Why These Restaurateurs Love Doing Business in Nampa

Joshua Roper

The Treasure Valley does, in fact, yield riches for entrepreneurs in Nampa willing to take the leap and open a restaurant (or even a second or third location!). Thanks to nearby Boise, small-business owners can build a large, loyal customer base that supports expansion in the region. Here’s what three restaurateurs have to say about taking up coffee and culinary crafts and doing business in Nampa. 

Holy Cow! 

There are few dishes as American as a juicy burger, and Dylan Hutter, who opened burger joint Holy Cow! in downtown Nampa in 2019, has seen rapid success. 

“Nampa has leveled off to be an institution there,” Hutter says of the original location, which offers eight different burgers made from local, grass-fed Wagyu beef and fun appetizers like loaded tater tots (this is Idaho, after all) and halloumi cheese sliders. He describes the restaurant’s location as “an eclectic, hip, artsy vibe” and credits the City of Nampa for its recent focus on downtown businesses.

Downtown’s local character is partly the result of the city’s restaurant incentive program, which was launched in 2023 and pays up to half of project design, construction and permitting costs for non-franchise eateries looking to move into or expand downtown. 

“Nampa has a lot of chain restaurants, but downtown is exclusively independent, local places,” Hutter says. 

Holy Jalapeño! 

Irma R. Valdivia is one of 10 children, half of whom were born in her parents’ native Mexico, and half in Idaho, where the family moved in the late 1970s. “My family immigrated to work in the fields. We moved to Emmett, Idaho. It was a wonderful place for us to grow up,” she says. 

As a young adult, Valdivia worked in restaurants in Arkansas and Oklahoma, where she discovered her love of hospitality. 

“Serving people and making them happy is something I didn’t know I longed for. I decided I’d move back to my wonderful state,” she says. “I thought maybe a small business would give me a platform to raise my daughter and get (my family) out of fields and migrant work.” 

So, in 2006, she launched Jalapeño’s Bar & Grill in Nampa, serving Mexican classics like carne asada, carnitas and chilaquiles. Three years later, she had a conversation with older sister Leticia. 

“We discussed we needed to open a second location so even more of our family could benefit,” Irma recalls. 

Because the business in Nampa was seeing a number of customers drive from Boise, Valdivia launched her second restaurant in the state capital in 2009, and in 2020 opened a third outpost, also in Boise. That location has since shuttered, but Valdivia has no regrets. 

“We see it now as a blessing. It made us work in different ways and taught us so much. Those customers now drive to the Franklin Street, Boise location. Now we’re looking at another project – our biggest project – in the beginning of 2024.” 

Holy Caffeine! 

Sami Sena’s entrance into the world of coffee shop ownership was a bit more dramatic. In 2010, the first-time business owner – and coffee newbie! – purchased four franchise locations of Nampa’s Moxie Java (which was launched in the Treasure Valley and has locations in several states) at once. 

At that time, says Sena, “I couldn’t tell you what was in my caramel latte triple shot. But I’ve always been good with numbers and business. I had a passion to deal with employees and wanted to be a good boss someday.” 

In the past 13 years, Sena’s business has been through a lot. She’s expanded (opening a fifth store in Meridian) and contracted (shuttering two shops, leaving her with three locations currently). Then, there’s the influx of big-name coffee shops like Starbucks and Dutch Bros. into the city. 

“I think of us as a little big city still, but actually we are growing like crazy and getting really big,” she says. “It’s crazy how much my customers differ. Greenhurst has farmers – people coming in mud boots – and Garrity picks up the 9-to-5 people on the way to Boise.”