The Fox Den opened August 15th at 4916 Underwood Avenue, replacing La Bó just downstairs from Ooh De Lally. To be fair, it’s more of a refinement than a replacement. Where La Bó was a small-plate, tapas-inspired bar, The Fox Den is focused on approachable, elevated bar food with a robust, creative cocktail list. A concept designed to draw more foot traffic, it’s warm, inviting and distinctly local.
At the helm is general manager Bennet Riley, who got his culinary start at Mark’s Bistro—Ooh De Lally’s predecessor, known for its lobster roll and Mark’s mac-and-cheese.
The Fox Den exterior at dusk
Photo by Jennifer Corey
“I was hired as a food runner and then kind of worked up to the front-of-house there,” Riley recalled. When Mark’s closed in June 2020 at the onset of the pandemic, Riley moved on to other opportunities but never fully left the restaurant world.
The Fox Den is an extension of Ooh De Lally’s mission and culture – same ownership, same staff and the same belief in second chances. Where Ooh De Lally leans into a full dining experience, The Fox Den offers something more intimate—a place to unwind, sip a cocktail and connect.
The Fox Den bar
Photo by Jennifer Corey
“We describe ourselves as like a training kitchen, but it’s also really about the community that we’re building and supporting our folks, even outside of the four walls of the building,” Riley said. “It does really feel like it’s just one big building with two different concepts.”
The overlap is strong—kitchen prep, dish and front-of-house teams work across both spaces, creating what he calls a “Venn diagram” of shared purpose.
Riley sees the partnership as philosophical as much as logistical. The Fox Den expands Ooh De Lally’s reach by drawing in a different kind of guest—those who might come for a cocktail but leave understanding the deeper mission behind it.
The Fox Den dining area
Photo by Jennifer Corey
A running thread through both The Fox Den and Ooh De Lally is the emphasis on training, creativity and ownership. Bartenders are encouraged to develop their own signature cocktail, and once perfected, they appear on the menu with their name in the title.
“Each bartender, not required, but all of them have created their own signature cocktails,” Riley explained. “It’s a fun way to get the staff to have their name on it, because they’re the ones doing the hard work anyway.”
Leading The Fox Den kitchen is chef Jack MacLennan, who Riley credits with many of the creative touches on the current menu, including the decision to make short rib slider buns in-house.
“I saw a bunch of buns sitting on a speed rack, and he was like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re making buns now,’” Riley said. “And I was like, that’s really tight—I’m into it.”
The Fox Den decor
Photo by Jennifer Corey
The Fox Den’s menu includes rotating soups, dips and desserts, allowing the kitchen to stay flexible and seasonal. “We now have rotating soup, rotating dip, rotating dessert,” Riley said. “So we’re not locked into a specific menu, which is kind of fun.” Still, guest favorites like the short rib sliders and shrimp roll are here to stay. “Those will stay for sure,” he said. “But the soup, dip and dessert will change and be fun and different.”
The menu includes two small but significant visual icons that echo the heart of the mission. One is the “mission menu donation” marked with an arrow that indicates items where a portion of the proceeds goes directly towards supporting the program. “Feeling foxy,” marked by the icon in the restaurant’s logo, are elevated, premium cocktails with top-shelf ingredients.
“It’s stuff that’s a little bit higher of a price point, because we use a really high-quality product,” Riley said. He added that the label gives guests context for an $18 cocktail—“Yes, we know it’s $18, and here’s why—it’s worth $18.” The icons serve both as playful design elements and subtle storytelling tools, tying every part of the experience back to The Fox Den’s mission.
The Fox Den dining area
Photo by Jennifer Corey
Where La Bó leaned sleek and modern, The Fox Den trades polish for warmth—dim lighting, candlelit tables and rustic textures that invite you to linger. Riley calls it a “cozy neighborhood cocktail bar,” the kind of place where conversation hums under a mellow soundtrack. It’s approachable yet refined, reflecting the balance they aim for in both the food and the mission.
Our tour of the menu included the Fox Den smoked cherry old fashioned, the Berry Sazzy Sazerac, a Mai Tai and an Amaretto sour. On the small bites menu, we tried the hummus trio and a cup of the rotating sweet potato–zucchini soup. From the ‘Sammies and More’ section, we tried the short rib sliders, shrimp roll and one of the rotating desserts: the chocolate ganache tart.
Smoked cherry old fashioned
Photo by Jennifer Corey
The Fox Den smoked cherry old fashioned is a concoction of Basil Hayden Malted Rye whiskey, smoked cherry demerara syrup and both cherry and orange bitters. Smooth, bitter, and smoky, it’s lifted by the tart sweetness of the cherry. Citrus notes from the orange bitters add a floral note, creating a dynamic complexity. The garnished cherries are more than an afterthought—sweet, boozy and smoked. I recommend taking a sip right after a bite of cherry. It takes the cocktail to a new dimension.
Berry Sazzy Sazerac
Photo by Jennifer Corey
The Berry Sazzy Sazerac is Blackberry D’Usse VSOP cognac, Peychaud bitters and absinthe. It arrives with a pleasant whiff of absinthe. It’s a heavily berry-forward cocktail, and I found the blackberry overpowered the cognac. I was surprised to find the absinthe more understated than a usual Sazerac, lacking some of the rich elegance promised by its aroma. Still, blackberry is almost always good in a cocktail. As such, this certainly lives up to its name.
Mai Tai
Photo by Jennifer Corey
Fox Den’s Mai Tai is made with Brickway Libertas rum, dry orange curacao, orgeat, lime and simple syrup. This is a citrusy, slightly bitter sipper, with caramelized rum notes rounding out the finish. It has a subtle sweetness, which makes it delightfully refreshing.
Amaretto sour
Photo by Jennifer Corey
The Amaretto sour is amaretto, lemon and simple syrup. This carries the familiar cherry undertones of the amaretto, balanced by the lemon’s bright acidity. It’s expertly mixed and will satisfy the sweet tooth of any cocktail lover.
Hummus trio platter
Photo by Jennifer Corey
The hummus trio includes black-sesame-honey, beet and roasted-garlic varieties, served with crunchy veggies and lavash crackers. The black sesame honey is the most textured of the three, pleasantly grainy, lending an extra nuttiness from the black sesame. The beet hummus is well seasoned and has just a hint of beet. The most robust—and our favorite—is the roasted garlic, with just a hint of garlic that accents the smooth chickpeas. The lavash crackers are crispy, well seasoned, herbaceous and baked in-house. They’re more than a capable delivery system for the hummus.
Sweet potato soup
Photo by Jennifer Corey
The soup is made with sweet potato, zucchini, jalapeño and coconut milk. It’s silky smooth, and the sweet potato and zucchini pair well. A pleasant tanginess plays against the earthy squash. Green onions on top lend a delightful pungent spike. It comes with two slices of toasted baguette topped with whipped goat cheese and a jalapeño jelly. It pairs very well with the soup—a gentle reminder that fall has arrived.
Short rib sliders
Photo by Jennifer Corey
The short rib sliders are braised short rib, Napa cabbage and violet mustard. The buns are made in-house, which gives them a from-scratch freshness. The short ribs are tender, beefy and seasoned well. The cabbage adds crunch and a faint bitterness. The violet mustard combines Dijon with an English red wine reduction infused with herbs and shallots. It balances the richness of the beef, cutting through with sharp flavor.
Shrimp roll
Photo by Jennifer Corey
The shrimp roll is served cold on a toasted brioche bun with remoulade shrimp salad, jalapeño and green onion. The shrimp in the salad are small, tender and juicy, mixed with herbs and green onion. The brioche bun is buttery, toasted to a slight char. It’s herbaceous, and the chilled shrimp make this surprisingly refreshing.
Chocolate ganache salted caramel tart
Photo by Jennifer Corey
The chocolate ganache salted caramel tart is topped with espresso whipped cream. The crust is made from buttery graham crackers. A layer of rich, decadent chocolate ganache sits atop chilled, silky salted caramel. The espresso whipped cream carries hints of coffee—its creaminess cuts through the dessert’s richness. Quite simply, every bite is perfect, and every ingredient plays well together.
Cassidy was our friendly, outgoing, patient server during our visit as we asked several questions about the cocktails. She’s also a bartender who’s been refining her own concoction. It’s a pear-based cocktail using pear liquor, Amaro, Pisco, lime and cinnamon. Riley confirmed its official title, “Cassidy’s Amber Hour.”
Riley says The Fox Den menu will always be fluid. “We’re always going to keep evolving the menu,” he said. “There’s a foundation of classic cocktails, which inherently won’t change being classics, but we’ll keep adding staff creations and seasonal features.”
The Fox Den exterior
Photo by Jennifer Corey
Food will follow the same philosophy—dynamic and creative. “The soup, dip and dessert rotate so the back of the house can use what’s fresh and do something fun,” Riley said. “We’re not locked into a specific menu.”
The Fox Den and Ooh De Lally may be two restaurants, but they’re one community driven by the same mission: to make a difference in people’s lives when they need it most. It’s a labor of love designed to build a better community one plate at a time. And you can taste it in every delicious sip and bite, a reminder that good food can bring forth second chances.
