At the start of 2025, 55 E. State St. was still a building under construction. That January, KIVI toured The Hemingway when it was close to finished and reported plans for 16 condos, a parking garage and 17,000 square feet of commercial space across three stories. This November, its ground floor and rooftop hold a wine bistro, a scratch kitchen, a soft serve shop, a toy and book store, and a women's boutique.
For Eagle residents, this is the first holiday season with all of that open on State Street. Much of what downtown gained this year landed at this one address, so the building is a handy place to start an afternoon in Old Town. Eagle Country Christmas closes out the season with a tree lighting at Heritage Park on Dec. 5.
What's Inside 55 E. State St. Now
The building came out of a 2023 proposal that BoiseDev covered at the time. That proposal included commercial space, residences and a third-floor wine bar, and it anticipated up to $1.7 million in Eagle Urban Renewal Agency infrastructure reimbursement through tax-increment financing. The third-floor wine bar in that plan is now Siren Song. Here's who occupies the building today, from the top down.
Siren Song Winemaker's Loft & Bistro, third floor. Siren Song Wines is a Lake Chelan, Washington winery owned by Holly and Kevin Brown, who have run a tasting room, restaurant and overnight stays there since 2015, according to BoiseDev's January report. The Eagle location held its grand opening on April 17, 2026. It pairs wine tasting with a full food menu, and it has a rooftop deck. Reservations go through Siren Song's own site.
Vessel Kitchen, ground floor. CBS2 reported in June that this Utah-based restaurant chose downtown Eagle for its first Idaho location. The menu is made from scratch and covers lunch and dinner.
Soft Landing Soft Serve, Suite 120. This is the second location for a soft serve shop whose first store is at 1220 W. State St. in Boise. In BoiseDev's coverage of the expansion, owner Katie Fourcin called downtown Eagle "a really thriving commercial area with a lot of other small businesses." The Eagle shop carries items the Boise store doesn't. Its menu lists dirty sodas and floats as Eagle-only, and flavors rotate.
Lion's Den Toys & Books and Indigo Boutique, ground floor. Lion's Den is a locally owned shop with toys, books and gifts for kids, and the building lists it as open. Indigo sells women's clothing.
Two more names are on the way. The building's tenant page lists Iron & Sage Kitchen Co., a cookware, serveware and kitchen gift store, as "opening soon," and Toastique Gourmet Toast & Juice Bar as "coming soon." The same page says more retail spaces are planned.
Put together, one building now has dinner, wine on a rooftop deck, dessert, a children's bookstore and a clothing boutique. In November and December, that is most of a holiday errand list.
The Sandwich Shop Down the Street Closed in October
A few blocks east, State Street lost a familiar stop. Tasso, at 342 E. State St., served its last sandwiches on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026.
BoiseDev traced the deli's path. Tasso opened at 410 8th St. in Boise's BoDo district in 2018, closed that location in 2020 during the pandemic, and moved to downtown Eagle in May 2021. Its menu ran from ham with manchego to smoked steelhead with cream cheese, along with soups, chili and ice cream. In his social media announcement, which BoiseDev quoted, owner Dan Carruthers wrote:
"Thank you to everyone who came in for a sandwich, brought a friend, and made this little place part of your routine. We've loved feeding you and getting to know you all. … We're excited about what's ahead."
Tasso had five and a half years on State Street, and it was part of a lot of people's weekday lunches. Its closing leaves fewer independent lunch counters on the east end of downtown heading into the holidays. For a weekday lunch near Heritage Park, Vessel Kitchen is now the nearest sit-down option on the same street.
The Other New Corner, on Riverside Drive
Downtown's other 2026 dessert-and-coffee opening is on Riverside Drive. In May, BoiseDev reported that The STIL and Bumble Coffee would take over 101 E. Riverside Dr., the former Negranti Creamery space. By mid-June, BoiseDev Eats listed The STIL as open, and The STIL's location page lists Suite 102 open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
So downtown Eagle has two dessert stops this winter. Soft Landing is on State Street, and The STIL is on Riverside Drive, open from breakfast hours until 10 p.m.
The Holiday Calendar, Starting This Week
This post goes up Thursday, Nov. 5, and the season starts the same day. Below is what's on the 2026 calendar in and around downtown, in date order.
- Monday, Nov. 2, through Monday, Nov. 16. The Rays for Rare Toy Drive takes donations at an Eagle drop-off, 1036 E. Iron Eagle Dr. Lion's Den, on The Hemingway's ground floor, sells toys and books for kids.
- Thursday, Nov. 5, 4 to 7 p.m. Tesoro Valle Gifts hosts an Adult Christmas Party at 781 E. Plaza Drive, with live music, door prizes, refreshments and 15% off storewide, according to its Eagle Chamber listing.
- Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8. The Eagle Holiday Bazaar lists these as its 2026 dates.
- Thursday, Nov. 26. Soft Landing's Eagle store is closed for Thanksgiving and reopens on its usual schedule Friday, Nov. 27.
- Thursday, Dec. 3. The Eagle Chamber's calendar lists Chamber Coffee at The Nest as a holiday and shopping event.
- Friday, Dec. 4. Eagle Live Nativity is on the Chamber calendar.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 2 to 6 p.m. Eagle Country Christmas at Heritage Park and Gazebo. The event listing describes a holiday market and family activities, with the tree lighting at 6 p.m.
- Dec. 24 and 25. Soft Landing's Eagle store is closed for Christmas.
- Thursday, Dec. 31. Soft Landing Eagle is open noon to 8 p.m., then closed on New Year's Day.
Planning Around Dec. 5
Country Christmas runs from 2 to 6 p.m., and the tree lighting comes at the very end. Heritage Park is at 185 E. State St. and The Hemingway is at 55 E. State St., so the event and the new building sit on the same downtown street. A family could do the holiday market in the afternoon, stop at Lion's Den, and be back at the gazebo by six. After the lights come on, Vessel Kitchen and Siren Song are both close by for dinner. On a Saturday, Soft Landing's posted hours run until 10 p.m.
One more date if you're hosting this month: Vessel Kitchen's menu page is taking Thanksgiving meal preorders through Nov. 23. That's twelve days before Country Christmas.
Downtown Eagle looks different this December than it did last year, and I like keeping track of how State Street changes from season to season. If you're thinking about what a downtown Eagle address would mean for your routine, or what this year's changes might mean for a home you already own nearby, Stephen Sawyer is happy to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation.
