Every Wednesday and Friday at noon, The Basque Market in Downtown Boise serves Paella on the Patio. For $8.99 per person, you get a plate of savory, delicious paella cooked fresh right in front of the market.
The market is located in the downtown area’s Basque Block, which is the center of Basque culture in Idaho. Something I learned from visiting Boise is that it has the highest concentration of Basques outside of Basque Country in Spain. California has the highest population of Basques (nearly 21,000, according to the 2000 U.S. Census), but the highest concentration is in Boise.
Before going to Paella on the Patio, I’d only had paella once before at a restaurant in San Francisco a few years ago. But it wasn’t nearly as good as the plate I had that one afternoon.
I arrived with my cousin a little before noon to make sure we could figure out where everything was and not get lost (lol), and got there as the guy was concocting what would be our lunch for the day. The pan he was cooking in was huge! And it smelled soooooo good.
My mouth was watering as I watched the cook stir all the ingredients together, so I took a break to go inside the market to pay for our food. Then we got plates that we handed over to the cook, and he dumped a generous spoonful of paella on each of our plates. We found covered seating right outside the market and devoured our tasty Spanish lunch.
Foot traffic around the market seemed slow in the beginning, so I was wondering how much leftover food there would be. But by the time my cousin and I finished our meal, the paella in the pan was gone. I guess it’s not too surprising since the paella is really satisfying.
(P.S. If you’re vegetarian, they serve vegetarian paella on the first Friday of each month!)
For more information about Paella on the Patio and other paella dining options at The Basque Market, click here. It’s a dining experience you’ll be sure to enjoy in Boise!
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