Boise Restaurant Guide

An icon returns to the Boise area! Hilltop Cafe, which sits at the crest of Highway 21's ascent just beyond Lucky Peak Dam, closed several years ago after a kitchen fire. The restaurant and store had been open for 50 years. In November 2005, Boise real estate investors Donn and Danarae Clore purchased the historical property and loved it back to a thriving and beautiful eatery! The name and restaurant are a tribute to the late Donn Clore.

"People are happy the place is finally open again," Danarae says. "We're getting generations of customers - elderly people with grandchildren, families with kids. They come in and say they used to sled down the hill across the road. Donn would have loved that."

Kitchen manager Edward Speyer describes the fare as "blue-plate comfort food with big portions. We like to mix it up, from barbecue burgers, steak and prime rib to a seafood sampler plate. In the winter we'll have one or two different soups every day. We want something for everyone."

Some menu items include the prim-rib bite appetizer and the Kodiak Big Bear, a half-pound, smoked sausage, melted-jack and cheddar cheese burger. The restaurant boasts hand-cut steaks and generous portions as well. Clore described the nachos as "foot high" and all the chips and fries as "hand cut."