The Story of Jerry's State Court Café
The original State Court Cafe opened in 1954 and was a popular casual restaurant in Boise for more than 50 years. Jerry's dad remembers the old State Court as a "hang out" from his days as a student at Boise High and Boise Junior College (now Boise State University). Many people have operated the State Court over those years and each person brought their own personality, style of cooking and traditions, like the word-of-the-day. Jerry Jones, one of the most successful owners of the State Court Cafe until the building was torn down for development, has brought the food that people loved in the old, funky cafe on State Street to another iconic restaurant location in Boise. Jerry's State Court Cafe is now a centrally located, family owned and operated restaurant in Boise that serves made-from-scratch home style cooking in a casual atmosphere.
An Idaho native, Jerry also influences the recipes Idahoans love by using Idaho resources and his very diverse cooking experience, learned from many masters and cuisines. Jerry has been behind the line at the Arid Club, night manager and sous chef at the former Gamekeeper Restaurant in the Owyhee Hotel, and he has worked in several restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area, where his love of cooking began. He also brings his mastery of cooking quickly and efficiently from six years of cooking in one of the deadliest places on the planet, a crab fishing boat on the Bering Sea. Learning to cook as a teenager because, "I wanted to eat quality food for free," his inspiration now is seeing the smiles on people's faces when they eat good food, served in a casual dining atmosphere that feels like home by the friendliest servers in town. We hope you enjoy Jerry's style of made-from-scratch, gourmet home cooking.