Surprise! Award Winning Lobster Rolls Are Coming to Boise After All

Typically when something is put on indefinite hold, that's business speak for "ain't gonna happen." 

But that's how Lorin Smaha, the owner of Freshies Lobster Co., described the highly anticipated Freshies location that was supposed to open in The Warehouse Food Hall in Downtown Boise. It was a HUGE letdown for seafood lovers waiting to try the best lobster roll in the world. (They earned the honor by participating in the Down East Lobster Roll Festival in Maine in 2017.)

Freshies Lobster Co. having that title, to begin with, is fascinating stuff because the restaurant isn't based in Maine, the lobster roll capital of America and it doesn't have any locations there. Believe it or not, Freshies actually got its start in landlocked Park City, Utah.

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In an interview with Salt Lake City's KSL, Smaha explained that both she and her husband grew up in New England but met in Utah. She's from New Hampshire. He's from Maine. Lobster's basically in their blood and that's why when they started selling lobster rolls at their local farmers market, it was important that they were using fresh Maine lobster.

Even after growing from a farmers market booth to a food truck to brick-and-mortar restaurants in Park City and Salt Lake City, that's the quality they commit to. The lobsters they use are caught in Maine in the morning, packaged and sent to Boston in the afternoon and arrive in Salt Lake the next day, ready to be distributed to their kitchens.

If you love seafood as much as we do, your mouth is probably watering thinking about sinking your teeth into that fresh lobster, mayo and hot butter. Well, soon you can! The Warehouse, which never removed Freshies from their "coming soon" section, confirmed on Facebook that Freshies WILL open in the food hall on Wednesday, February 1!

In addition to lobster rolls, they also serve sliders, crab rolls, and grilled cheese sandwiches (yes, you can add lobster to them,) soups, salads, and a small selection of sides and desserts.

More Vendors Planned for 2023

That will bring the total of food and drink vendors in the Warehouse to 13, with at least one more on the way in 2023. Piedaho, a Sun Valley-based bakery, that found itself on Oprah's famous "Favorite Things" list in 2019 is still listed as "coming soon" on the Warehouse's website. It'll be in the space next to Bao Boi.