Serves meat, vegan options available. In late-2014 MFT BBQ and Vegan renamed and moved to this location. Same menu of traditional BBQ along with vegan food. Vegan choices such as smoked tempeh sandwich, spicy coleslaw, beans, and potato salad. Kitchen makes its own sauces and rubs. Open Mon-Thu 11:00am-9:00pm, Fri-Sat 11:00am-10:00pm, Sun 11:00am-9:00pm.
Categories: Vegan-friendly, Lacto, Ovo, American, Beer/Wine, Take-out, Non-veg
18 Reviews
First Review by millavinilla
Contributions +136
BEST NACHOS - Edit
I'm Canadian, but every year we go to Boise, and we always eat at BBQ4LIFE at least once. The nachos are incredible. Various sandwiches I've tried were good, but not amazing. The vegan mac and cheese was VERY disappointing, which was a surprise to me because the cheese sauce on the nachos is so good. We keep going back because of the nachos, to be honest!
Pros: Clearly marked vegan sections, awesome nachos.
Cons: Sub par vegan macaroni.
Contributions +93
ehh - Edit
All of their food is okay. Most of it is pretty bland ESPECIALLY their vegan mac & cheese. I hardly go there because their food is actually really disappointing. I have told them multiple times, but the food continues to be bland, so I have stopped going and recommending it.
Pros: lots of options, friendly staff
Cons: bland
Contributions +16
good comfort food - Edit
Friendly and timely food with vegan section on menu and amazing chocolate cake. Moderate prices. Food is quite good (Go for some spaghetti squash 😋) and not overly fancy. I often enjoy an extra side of bbq sauce. Daily specials keep the menu alive. A staple eatery for us!
Pros: separate vegan section in menu , vegan specials daily
Contributions +331
BBQ Yumminess! - Edit
We had so much fun visiting BBQ4Life for dinner. The food was so delicious. We started with the vegan nachos. Our main was the Vegan Foot Sandwich with potato salad and spicy coleslaw. We finished with the bread pudding. It was all delicious but the bread pudding was EPIC! The staff were friendly and completely understand vegan dietary needs. We will be back!
Contributions +56
bbq is all about flavor - Edit
I find the food here super bland. I’ve tried three different dishes on 3 separate occasions and some even years a part and every single time the food has literally zero flavor.
The atmosphere is ok. The picnic style tables are cute but the benches are really uncomfortable (my 12 year old complained that the benches were digging into his legs and hurting him).
Because they also serve meat bbq, the restaurant smells terrible and made me lose my appetite pretty quick. “Why don’t you take the food to go,” you ask... well I have. It took me about 7 minutes to get from the restaurant to my destination to eat. After one bite I wasted the food by throwing it away because I found it inedible.
Pros: Vegan menu, vegan dessert
Cons: no flavor, no greens , restaurant smells like death
Contributions +26
great options! - Edit
I stopped in Boise on the way to Portland and decided to try this place out. I ordered the smoked tempeh sandwich with the sauce on the side. I decided I liked it better without the sauce. I absolutely loved the coleslaw on it. My boyfriend ordered the Vegan Foot, which he also loved. I tried and thought it was great and really liked the mac.
I ordered mine with the cornbread which was just eh. I also came back on my trip back because I wanted it that badly again and that time got it with the potato salad which I also didn’t care for much. But the sandwich. I LOVE it.
Pros: Lots of options, vegan dishes prepared separately from meats
Cons: busy
Contributions +23
amazing!! - Edit
This place was amazing! They had a menu for meat eaters and one for vegans, and had SEVERAL different vegan options. Both kinds of squash were delicious and so was the tempeh. Also, the service was fantastic! We had to wait a bit for our food and received a free dessert as compensation-- we got the vegan chocolate cake and it was the best chocolate cake I've ever had!
Pros: good price, plenty of options and great dessert op
Cons: none!
Contributions +60
Must Try - Edit
If I could give this five stars, I would. They have plenty of vegan options, there is guaranteed to be something for everyone. I have tried the spaghetti squash sandwich, the potato salad, the chili, the yellow curry (special), the vegaloaf, the cornbread, the nachos, and their bread pudding, all delicious. Highly recommend the spaghetti squash sandwich and bread pudding. 😍🙌🏼
Pros: Many options, Friendly staff, Delicious desserts
Contributions +28
One of my favorite places - Edit
I love, love, LOVE this place! The Vegan sandwiches are amazing and the vegan potato salad is to die for. The desserts are amazing, anything vegan here won't disappoint. Definitely look forward to coming here
Contributions +484
Vegan desserts! - Edit
This is one of my fave places in Boise. They have a vegan section of the menu and a vegan option for each dessert, including bread pudding and milkshakes! The vegan nachos and potato salad are also very good. The staff is very friendly and knowledgable. FYI, the butternut squash has honey.
Pros: Vegan bread pudding!, Menu labels vegan options. , They now serve beer and wine.
Cons: One server insists honey is vegan (Michael).
Contributions +42
Fabulous Find on the road - Edit
We'd been driving for days. We used Happy Cow and discovered this place to be only 3 miles off the freeway. SCORE! Excellent menu, friendly & family owned.
Pros: Lots of vegan options to choose from., large servings, low price, fast service
Cons: None...only wish they were in our community too.
Contributions +25
Nice find when I arrived in Boise - Edit
The night I arrive in Boise for a 2 month contract for work I saw this place and had to try it. I love all the vegan options, had to go back a few times to try them all. Their vegan dishes are very creative and super delish. The vegan deserts are very rich, moist and tasty, the best I have had in a long time!! The nut based vegan cheese is very good but wish it was a little thicker n creamier. The staff and service are both outstanding.
Pros: Lots of vegan options, Super friendly staff , Allow for substitutions
Cons: No beer or wine
Contributions +353
Good food - Edit
It seems like an odd combo - a restaurant that specializes in lots of meat and lots of vegan options, but it's true.
We ordered a Vegaloaf sandwich, vegan mac and cheese, vegan potato salad, vegan cornbread, and vegan chocolate cake. The sandwich was very good and though the menu says it is served with a chocolate raspberry BBQ sauce, they were out and it was served with a medium regular type of BBQ sauce. The vegan potato salad was excellent and I really don't think a non-vegan would even notice any difference. Lots of thick chunks of potato. The vegan cornbread was good, though very heavy and dense - more like a brownie texture than a flaky, cakey cornbread. The chocolate cake was a slice of cake with frosting on top, served warm. It was good, nice and moist.
We were really looking forward to the vegan mac and cheese and it was disappointing. The noodles were very soft and overcooked - they just fell apart. The sauce was pretty much flavorless except for way too much pepper. Even my husband who loves to put pepper on everything thought it was too much. There was no real "cheese" flavor or much of any flavor at all except mushy noodles and pepper. I would not recommend it.
The atmosphere of the place is very casual. The night we were there apparently a server had a family emergency so one guy was handling the dining room, but he apologized right out for slow service, and he really did a good job keeping up with the customers.
The only thing I would say as a vegan is that this is also a BBQ place, and it smells like cooked meat. This won't bother most people - and of course meat eaters will love it. But some vegans might be put off by it.
The location is probably 15 minutes outside the city center, in a little strip mall.
Contributions +25
Great for a Traveling Vegan in a Family of Non-Vegans - Edit
We had been on the road for some time and this place fit everyones needs. The vegan apricot bread pudding? AMAZING. However, I like my food extremely hot and they served theirs at a more kids temp, but they'll heat your food up if you ask :)
Pros: Convenient, Dessert
Cons: Temperature of food
Contributions +34
decent for where it is geographically. - Edit
Sandwich was ok, the slaw on it was the best part. The tempeh seemed like store bought strips. The vegan Mac and cheese was to be desired, pretty bland, and a super small portion size, although the sandwich size made up for it. I'm prolly just spoiled living in Portland and having Homegrown vegan smoker which is most likely the best vegan bbq place in the country. They need to learn about nutritional yeast lol. But for being in a vegan wasteland of sorts it is a great option to have.
Pros: next to the airport, fast service, friendly staff
Cons: flavor of particular items to be desired
Contributions +122
Really enjoyed it! - Edit
Great sandwich, coleslaw and bread pudding for my meal...all vegan! They also carry local sodas. Super nice people. Quick service.
There are several vegan options when it comes to sandwiches, also a few vegan desert options. They have plans to add more vegan choices.
Pros: Variety of vegan choices, Great service, Yummy vegan deserts
Contributions +137
Fun, *Mostly* vegan - Edit
Such a fun place! Picnic tables, and full "vegan" menu consisting of primarily tempeh-based BBQ sandwiches, sides (think mac and cheese and potato salad), and desserts. We were told that some of the options that were listed as vegan contained honey, which is frustrating. I hope that they change this.
Pros: Great Food
Cons: Honey
Contributions +216
Vegan Comfort Food - Edit
Don't expect to eat very healthy here, but it's a great place for comfort food. Potato salad is pretty tasty. I also really liked the chocolate bbq sauce. Hopefully they will expand their menu. Mainly tempeh.
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