4 Best Restaurants in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

This hip, artisanal-pizza joint on the main drag serves up delicious pies in a modern brick-and-wood space below an industrial-style ceiling. Get seated in one of the bright red booths, and your server—likely with nose piercings—will offer a menu of items like “The Camino,” with roast chicken breast, bacon, red onion, two cheeses, chipotle barbecue sauce, and habanero sea salt, or some other sassy twist on the Italian pizza. Or you can sit at the bar, nibble cured olives and sip cucumber water, while you wait for your bubbling and gooey pie to emerge from the wood oven.

Belly up to this old-fashioned lunch counter and have one of the best burgers of your life—you'll be squeezed next to crusty truck drivers and sleek business professionals. A downtown staple since 1907, this family-run diner has been recognized by USA Today and TheWall Street Journal for its simplified, no-fuss menu—single or double burger patty, cheese or no cheese, pickles or onions with two house-made sauces. Soda and pie are available on the side—that’s it. No special requests. To avoid lines out the door, come before noon.

Bobbing on the quiet Spokane River, just off the marina of Blackwell Island, this floating restaurant offers great views of the surrounding water. Cozy and romantic, but also great for big groups, you can sample some authentic northwest Idaho cuisine like the cedar-plank salmon or the beer-marinated charbroiled steak, a specialty since 1965. On warm summer days, opt to sit on the patio, try the salad bar with homemade dressings, and watch the ducks swim by on the water.

Northwest meets Mediterranean cuisine at this swish local favorite, formerly an underground wine cellar, with offerings like pizza, pasta, steak, and salads. After a 2012 remodel, the three-story brick space now has a main-floor lounge and bar and state-of-the-art, self-service wine dispenser. Using prepaid cards, you can swirl and sip 24 types of red and white wine in the downstairs cellar, or peruse the award-winning list of 300 local and international bottles. There's live jazz or light blues every night.