Challenger Restaurant Group, Boise

The Big Three unites three bars under its umbrella, but that’s about the only thing the venues have in common. Each offers a completely different nightlife atmosphere, ranging from a rustic honky-tonk bar to a swanky lounge.

China Blue

The dance floor throbs to the DJ’s pulsing beats under a pattern of colorful lights. Professional dancers gyrate on elevated platforms over the dance floor, and three different lounges provide a more laid-back atmosphere with elements such as exposed brick walls, leather sofas, and luminous aquariums behind the bars.

Main Street Bistro

Red billiards tables and neon beer logos fill one room of the tavern-style bar, but Main Street Bistro erupts with competition on Monday and Tuesday nights. Beer-pong tournaments pack teams into the bar, and the sound of cheers temporarily drowns out the commentary on the sports games playing on the wall-mounted TVs.

Dirty Little Roddy's

With its wooden plank walls and tabletops supported by sawhorses, Dirty Little Roddy's evokes a back-roads bar in all ways but one: the bar hosts bikini and boxer bull riding for cash prizes. The event provides risqué entertainment without asking firefighters to approximate a pole dance.