America 250: Famous Idaho Ice Cream Potato helps put Boise landmark on the map

Westside Drive In has been serving burgers, fries, and milkshakes from its corner at State and 21st streets for decades. Many know them for their Famous Idaho Ice Cream Potato.

The dessert, which resembles a baked potato complete with toppings, has helped put Westside Drive In — and Idaho — in the national spotlight. The sweet treat has been featured on national television and has become one of the state’s most recognizable culinary creations.

“This is the greatest drive-in in the United States of America, bar none,” said longtime customer Victor Miller.

WATCH | “Food, fun and fifties”—

Famous Idaho Ice Cream Potato helps put Boise landmark on the map

The novelty dessert offers a sweeter version of Idaho’s most famous crop. Made to resemble a baked potato, it has attracted attention from customers across the country and around the world.

The restaurant’s roots stretch back decades, but its modern identity took shape after Chef Lou Aaron purchased the business in 1994.

“When I bought the West Side, I thought I got to make this 50s [themed],” Aaron said. “So we came up with a little slogan, and the slogan was, I mean, when you think of fun, and happy days, you think of 50s.”

Now, Aaron’s daughter Emily Bolton and son Josh Aaron help oversee operations, continuing the family legacy.

“We both grew up working, you know, I cashiered, he cooked, and we both laughed and said never again, and then here we are,” Bolton said.

The restaurant’s profile grew even larger when Food Network personalities, including Guy Fieri of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” featured Westside Drive In and its signature dessert.

“He says, you know, you better be ready because the people are gonna be flooding in here after this episode airs,” Josh Aaron recalled. “And he came here and really put Boise on the map by, you know, featuring us and all the other restaurants that he has the last few times he’s been here.”

For customers like Miller, the appeal goes beyond the food, “It’s a special Idaho place. It’s like a place that identifies Idaho, Boise, and it’s put us on the map.”

While families continue gathering at the restaurant for a classic American dining experience, Aaron says Westside Drive In also serves another purpose.

As someone in long-term recovery, Aaron has made hiring people facing difficult circumstances a core part of the restaurant’s mission.

“I’m an alcoholic, and I’ve been clean for 36 years now,” Lou Aaron said. “Someone picked me off the ground when I was in the gutter, and it helped change my life. So, almost 90% of our employees at both places are either out of prison, in prison, homeless, you name it. So, we try to help them to rehabilitate them.”

Customers say that commitment to helping others is part of what makes the restaurant special.

“That’s what West Side is about,” Miller said. “It’s about second chances and the lives that he has improved and saved in a lot of ways by giving people another chance in life.”

For the Aaron family, preserving that mission is just as important as preserving the menu.

“You have so many memories here. We have so many customers who’ve been coming here since they were kids,” said Lou Aaron. “It’s more of an institution than it is a restaurant. We will never sell it. I’ll always be in the family.”

Today, Westside Drive In continues serving customers at both its original State Street location and its Parkcenter Boulevard restaurant — carrying on a legacy built on food, family and second chances.