The Parrilla Grill: Ten Years of North End Fusion

If you want proof that Parrilla Grill has won plenty of converts to its iconoclastic belief in the limitless possibilities of what a tortilla can be wrapped around, just consider this: in March of this year, Parrilla Grill will celebrate its 10th anniversary as a fixture of the Treasure Valley culinary scene.

If two slices of bread can be the substrate for whatever ones culinary imagination can conjure – and still be called a “sandwich” – then why can’t one take that same creative approach with the humble tortilla?

The answer to that question, according to Scott Graves, owner of Parrilla Grill in Boise’s Hyde Park, is a resounding “Claro que si!” Of course you can! Nothing against Tex-Mex, mind you, but why limit ones definition of the classic burrito or wrap to a particular geography?

If you want proof that Parrilla Grill has won plenty of converts to its iconoclastic belief in the limitless possibilities of what a tortilla can be wrapped around, just consider this: in March of this year, Parrilla Grill will celebrate its 10th anniversary as a fixture of the Treasure Valley culinary scene.

Scott Graves got his start in the culinary in much the same way as many of our local restaurateurs: paying his way through college.  In Scott’s case, it was a gig at Applebee’s while attending Montana State.  This led to a move to California and a bar tending stint while living on the floor of his sister’s pad.

It was during this memorable time in Scott’s life that a buddy he knew from their work together on the Special Olympics called to ask if he’d ever heard of La Parrilla, a concept that was the brainchild of Montana chef Jeff Winslow.  Scott was intrigued by the opportunity to expand the restaurant beyond Bozeman…and his sister was more than intrigued by the opportunity to get Scott off her living room floor.  After a year of training back in Montana, Scott was ready to open the Parrilla Grill’s first Boise location near the mall.  It didn’t begin well.

“It was a horrible disaster,” Scott remembers.  “We opened the restaurant in 1999, and closed it in January 2000.  We began remodeling a former laundromat in Hyde Park, our current location, and on March 1, 2000 we opened our doors.”  Needless to say, this second effort was a success.  In 2004, Scott’s partners decided to sell Parrilla Grill, but rather than return to Bozeman, Scott bought out their interest, purchased a liquor license, and set about expanding the bar and patio side of the restaurant.

One look at the Parrilla Grill menu and you quickly understand just how Scott pays off his restaurant’s “Fusion Grill” tagline.  To get the full range of the Parrilla Grill experience, you might want to start with breakfast.  Just don’t expect to play it safe with eggs, bacon, and hash browns in a tortilla.

Given the Parrilla Grill’s history, Scott acknowledges that some have viewed it as a chain.  “It’s really one of four independent restaurants owned by a bunch of buddies that followed a similar concept – a hodge-podge of influences that range from Thai to Cajun, Indian, and Italian.”

One look at the Parrilla Grill menu and you quickly understand just how Scott pays off his restaurant’s “Fusion Grill” tagline.  Sure, you’ll find classic South of the Border items like the Chancho, a braised and shredded Kurabota pork loin in a chili verde sauce, but further down the list of “featured wraps” you’ll also find the Wrap of Khan, a spicy chili bean smear with cilantro lime rice, bamboo shoots, purple cabbage and a “fiery Thai peanut sauce” with your choice of chicken, steak, shrimp, salmon, or veggie.  And then there’s the Jumbalaya, a mix of shrimp, chicken, and sausage with peppers in a “fiery Louisiana Cajun sauce” also served with cilantro lime rice.  Or how about the Blackened Salmon Wrap…or the Bombay Bomburitto?

To get the full range of the Parrilla Grill experience, you might want to start with breakfast.  Don’t expect to play it safe with eggs, bacon, and hash browns in a tortilla.  No sir/ma’am…go for a Carne Borrachos with an American Wagyu sirloin steak and frijoles borrachos (drunk beans), scrambled huevos (eggs, as you gringos say), “burrito browns”, salsa Americano and cheese.  Of course, if you’re feeling a bit more decadent, you could always opt for “Plan B”, a somewhat more conventional breakfast burrito approach with one notable exception: it’s served with a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

If you’re looking for a lunch or dinner departure from tacos, burritos, and wraps, you might instead consider one of Parrilla Grill’s salad selections, which include Wasabi Salmon Salad, Curry Glazed Chicken, or the Buffalo Gypsy Salad (Asian style marinated bison, fresh spinach, gorgonzola cheese, fresh tomatoes, purple cabbage, and toasted almonds).

As Parrilla Grills enters its second decade as a culinary fixture of Boise’s North End, Scott Graves continues to shape his menu around local relationships: most notably with Double R Ranch and Snake River Farms, which are current sources for the Kurabota pork, American Kobe beef, and even a version of chorizo featured on the Parrilla Grill menu as “korizo”.

These local relationships are also a source of inspiration for what makes it on the Parrilla Grill menu.  “A former beer distributor used to come to the restaurant with his parents on Cinco de Mayo, and his mom and dad would go into the kitchen and fix up a carne asada using a traditional recipe with tequila.  That became the basis for our ‘carne borrachos’ with drunk beans.”

Looking back at his restaurant’s success after such an inauspicious beginning at the turn of the 21st century, Scott Graves concedes that his Hyde Park location has certainly been a plus.  More than anything, however, Parrilla Grill’s eclectic approach to the burrito has been a culinary compliment to the eclectic culture of Boise’s North End, and to a growing American appetite for “fusion” concepts that pay homage to the traditional while pushing the culinary envelope.

 

Parrilla Grill is located at 1512 N. 13th Street in Boise’s historic Hyde Park; (208) 323-4688