Tuesday June 19, 2012

Fox's Lounge

fox's lounge

Can you believe I’ve lived in Miami for over 30 years and I’d never been to Fox’s Lounge until last weekend? There’s a mystique that surrounds Fox’s that it’s hard to imagine a real place (a bar) living up to. Originally a pilot’s hangout in the 40’s, it’s sort of a Raymond Chandler/Charles Bukowski old-school bar, once classy, then sleazy, now mildly renovated and reformed, but yet to lose it’s original charm.

fox's lounge

I have been inside some dark bars, but when you first walk in Fox’s is dark. You find your way by feel (or memory) to one of the booths or barstools in the small first room. It turns out there are two other small rooms that are actually well lit. People come here to eat, and I hear the food is actually not bad.

fox's lounge

After awhile your eyes adjust and you get this. Much to my chagrin there is a TV set mounted to the wall, otherwise it is exactly as I would have it. There are a handful of beers on tap, but they seem out of place. This is a place for simple old-school cocktails. I had a whiskey sour (single-liquor drinks are two-for-one during happy hour), which was spot-the-hitting.

fox's lounge

On the wall is a stained-glass geometric red fox light. In the hallway is a free jukebox with 60’s music. Tellingly, the mirror in the bathroom is by the door, so you can come in, do your business, wash up, and never have to look at yourself. Anachronisms abound, like window outside around back where you can buy liquor. It’s the sort of thing that’d make a person want to blog about Miami. Better go before they turn it into a Starbucks or a CVS.

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