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The Bar Thread: Lush
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The trendy bar and lounge Lush in downtown Boise, on Main Street between 8th and Capital Blvd., features an ambiance not found at any other bar in town.
Lush is low-lit with a variety of small fixtures and candles, casting the lounge in red overtones. To touch and sight, Lush is furnished with leather couches and chairs with decorative tables. To sound, Lush plays techno and upbeat music, which appeals to the lounge scene. Aside from the bar, which raps around the east side of the room, Lush largely resembles a modern living room.
“[Lush is] a taste of something that is a little more metropolitan, something that Boise doesn’t have a lot of,” said patron Olivia Emmel.
The specialties at Lush are signature drinks and, most importantly, martinis. The martinis at Lush come in forms anywhere between standard vodka or gin martinis to exotic mixtures and blends that showcase a variety of flavors that will not let you down. For $7.75, these specialty martinis come in a variety of names eliciting either the flavor of the drink or an innuendo appropriate to Boise’s downtown scene. These names vary from the Nuts and Berry, the Twizzler, or the Copa Banana to the Dirty Girl Scout, the Four Twentini, and the Booty Call.
The Bikini Martini, for example, is made from Johnny Love Pineapple Vodka, Malibu Rum, orange juice and sweet and sour mix. This martini is topped with a pineapple wedge and tastes nothing short of pineapple juice but does not let you down with over two shots of liquor.
“We never under-pour our drinks” said bartender Anthony Catalano.
Along with martinis, Lush offers two signature drinks: The Dark and Stormy, made with Gosling Black Seal Rum, is topped with ginger beer and lime juice, and the Wasabi Bloody Mary, is made with Vodka, spicy green beans, asparagus, and banana peppers with Lush’s specialty bloody Mary mix. Lush will make a bloody Mary as hot and spicy as you like it.
Lush also serves a variety of draft beers ranging from Blue Moon to Kronenburg, from Sam Adams seasonals to Stone IPA as well as an assortment of bottled beers.
The goal of the bar, said bartender Anthony Catalono, is “to create a good and relaxed atmosphere for meeting friends, having a few drinks an dancing if you want to.” With a lively and not laid-back atmosphere, Lush does not fall short of this goal.
Lush has a live D.J. Friday and Saturday nights and it intends to have more D.J. and promotional events.
“I personally come here because we get the club atmosphere that you get in a big city,” said patron Chad Cooper.
Happy hour at Lush is from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. During happy hour patrons can purchase $2 domestic bottles, $3 micro-brew drafts, $3 wells drinks, $4 house wines and $4 vodka or gin martinis. On Wednesdays, Lush offers $3 Stoli vodka drinks and $5 Stoli Martinis all day. You will find the best deals at Lush Mondays and Tuesdays when they offer a two for one deal on any drink from 4 to 9 p.m.
MAT LA RUE
Culture Writer
