Popular speakeasy to open sister bar in downtown Boise

A laid-back bar with a serious cocktail program is coming to downtown Boise.

Bar Please! (stylized with an exclamation point) will be the latest tenant at 620 W. Idaho St. It will take over the former Alchemist coffee shop and cafe — in the same building as Thick As Thieves, a modern-day speakeasy.

Bar Please will be the second spirits-focused business for Adam and Amanda Hanby, who own Thick As Thieves. The concepts will share a liquor license, Adam Hanby said.

They hope to open the new spot by late summer.

“Bar Please is going to be a contemporary neighborhood bar,” Hanby explained. “Obviously, a sister to Thick As Thieves. Bar Please will be more of an upbeat neighborhood bar that’s offering a unique experience to downtown.

“We want it to be casual ... like your day-to-day local bar.”

Bar Please won’t take reservations, unlike the candlelit Thick As Thieves. Big windows and stained glass will help create a welcoming, colorful atmosphere.

Bar Please will offer its own twists on cocktail preparation through methods such as fruit clarification, Hanby said. “We’re using new equipment, new techniques, so we can add bold flavors to our cocktails. Which should provide the most delicious and balanced cocktails.”

Inspired by seasonal produce, Bar Please also will serve a couple of rotating small plates. “Similar to what we’re doing at Thick As Thieves,” he said. “Like a grilled cheese with a kimchi aioli.”

There’s a standard small patio area in front of the building, just west of next-door neighbor House of Western.

But Bar Please also will take advantage of a quirky “patio” invisible to passersby. Accessible from the interior and nes

tled between the two buildings, a long, narrow nook is shaded by towering walls. The Hanbys plan to add lights and pipe music into that outdoor spot. A long, community table will be installed. The small, concealed patio will be “different and unique to our area,” Adam Hanby said, “where it’s off the street.”

Ultimately, Bar Please and Thick as Thieves will strive to operate in synergy, Hanby said. Hidden away and with a modest capacity of 60, Thick as Thieves has a long wait list on weekends. Bar Please, which will be more accessible and larger, should alleviate some of that pressure.

“I hope that we’ll share customers, for sure ... ” he said, “where people can go over there and wait for their table at Thick As Thieves, or just experience a whole different environment completely.

“Hopefully, it just becomes its own personality and its own thing.”