Big Jud’s Named Idaho’s Most Famous Restaurant

If you’re new to the Treasure Valley, you’d assume that a restaurant that was recently given the title of “most famous in Idaho” was a Boise original. It’s not, but the location might be the most famous of the Idaho-born burger group’s restaurants!

Ask anyone in the Boise area where you can order a burger the size of your face and they’ll point you to Big Jud’s on Protest Road near BSU. Foodies all over America got to know the Boise burger joint after Man v Food host Adam Richman visited in 2009.

As a big fan of the show, I honestly thought Big Jud’s was only a Boise thing when I moved here nine months later. I’ve lived in the Treasure Valley for 15 years and just learned today that the first Big Jud’s opened more than four hours east of Boise.

Big Jud's Boise via Facebook

According to East Idaho News, the original owner opened the first restaurant in a tiny town called Archer in 1993. He’d just served his mission in California where he fell in love with In-N-Out Burger. As much as he loved the food there, he always found himself still feeling hungry after his burger. So, Big Jud himself did what any ambitious Idahoan would do.

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He came back to Idaho and started making his own burgers. Big ones. Like really, really big ones! While some of the sizes aren’t for the faint of heart, the single one-pound burger was the most popular one on the menu.

Big Jud's Boise via Facebook

Idaho Statesman archives show that Jud’s brother, Chris, brought the concept to Boise in 1997, a full 26 years before Idaho got the restaurant that inspired Big Jud’s.

That’s the location that the Man v Food cameras rolled at. During the Boise episode, Richman highlighted the Double Big Jud. The massive burger is made of two one pound patties, 10 pieces of bacon, two layers of mushroom and blue cheese crumbles. It’s topped with swiss cheese, mayo, tomato and lettuce and served with a large order of fries and a drink.

YouTube/Steven Pope

Anyone who can finish the burger, fries and drink within 30 minutes receives the burger on the house, a special t-shirt and is added to the wall of fame. Fail and that meal’s going to cost you nearly $40.

While the show was America’s introduction to Big Jud’s, a popular food blog just made it official. Big Jud’s is the most famous restaurant in the entire state, according to LoveFood. It didn’t make the list of the most famous restaurants in each state for being fancy. It made it for being memorable! In picking Big Jud’s LoveFood said:

Big Jud's, which has three locations in the state, reckons its burgers aren't just known all over Idaho – they're world famous. It might have something to do with the size of them: this is the home of the one-pound burger. If that's still not enough for you, try the Big Jud's Challenge: finish a 2lb burger, large plate of fries, and large drink in under 30 minutes, and get your name on the Wall of Fame (and your meal free).

While most of that is correct, they made one critical error. There are actually four Big Jud’s locations for you to chow down at: