The closest ocean is hundreds of miles away, yet a plain little storefront in Idaho keeps ice-packed halibut, live oysters, and bright orange salmon waiting behind its glass. The fish arrives by air several times a week, so a Tuesday dinner in the high desert can taste like the coast.
For families who grew up thinking good seafood meant a long road trip, that feels like a small miracle. Here is how one family pulled it off and why shoppers keep coming back.
A Fish Counter On The Boise Bench
Ocean smell hits you the second the door swings open, which is a strange thing to experience in southwest Idaho. Reel Foods Fish Market sits on the Boise Bench, the raised neighborhood that overlooks downtown from the south, and it does one job very well: selling fresh seafood to people who live far from any shoreline.
From the parking lot, the shop looks ordinary. Longtime shoppers admit it is not much to look at inside either, and they mean that kindly…