Another Downtown Boise Restaurant Closes For Good After Just One Year

Sometimes when a restaurant closes in the Treasure Valley, you’ll see the social media announcement flooded with comments about the memories fans built there over the span of decades. Others? You instantly have regrets that you never gave them a chance. That may be the case with this most recent closure announcement.

Last year, wine lovers were shocked when Bodovino closed their Downtown Boise wine bar and restaurant rather abruptly last summer. About two months later, the space had been renovated and reopened as Kichii Sushi + Spirits.

READ MORE: Popular Downtown Boise Rooftop Café Calls it Quits After 12 Years

The concept was supposed to appeal to younger crowds and feel like an eclectic Tokyo sushi bar serving a menu of fresh sushi, craft cocktails, over 60 wines by the glass, beer and mocktails at a reasonable price. The restaurant also offered a handful of make-your-own sushi classes. Based on its 4.5 stars on Google and 4.2 on Yelp, it seemed like the concept resonated with the downtown crowd.

Which is why many were surprised to see the following message posted on Kichii’s Facebook page:

It is with great sadness to announce that Kichii will be hosting our last dinner this Saturday, September 27.

It was a great year with a lot of fantastic food, cocktails, wine and sake. But, life is taking us in a new direction!

Thank you to all our wonderful guests and staff that made this such an amazing place!

The note concluded with an invitation to visit their sister restaurant, Bodovino at The Village in Meridian.

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The restaurant didn’t make it very long. It opened a year ago on September 14, 2024, and is the latest in a shuffle of restaurants in BoDo. You may remember that 2024 began with Bonefish Grill closing just a few months shy of its 16th anniversary. The space is still vacant.

Meanwhile, the vacant Ha’Penny/Deluca’s/BoDo Barrelhouse location got a new tenant last October after being vacant for two years. It’s now El Tajano, a Tex-Mex restaurant.

We haven’t found any permits indicating what might be next for the soon-to-be-vacant Kichii space.