Iconic Garden City Bar Closes Doors

But is it gone for good?

The Ranch Club was actually one of the first landmarks in the Treasure Valley I could remember when I moved to Boise.  My first remote with 103.5 KISS FM was at the Pawn 1 just down Chinden from the iconic dive bar (most famous for it's giant horse on the roof.) Years later, I ended up getting a chance to go inside when we hosted one of our Boise Music Festival ticket stops there.

There's no sign on the window saying the business is closed and the Idaho Statesman says their attempts to get a hold of the owner went unanswered. On Friday, they also noticed there was an untouched pile of newspapers from earlier that week. Patrons say it actually closed on Sunday, February 12th.

The bar has an interesting history.  It originally stood in New Plymouth before being broken into pieces and moved to it's current home on Chinden Boulevard.  When it opened it's doors in Garden City, it was home to a counter full of slot machines.  At that time gambling was still legal in the Gem State.  There are rumors that it may have been a brothel before it became a restaurant and then modern day dive bar.  Others believe that it had mob ties in the 1950s. It was also used in a scene in 1980's "Bronco Billy" staring Clint Eastwood.

There are some rumors in the Boise & the Treasure Valley History Facebook group saying that the bar isn't closed for good, but just for renovations.

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