! The milkshake was great as well. Incredibly thick and absolutely no chunks of fruit. 10/10 all the way!

I couldn’t leave without trying the item that lands Westside on numerous lists on the internet - the famous Ice Cream Potato ($5.59). This thing is so freakin’ adorable and beautifully crafted you’ll almost enjoy staring at it just as much as eating it. It’s a ball of rich vanilla ice cream shaped into a potato, dusted with cocoa powder with whip cream, peanuts and cookie crumbles. At first glance, it truly does look like a baked potato with whipped cream! There’s small dips, scratches and textures added to resemble a real potato. I couldn’t believe how hard they really went on this. What a fantastic tribute to our state’s famous product.

I am totally going to be returning to try more. And there’s no way I will not being another potato! I 100% recommend Westside, especially for visitors! With their huge menu, there really will be something...

You know it's a sad day when you have to give a Boise institution like, the Westside drive in a bad review, but, we have arrived. This all has to do with changes to their menu as far as the way that they prep the food. To be clear this only pertains to the fingerstick dinner. I can't speak to anything else on the menu as I haven't had anything there in a long time as far as a Monte Cristo or a hamburger it might be as good as it ever was. So the first thing you'll notice if you order finger steaks is the price has gone up by $2 plus, which puts them up like 13.50 or something in that range. Now I don't have a problem with that if they were the same finger steaks that they used to sell, they are NOT! To begin with they have changed their breading it is not what it used to be. It's not the same color and it's definitely not the same flavor. This new stuff, it puffs when you cook it and there's a reason for that, it hides the fact that there is hardly any meat in those finger stakes at all anymore. What you're going to get is just slightly larger than that of a #2 pencil, though the finger steak itself doesn't look any smaller, it's actually just puffed up breading. So we had two orders of the finger steak baskets and a large Dr pepper and it was $33.25. I would bet almost anything there couldn't have been more than $3 worth of meat in those meals combined. I mean I get it running a restaurant it's tough nowadays, you have to look for any way to save money but you don't do both of those things at the same time. I'll take increased food cost, or, I'll take a smaller portion size but you don't do both. So I'll throw this out there to Chef Lou or whoever is managing this place nowadays, bring back the old finger steak, please! So when I drive from clear across town from the west side over to the West side that's what I'm after, not what I got served last night I won't be back for those. And here in a month or two I'll stop in and get a Monte Cristo and if those have changed,well then I believe that this long-term relationship has reached its inevitable conclusion, which would...

Update: I stopped in after an appt in the area today to get my 16 y/o a late lunch. HE COULDN'T FINISH IT!! He was shocked. We are talking after-school, hungry kid in a car with his mother listening to yacht rock, HANGRY, ready to double-fist some tater gems and a burger.

To his surprise, the burger took both hands, and I was lmao. No other double-bacon combo has bested him.

So many restaurants have had to either close, or compensate for the costly increases. I have witnessed those who keep the doors open, shed the staff, shrink the food AND raise the prices. Here is what I love telling you: At Westside Drive In, they still give you the same overly generous portions, with the same freshly prepared and made to order quality ingredients that goes into every bag they hand out the window. It is the way they always have, because they know when you want what you came for, it has to be what you were expecting, no cap. So while we have all experienced the same cost increases when we purchase our groceries to do our home cooking, they've got some kind of "slow food, real fast" magic, and there is absolutely no skimping on what you get for your money. My son, who can never get enough as a growing teen, was blown away. I said, thats right kid, that's how Chez Lou's team does it up!

My previous comments: If you have never been you gotta come for the Cajun Burger...so many choices, made fresh to order with a sense of pride like no other place I've been in Boise. I ❤ The Westside and Chef Lou and his lovely wife Renee, good food,...