If you’re new to the Treasure Valley, you’d assume that a restaurant that was recently given the title of “most famous in Idaho” was a Boise original. It’s not, but the location might be the most famous of the Idaho-born burger group’s restaurants!
Ask anyone in the Boise area where you can order a burger the size of your face and they’ll point you to Big Jud’s on Protest Road near BSU. Foodies all over America got to know the Boise burger joint after Man v Food host Adam Richman visited in 2009.
As a big fan of the show, I honestly thought Big Jud’s was only a Boise thing when I moved here nine months later. I’ve lived in the Treasure Valley for 15 years and just learned today that the first Big Jud’s opened more than four hours east of Boise.
According to East Idaho News, the original owner opened the first restaurant in a tiny town called Archer in 1993. He’d just served his mission in California where he fell in love with In-N-Out Burger. As much as he loved the food there, he always found himself still feeling hungry after his burger. So, Big Jud himself did what any ambitious Idahoan would do…