The rooster spinning over Capri, the horse on Chinden, Betty scrubbing away on Vista. Most of Boise’s iconic signs come with a pretty good backstory, so I went digging:

Rudy the Rooster

Rudy the Rooster is the seven-foot-tall bird perched on top of ​Capri Restaurant​’s rotating sign. Rudy is a landmark that is particularly beloved by longtime North Enders, as he used to rest above the door to Jim’s Coffee Shop, which was a neighborhood coffee joint on Fort Street near the Boise Co-op, where Pho Real is now.

When Jim’s closed, Rudy was in need of a new coop.

According to ​KTVB​, Rudy was purchased by Nick West, owner of Capri Restaurant. He gave Rudy a new home at Capri to keep him close to the North End. Also if you’ve never been to Capri, it’s a damn good diner breakfast.

📍 2520 W Fairview Ave, Boise

The hat at Cabana Inn

​The Cabana Inn​ is a little budget motel in the west end of downtown Boise, and its darling neon hat sign has become a Boise landmark. There isn’t really a story behind the Cabana Inn’s sign (not that I could find anyway). It’s just super cute!

📍 1600 W Main St, Boise

The Palomino at the Ranch Club

The giant palomino rearing over the ​Ranch Club​ has been a Garden City landmark for decades, and the building underneath it has a pretty wild history of its own.

The Ranch Club was opened in the mid-1940s by Helen Guyer, and it wasn’t in Garden City. In fact, Garden City didn’t even exist then. The original Ranch Club was in New Plymouth, where gambling was legal. A few years later, when Garden City was incorporated as a new village, the Ranch Club was moved in pieces from New Plymouth and rebuilt in its current location. It reopened in Garden City in 1950. By then gambling was legal in Garden City, and the Ranch Club was the place to go to play slot machines until they were outlawed in 1953. For decades after that, it was the spot to socialize over a smoke and a cocktail.

In 2021, the building had a stint as Somewhere, Garden City’s first gay bar. Somewhere closed in November 2024, and the building has since returned to its roots as the Ranch Club once again.

Its most notable feature is the giant horse rearing above the sign. The horse you see today isn’t the original. The first one had a rider: a cowboy poised in roping position with a giant neon lariat that looked like it was spinning.

According to the Idaho Statesman, the cowboy blew off in a storm in the mid-60s. Then people kept climbing up and trying to ride the horse, so the saddle had to go too. Eventually it was replaced with the palomino we see today.

📍 3544 W Chinden Blvd, Garden City

Betty the Washer Woman

If you’ve ever driven down Vista Ave, you’ve seen Betty the Washer Woman. She’s been hard at work for decades.

Betty was originally created by Andy Teague and first appeared in the 1950s on top of the sign for Maytag Laundry. When that business closed, Betty disappeared for about 15 years. She was eventually restored by Bruce Whittig and placed back on top of the sign on Vista Ave. The businesses below her have come and gone over the years, but Betty has stayed put. Today she watches over ​Americana Pizza​, which opened its second location on Vista in early 2025.

Betty has dressed up in all kinds of outfits over the years, like a Red Cross uniform, vet scrubs, and a Ninja Turtle costume when Americana Pizza moved in. One time in 2019, someone knocked her head off! Rude!

Don’t worry, Betty is now officially protected. In January, the Boise City Council designated Betty a historic landmark. The designation keeps her safe even as the businesses below her change hands. Long live Betty.

📍 1504 S Vista Ave, Boise

The Torch

The Torch is a strip club with an undeniably cool neon sign. It’s also supposedly the birthplace of the famous finger steaks. That’s all I know about it.

📍 1826 W Main St, Boise

Westside Drive In

Speaking of finger steaks, Westside Drive In is another historic (and delicious) local landmark. You can’t miss the pink neon signs and baby blue painted drive-in, especially at night.

Westside Drive In opened in 1957 on State Street. Chef Lou came along and purchased the business in 1994, creating the mouth-watering menu that we know and love today. It’s known for perfectly greasy burgers, finger steaks, milkshakes, and its famous ice cream baked potato.

📍 1929 W State St, Boise

More cool signs to explore:

Campos Market

​Campos​ is a family-owned Mexican market on Orchard Street with an adorable martini sign. There’s butcher counter and one of the best taco stands tucked in the back. Also the salsa is spicy as hell but so good!

📍413 N Orchard St, Boise

The Cub Tavern

From 1948 to the mid-1980s, the Cub Tavern sign glowed on Capitol Blvd in the building that’s now Bar Gernika. After decades in storage, it’s back up on Main Street over a brand ​new Cub Tavern​ on the historic Smith Block.

📍 1015 W Main St, Boise

The Veltex Building

When the old Veltex gas station downtown closed in 1991 and made way for the ​Veltex Building​, the developer saved its classic neon sign. It’s a nod to a time when Veltex had more than 100 stations across Idaho.

📍 420 W Main St, Boise

The Olympic Venue

The Olympic Hotel was a boarding hotel upstairs in the Larson Building on Main Street, which went up in 1910. It started out as the Clyde rooming house before becoming the Olympic (always a little overshadowed by its fancier neighbor, the Idanha) and it was one of the last downtown boarding hotels to close. Rocket Neon restored the sign in 2015, and today the old hotel is the ​Olympic Venue​, a spot for live music and events.

📍 1009 W Main St, Boise

Neon Grove

Boise’s first ​open-air neon gallery​ lights up Grove Street between 12th and 13th with six restored vintage signs from long-gone local businesses.

📍 Grove St between 12th and 13th, Boise

Alright that’s all I’ve got for today. What’s your favorite local sign?

Thanks for reading!

With love from Boise,

Marissa

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