One of the Best Sports Bars in America is Hiding in Downtown Boise

Whether it's football, basketball or hockey, watching sports with friends at a sports bar just hits differently than watching it from your couch. 

We could go on and on about why it's more fun to watch at the bar than at home. For one, it's a heck of a lot easier to watch multiple games at once somewhere that prides itself on having a plethora of screens.

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Sports are also a great icebreaker. When you see someone wearing a jersey or fan gear for a team that doesn't have a big following in Boise, one of the first questions you want to ask is "are you from there?" If they are, they'll likely be excited to tell you about what it was like cheering for the team growing up. If they're not, they'll probably tell you why they're sporting those colors. As a family of Cleveland Browns fans, this happens to us a lot and we've gotten to meet some interesting and often like-minded people this way!

Plus...you don't have to clean up the dishes after having some good old fashion pub grub and a few cold beers. (Just make sure you tip the server cleaning up after you well!)

Yelp has four pages of "sports bars" listed in Boise, so there's no shortage of good ones to choose from but which area sports bar earned the honor of being Idaho's best sports bar? Mashed counted down the "Best Sports Bars in Every State" and gave the distinction to Taphouse Pub & Eatery in Downtown Boise. 

What makes them a great destination for watching a game? 44 beers on tap. 16 large screen TVs. Every sports package that you don't want to pay for at home. Their food is pretty darn good, too!

We'll admit, we've only been in a handful of times since they opened in 2012 and that's mainly because we were in a committed relationship with Old Chicago Downtown before they closed and it felt like we were cheating on a friend.

Now? We just need to find the right time to go. They're always slammed before Idaho Steelheads games and we haven't been lucky enough to score a table before the puck drop. Maybe this honor was the world's way of telling us to go back...on a night when the Steelies are away. 

If the Downtown Boise Taphouse isn't exactly in your neck of the woods, you now have a second opportunity to enjoy their grub and beer selection elsewhere! They recently opened a second location at 9765 W State St in Star.