Pinnacle Sports Grill

We called a lot of different places in the Boise area, and Pinnacle Sports Grill seems to be one of the only restaurants that carries the Pac 12 network. No, I have not taken a sudden interest in the Pac 12, but my boyfriend's football team (Oregon State) is in the league.  With the Pac 12 not on DirecTV, this is where we go to watch games that aren't airing anywhere else.

We went on Saturday night and this was our second time visiting the place. If I have to be camped out somewhere for 3.5 hours to watch football, I don't mind doing it here.  It is a really cool set up.  A lot of the booths have individual TVs in them, and you can get a portable speaker box, so you can watch and listen to whatever you want.  They also have a bunch of really big TVs in the center of the bar and lounge-y looking seats.

We have had the same waitress both times and she is alright.  I am sure it is pretty tricky waitressing for people who stay for so long, and probably annoying, but she must be used to it by now.  It just seemed like it would take forever for her to stop by (35 minutes one time!)  but I am sure it is frustrating for her when most of the time we say we are fine. 

You get free homemade potato chips when you sit there.  They are pretty good, but a little bland.  I dipped mine in ketchup the first time, and just snacked on them the second time.  I would prefer free french fries or seasoned popcorn or something of the sort, but hard to complain when it is free.

They also have really cool beer towers that have 100 ounces of beer! 

The first time I went, I had an Ahi Seared Salad that was really delicious (about $13). My boyfriend had some sort of sandwich and liked that as well. The second time we went, the food was underwhelming. I had the Albondigas soup and my dining mates had tacos and calamari.  The tacos weren't a big hit and the rice and beans were left uneaten.  The calamari was alright but we would have preferred thinner, crunchier pieces to the thick slabs that were served.

The Albondigas soup was average.  I liked the addition of cilantro and it was much tastier with saltines thrown in, but nothing mind-blowing.  By the way, if you are like me and had no idea what Albondigas is, it is a type of meatball soup with carrots, onions etc.  It just wasn't very interesting, but I am not sure if that is how it is supposed to taste.

I do need to note our food came super fast!  The speedy arrival was much appreciated.

I also got one of the new Winter Drink Specials, the Pinnacle Peppermint Patty.  I thought it was going to be a warm drink, but it was actually a frosty cold martini.  It had whipped vodka, white chocolate, chocolate sauce, mint and Kahlua.  It was a bit pricey for $7, but yummy. After that, I had a New Castle Brown Ale 16 oz for $5.25.

I think this is a great place to be a local at.  We loved some food and hated some food, so over the luxury of a few visits, it would be easy to have a list of favorites and stand-bys to order.  Next time I know what I am going to try - the Huckleberry Salmon Salad featuring grilled salmon, huckleberry viniagrette, blue cheese, fresh pears, candied nuts and dried cranberries for $12.  I have a feeling that will be a winner.