When Buber’s Basque Page was still an internet toddler, cobbled together with broken HTML and hosted on the University of Washington’s servers, Charles Shaffer sent me his list of Basque restaurants. Charles was an aficionado of Basque cuisine and he made a point of visiting as many Basque restaurants as he could, curating a list of places that he then shared with me. Many of the restaurants that appeared on his original list have since vanished, even long time stalwarts such as Noriega’s. However, the food of the Basque Country is always en vogue and new restaurants appear all the time. The flavors have seemingly shifted, from the family style restaurants that were common in sheepherding communities to more upscale places inspired by the molecular gastronomy that was all the rage in the Basque Country.
I’m reviving Charles’s list, partially as a directory for those looking for a taste of home or of the Basque Country but also as a bit of history of the places that made an impression on people like Charles. The new list can be found here – if you have updates, additions, or closures, please leave a comment so that others can discover the amazing flavors of the Basque Country and the Basque diaspora in the United States.
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Overland in Gardnerville NV can be removed. They have no representation or knowledge of Basque at all.
The first Jatetxeak Eukaldun, Basque restaurant in the USA was founded by my godparents in the late 1930s in the “Little Spain” district of Manhattan-NYC, La Bilbaina. . They fled Bilbao after the dictador Franco took office. My grandfather and his sister also arrived to Little Spain opening busineses on 14th St as well. My godparents retired in the early 1970s and returned to live in Getxo near the Puente Bizkaia, the hanging bridge. Will be retering to Bilbao arriving this summer however, before I relocate I will be traveling to the Basque Block in Boise for the first time, I plan on eating at 2 maybe all 3 of the Basque eateries to see how authentic they are. I hope I can find pintxos, talo con txitorra, merluza en salsa verde and bacalao al pil pil. Morever I want to have a kalimoxto and sagardoa too!
Thank you for sharing this story. Your godparents and grandfather lived through some very challenging but interesting times. I hope you find all of those flavors during your visit to Boise!
Greetings,
So you will be relocation to your ancestral home. How nice! Please keep up posted via this blog how you find life back home.
I am considering relocating back home.
Monique