Apple Barrel Deli & Bakery — Restaurant in Mountain Home

While traveling from Boise to Sun Valley, my partner and I were in search of a packable lunch to enjoy inside Craters of the Moon National Monument. As expected, I pulled out my handy dandy Google app and happened upon Apple Barrel Deli & Bakery. I was initially sold by the name since I grew up on an apple orchard in the northern suburbs of Chicago. I have so many wonderful memories of apple picking, coring, bobbing, pie making and anything else that involves apples. Second, I'm always down for food made with carbohydrates--be is a sandwich or pastry. Who isn't?! Third, this was literally the last sign of civilization before hopping onto East 20/26 highway.

To get to this establishment, you pass through the small "Main Street" downtown of Mountain Home. They had a cute farmer's market going on so we took a few side streets to get here. Although the market was only a block away, we still found parking right in front. Immediately upon entering I was put off a bit by a massive deer head with hunting propaganda, religious memorabilia, and "Newsmax" being played on the TV with QAnon conspiracies and right side politics. Yet, I told myself "when in small town Idaho..." and carried on.

The owner himself greeted us at the counter. He was very friendly and welcoming, regardless of the fact that we are an openly gay couple. My rule is if they respect us, I'll happily respect them -- as all of society should. We ordered two Chicken Salad sandwiches specials, two tins of Pringle chips, and of course, an apple dumpling for later. We were given instructions on how to best warm up the apple dumpling and went on our way.

After exploring the park and hiking, we were ready for lunch. Our sandwiches were nicely wrapped up and grilled. Napkins and even a miniature Snickers candy was inside the bag. Our chicken salad sandwiches were spectacular and hit the spot. Of course, once we popped, we couldn't stop eating them Pringles either. When we arrived to Sun Valley and warmed up the apple dumpling with the instructions provided on the bag. It was so comforting to enjoy with freshly sliced apples, brown sugar and a delicious crust.

If you're in the area, we found Apple Barrel to be a wonderful option for...

This is a fantastic local deli & bakery that does delicious home-made style foods. It's all made right there in the restaurant and you will not be disappointed in the taste. My personal favorite is the chicken dumpling soup, but they're all so good that I even enjoy the tomato bisque, even though I'm not a tomato soup kind of guy.

The restaurant is family owned and run. They've always been friendly and engaging as well as very accommodating. I operate on a strict diet of no seed-oil at all in any of my food and the owners have been extremely good at having lots of options for me, including replacing the mayo with Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo so I can still enjoy their grilled chicken sandwiches. This sort of accommodation, and their delicious bakes goods, will always keep me coming back.

The business has many interesting antiques and paintings for sale scattered around. It's very much a cozy space. The building itself is part of a larger structure housing other businesses with their doors accesseable to the sidewalk. There is no backdoor for this business. They have a bathroom in the restaurant. It's small but functional. Parking is usually fine; I hardly ever have to park any distance away...

The food was great. No complaints about that at all. The person running the place however was so incredibly rude and annoying I'll struggle to go back. He was fine at first, asking what we wanted and telling us about what they had. We took our time eating lunch since we were visiting and that did not seem ok to him. Suddenly he was coming over every few minutes asking if we wanted something else. I did order an apple dumpling to go because I felt like he wasn't going to leave me alone unless I did. After I ordered something else he FINALLY left us alone to enjoy our conversation in peace. Unfortunately when we went to check out and pay he again was incredibly rude. He kept insisting we needed to take Bible's because they were giving them away. He only stopped after we said we had one at home. It was beyond strange and I've never been treated that way in an establishment ever. We there for only about an hour and got there around 1, after the lunch rush, not an unreasonable amount of time for people visiting and having lunch. I really wish I could give it 3.5 stars due to this gentleman who ran the place but I can only give full stars and 3 seems too little for how good...