Crave Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Eagle

We ate for the second time at Crave, to celebrate my in laws anniversary and our own. Our table was a bit late leaving, so we waited to be seated for a bit. The hostess was very sweet and offered us another table, but said it would be a tight fit. We had no problem waiting for our table though, as they have a nice seating area in the entryway. The manager came and spoke to us and apologized for the wait, which I thought was very professional and he kindly offered us a free dessert for waiting. After being seated at a nice large table, we were greeted by our friendly waiter, drinks were ordered and delivered in a timely manner. OH MY.... the spicy margarita is one of the best cocktails I have EVER had.... seriously. The flavors were complex and rich, not too spicy.... it was exquisite. Three of us ordered them, three of us were very satisfied. We ordered an appetizer of "Pillows of Love" a lovely homemade filled pasta with a rich filling and sauce. Delicious... Mains were then ordered and another round of drinks as well. More of the spicy margaritas, we are no fools. The food arrives, my son got the honey spiced Nashville chicken over mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach. We all got a taste, it was outrageous. Certainly the dish I will order next time I go. My mother in law got the Chilean Sea Bass in a red wine sauce. It was pure perfection, perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked, and the sauce was divine, and rather unusual to have a red wine reduction with a fish dish, but it worked beautifully. My husband ordered the shrimp and scallops on forbidden rice. The seafood was cooked perfectly. The scallops especially knocked my socks off. As for the forbidden rice.... I'm glad that is just what it is entitled and not taken literally, because it would be a crying shame to make it forbidden. I had no idea a rice dish could have such a wonderful flavor profile. My father in law was over the moon for his lobster bisque and salad, which I did not get a taste of, so I take his word for it that it was wonderful as well. My Uncle got the Ribeye. Cooked PERFECTLY to a medium rare, the cut was very good! Ribeye can be tricky, it can be too fatty and have too much gristle. Not this one! The piece I tried was fantastic, with that rich flavor you expect from a Ribeye. The quality of the beef was very evident. And last but not least, I personally had the crab cake. A large, perfectly cooked patty of lump crab meat as fresh as it gets. It was placed on a bed of arugula, fresh cherry tomatoes that tasted like they were straight out of my own garden, and a lovely sauce served as both a dressing and a remoulade for the cake. It was perfection. As for dessert, of course we took up the managers offer of the free slice of celebration cake, which was comprised of 7 different types of cake and a lovely buttercream frosting. Very good.... as I am a cake maker myself. I was impressed. We also had a slice of the Key lime cheesecake. It was the creamiest cheesecake I've ever eaten, and stayed true to the unspoken rule of not being too sweet. The piece was very large as well and could easily give a taste to all six of us.

Service was EXCELLENT!

The one and only complaint I have is the noise level is high, which makes it hard to speak to our elderly family members. Both my husband and my Apple Watch warned us of a high level of noise. That is a hard issue to address in restaurants, but it certainly will not keep me away, nor would it make me want to take away any stars in this review. Having a very full restaurant full of happy people celebrating the upcoming holidays is just going to be loud, so just have a spicy margarita and relax;-)

Thanks for a great night of fun Crave.... we will be talking about it until...

2nd Update: Came yesterday for dinner with some out of state friends. Made a reservation, always a good idea, as this establishment is popular.

Hostesses were very nice and sat us earlier than our reservation. Our server was Jacob, who we've had before. He is always excellent.

I had an IPA, Jacob made a blonde ale recommendation for my friend that was good, and his wife had a glass of wine. The rest of the group had salads that they really liked, and I had the prime rib sandwich, which was delicious! Meat was so tender, and bread was soft and the flavor of everything was great. The fries were not so great, thin and limp, not crispy like I prefer. Still, Crave remains one of our favorite restaurants in the Treasure Valley, with always good food and great service.

Update: We've been to Crave two more times since July. The last time was yesterday, a Sunday. I remembered to make reservations for my wife, her brother, and myself. Mikey was our server, and he was fantastic! Friendly, kind, helpful, and attentive. We had to go for the donuts again, and they did not disappoint. My wife had the fish tacos, my brother-in-law the Thai noodle dish, and they both had the tortilla soup. I had the Shrimp and Grits. Again, like every other visit here, the food was delicious. You just cannot go wrong. The food and service are always top notch. Crave truly is one of our favoriate restaurants in the Treasure Valley.

Back in January, when my wife and I were on our second reconnaisance mission to Treasure Valley as we contemplated relocating from CA, we discovered Crave. I gave it five stars at that time, and we knew we wanted to return. Well, in early June we finally made our move, and are now living in Star. We had been talking about returning to Crave. Our daughter relocated to Boise a few days ago, and we wanted to take her out. Just the excuse we needed to come back.

We came at about 4:30 pm yesterday, a Sunday. We were seated quickly at a nice booth. I neglected to get the name of our young male server, but he told us he grew up in Buena Park, CA, and relocated to Boise from Huntington Beach, CA, and loves it here. Anyway, he did a fantastic job of taking care of us.

My wife had the fish tacos, our daughter had the shrimp taco plate, and I had the chicken cheese melt sandwhich and fries. Everything was delicious, though the fries could have been more crispy. Our daughter and I had a nice hazy IPA that was recommended.

We have had two great experiences at Crave, insuring that it will remain one of our...

Update 12/12/2022

Crave Kitchen & Bar does it again and again! I’ve probably tried their entire menu at this point, and can confidently say, you can’t go wrong!

On a recent visit, I tried the Sweet Potato Gnocchi (house made gnocchi, fennel pork sausage, spinach, red peppers, onion, cream sauce, $25.00) for the first time. This unique dish is out of this damn world. Not exaggerating. The gnocchi was absolutely delectable and the cream sauce phenomenal. The pork sausage was an excellent addition. It was all cooked to perfect. It’s a fantastic dish, hands down my favorite. And that’s saying a lot coming from me, I love their entire menu. My husband had the Double Stack Crave Burger (Snake River Farms Wagyu blended patties, house made bun, white American cheese, lettuce, tomato, black pepper mayo, served with fries, $17.00) and he LOVED it. Those wagyu patties are something else. I had to refrain myself from eating his and my entire meal!

If you’re looking for damn good food, this is the spot.

December 2021

Another fan-f*ng-tastic experience from Crave Kitchen & Bar. Last week, I suggested to my co-workers we grab lunch to-go here. Even though my heart wanted the order the Prime Rib Sandwich once again, my brain reminded me to take advantage of this glorious opportunity (thank God for company cards) and try something else. And I LOVE burgers. So I ordered the Double Stack Crave Burger. This beaut came locked and loaded with two juicy, heavenly, rich Snake River Farms Waygu blended patties grilled on a housemade bun, with ooey-gooey white American cheese, crispy lettuce, onion, fresh tomato and creamy black pepper mayo ($16.00) with a side of French fries. My tastebuds were singing with each and every bite. I wish it never ended. I ignored the pleas to stop from my stomach as it expanded with every bite but I was not about to waste a burger I could almost swear was grilled by God himself. Okay, I went a little off the deep end here. What I'm trying to say is, the burger is freaking good. And yeah I'll eat yours if you...