Ivan Kalensky
Restaurant Critic
Every town has a special occasion restaurant, some have more than one. One of Pocatello’s special occasion restaurants is the Sandpiper.
College kids will never be able to spend $100 on dinner, that just won’t happen, but Sandpiper’s happy hour menu makes this dinner house somewhat affordable. This is the only way to eat at the Sandpiper.
Located off Pocatello Creek Road at 1400 Bench Road, go for a couple drinks and a couple appetizers and you’ll be able to get out for under $30. Head to the lounge where any cocktail, all wines by the glass, draft and bottled beers are $2 off.
The Sandpiper closes on Sunday, but their happy hour menu is moderately priced. All the appetizers are about $10. Their happy hour runs Monday through Saturday from 4-6 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 9-10:30 p.m.
During the summer, the patio is the place to go where you can enjoy cocktails and appetizers. But when the weather does not permit, head inside where you will find a nice restaurant with a comfortable environment.
One bottle of wine will run you about $30, so it’s best to stick with the beer, cocktails and wine by the glass.
The Sandpiper’s happy hour food menu offers a decent choice of appetizer, but it’s not a full meal. Their bar bites are $3 off during happy hour, so instead of being $8.99, their beef taquitos are $5.99. This menu also offers crab croquettes, chicken tenders and spud skins. This could become a full meal if you order more than one appetizers, which is doable when you consider these items are $3 off during happy hour.
But, if you are wanting to spend a little more money, open their full menu where you can find pretty much anything you may desire. But this can be pricey.
Most of the pastas will run you about $17 or $18 while the steaks are about $20. The sandwiches are a bit cheaper and are about $13, so if you go with those they can save you a little cash.
I tried the crab cakes ($12.99) while I was there, which for Idaho standards was pretty good. You don’t see many crab cakes in Idaho, so these were not Baltimore crab cakes. The crab cakes were served with radicchio slaw and two different sauces, one was sweet while the other was creamy. But this was not on their happy hour menu, so it cost me a little bit.
But like I said, this is a special occasion restaurant and I was splurging a bit.
So next time your parents are in town and they want to take you somewhere nice, head to the Sandpiper and order off the full menu. But if it’s a cheap date or a casual night out with friends, stick with the happy hour menu.
