Boise Fry Company In Boise, Idaho: Uniquely Idahoan

Feb 27

We sat down with Brad Walker, CEO of Boise Fry Company in Boise, Idaho. BFC is a uniquely Idahoan restaurant that sources the finest and freshest potatoes available from Kings Crown Farms and M&M Heath Farms. In an effort to make their entire process green, fresh, and sustainable, they use all-natural, local, (and whenever feasible) organic products.

The potatoes are fried in natural oil, and are unsalted so you get to choose from any of our homemade seasonings and dipping sauces.

What’s a food trend that you’re loving right now and why?

I love that people are becoming even more health conscious, especially eating organic and supporting local farmers. People are considering what they are consuming and where it comes from, instead of just defaulting to heavily processed and manufactured foods.

The cornerstone of the Boise Fry Company menu is focused on natural, local, and high quality foods despite being a burger and fry joint.

Tell us about your absolute favorite food and why readers should try it if they haven’t already?

Honestly it is potatoes, because what else is that versatile? Mash them, fry them, bake them, smother them in cheese. Potatoes are also loved by a majority of people all over the world. Kids love them, dads eat them, and grandmas love to feed them to their families. Personally though, my absolute favorite are thick cut potatoes baked and then fried - Bosnian style.

Can you walk us through your experience in developing and maintaining a “strong team dynamic” among restaurant staff?

It’s important to create an environment where everyone can be themselves and show their personality. Work should be fun, and people should be comfortable while making sure the job gets done. We want to nurture culture in our business, but also make sure no one ever feels like they are above any sort of work and are all willing to get their hands dirty. We want our staff across the board to be buddies and be able to confide in each other in and out of work. This makes the whole environment of the business better for staff and customers, too.

In your opinion, what factors contribute to excellent customer service?

I want all my employees feeling confident in the knowledge of products we offer, that’s a big one. Employees should be able to let their personality shine, because it will connect and help relate to certain customers. Being confident in who you are and making conversation with the customers is important. It’s good to always be considerate of the customer’s experience, and make sure it’s their best one yet.

Does BFC have any awards or achievements you’d like to mention?

We’ve been voted and ranked in the top 3 for best burgers and best fries in the Treasure Valley many times since we opened in 2009. We are widely known to have some of the best fries in America! We were also voted in the “Top 10 Comfort Foods" according to Alton Brown on the Food Network, which was an honor.

What’s your favorite go-to cocktail, wine, beer, or beverage of choice?

I love a good beer, and local breweries are the way to go. My favorite is hard to pick, because it totally depends on mood and season. I’d probably say the 12 Gauge from Payette Brewing Company here in Boise. It’s an aged imperial stout, but it’s pretty heavy, so I only have 1. It warms me up and it’s a bit of a sweet treat in the winter when you want some comfort.

Have you ever cooked for a celebrity? Do have story to tell?

We’ve had a few visits from the rock stars of REM, they were recently in town for a concert and stopped in for a bite, which was awesome. We’ve also served Kasey Affleck, foodie Alton Brown, King Bach and Jo Koy, New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore, and I’m sure there are more I’m missing. We are so grateful for all of our customers, whether it’s loyal locals or out-of-towners swinging in to try out our menu.

Tell our readers why they should visit Boise Fry Company?

The experience and the fun of it! You craft your own fries. We’ve got super customizable fries - you choose the type of potato, the cut based on availablity, and then choose the seasoning salts and homemade dipping sauces that you want. That makes for over 2,000 unique combos of customizing options!!

We also serve seasonal specialty fries, like Poutine and “nacho” style fries that we call Frychos. Our business is local, seasonally organic, and craft. It’s not just your typical American burger and fries. We support nearby farmers and give the Boise experience through the ingredients we use and local businesses we support.

What makes your fries special and unique?

The dream of Boise Fry Company was to take the fry and make it the main event, instead of the side or afterthought. We source local and organic potatoes, and we’ve been working with the same organic farmer since we opened 16 years ago! We utilize the special Belgian fry style for all of our fries. Depending on the size of the potato, it determines the type of cut we can produce, and that results in the different cuts we offer. We have regular, homestyle, curly, shoestring, and po’ball cuts. Homestyle are a thick cut - think like a steak fry. The po’balls are basically a fried mashed potato ball with some secret in-house seasonings. Our potatoes are freshly cut into fries the night before, and we cook them in the Belgian style, which includes a “pre-fry” at a lower heat for a longer time. They are allowed to cool, and then we flash fry them at a higher heat for a shorter time per individual order. For example, one batch of sweet potato fries takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes in a continuous start to finish. And to make the fries even better for our customers, we supply unlimited salts and sauces, for no extra charge. The sauces are housemade and the salts have creative flavor pairings, like honey and habanero, or garlic and rosemary.

What’s your Instagram so that readers can follow you?

@boisefryco. Tag us in your posts with Boise Fry food and you could get featured on our page and maybe even receive a discount for next time! We are serving up customizable fries across 6 locations in the Treasure Valley of Idaho. Burgers on the side.

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