Restaurant set to open in former Loose Screw taproom in Meridian

The former Loose Screw Beer Co. taproom on McMillan Road is getting a second life as The Foundry, and the change says as much about hospitality economics as it does about Meridian’s beer scene. Permits filed with the City of Meridian show the restaurant will keep the existing layout mostly intact while adding kitchen elements, food-service equipment, an exhaust hood and dishwashing equipment to the 2,200-square-foot space.

The project update is valued at $185,000, and The Foundry has filed for a new liquor license with Idaho Alcohol Beverage Control. That points to a lighter retrofit than a full rebuild, with the old taproom footprint serving as the base for a different business model. In a market where taprooms can still draw loyal crowds but struggle under tighter operating rules, a food-driven concept can make an already familiar room work in a new way.

Loose Screw’s closure at 1511 W. McMillan Rd., Suite 100, was not presented as a lack-of-support story. The brewery said the McMillan community had been strong, but Idaho’s brewery taproom rules forced the closure. Under the old law, breweries were limited to two taprooms, with one attached to the production facility, and that limitation pushed Loose Screw to close the McMillan site even as it kept serving Meridian elsewhere.

The company’s remaining Meridian home is its downtown brewery at 105 E. Carlton Ave., which opened Nov. 21, 2024. Loose Screw described the downtown site as Meridian’s only craft brewery, and the nearly 10,000-square-foot space still offers freshly brewed beer on-site, a beer garden with Big Beantz Tacos and a private event space. The brand’s presence there keeps a craft-beer anchor in downtown Meridian while the McMillan address prepares for a different kind of crowd.

The policy landscape may change soon. Senate Bill 1301, signed by Gov. Brad Little, takes effect in July and will allow breweries to operate up to two remote taproom locations instead of just one, in addition to their main production facility. For now, though, the immediate business lesson is clear in Meridian: a taproom can close without the neighborhood losing its value. The room, the address and the customer base can still matter enough for a restaurant to step in and make the same walls earn a different way.