New soda and snack brand offers a yummy French pastry and 17 signature drinks

IDAHO FALLS — Thirst Burst, a new soda and snack shop, recently made its debut in eastern Idaho.

The business opened Aug. 14 across the parking lot from Rubber Ducky Car Wash at 202 North Utah Avenue in Idaho Falls.

Its menu includes a variety of 17 signature drinks, a French pastry called a beignet, pretzel bites, nachos, cookies and more. Owners Casey and Stephanie Anderson invited EastIdahoNews.com to sample some of the menu items ahead of their grand opening Thursday. Watch it in the video above.

The Andersons are thrilled with the response to their venture. Casey says it’s the only business in Idaho Falls to have a beignet on the menu, and it’s one of the things they’re most excited about.

“We wanted to bring something new to the market. Everybody loves a great soda, but I think the pretzel bites and the beignets are something that really sets us apart. We’ve gotten really good feedback from the customers so far,” Casey says.

A beignet is deep-fried dough cut into squares and topped with cinnamon and sugar or powdered sugar. Casey says it’s made with more yeast and fewer eggs than a doughnut to give it a light, fluffy texture.

The pastry is made from scratch daily for customers, and Stephanie says it’s a difficult process.

“You have to poof them just perfectly. You have to cook them so they don’t end up like a scone or a dinner roll. It’s a very unique and difficult pastry to get just perfect,” she says.

Casey has worked with Matt Cardon at his car wash since 2019, which recently rebranded under the Rubber Ducky name. (During Thursday’s ribbon-cutting of the car wash, Cardon credited his 13-year-old daughter for naming it). The one next to Thirst Burst is its newest location. There are two other locations in Idaho Falls and one in Pocatello.

When construction on the Utah Avenue location was getting underway in 2021, Cardon and Casey realized they had some extra space and thought a brand like Dutch Bros would be a good fit.

“The more we talked about it, we just decided we could do it ourselves,” Casey says. “We thought the soda shop and the car wash would make a great marriage (and) elevate the experience for the car wash customer to come in and get a soda and a treat at the same time.”

The Andersons provide free popcorn for car wash customers.

Cardon is a lifelong auto enthusiast and has fond memories of building a car with his buddy in college. He opened his first car wash in 1997 when he realized what a lucrative business it was, and he’s excited to see how it’s grown.

The Andersons moved to Idaho Falls in 2019, and that’s when Casey and Cardon first met. They’re hoping to see the Thirst Burst concept expand with additional locations.

“We’re trying to figure this out. There’s a lot of moving parts in this business and the car wash. We’re a lot more seasoned on (the car wash) side,” says Casey. “When we fill we’ve perfected this site, we’ll hopefully (open some more locations).”

Thirst Burst is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.