The Story of Fox’s Lounge and Miami’s Cherished Bar Snack
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Step into Fox’s Lounge in South Miami, and the darkness wraps around you like the embrace of an old friend. As your eyes slowly adjust, your other senses take over — the murmur of conversations, the clink of martini glasses, and that unmistakable aroma wafting from nearly every table: sizzling beef, warm toast, and the rich scent of homemade au jus. You’ve found the home of thumb bits, Miami’s most cherished bar snack.
Fox’s had been a Miami institution since 1946, operated for decades by Hank and Betty Fox before changing hands to George Andrews, who ran it until its closure in 2015. When Chris Hudnall and Randy Alonso acquired and reopened Fox’s in 2022 after its seven-year absence, they faced the weight of seven decades of memories. Regular guests would judge every detail — the darkness (or lack thereof), the strength of the drinks, and most critically, whether the thumb bits tasted like the ones they’d been enjoying for decades.
“I don’t think we would have gotten away with reopening without thumb bits,” Alonso laughs. “Every table orders them. They’re our dish.”
The backstory of these legendary bites blends myth, mystery and practical kitchen thinking. As Alonso tells it, thumb bits likely started as a smart solution to a common restaurant dilemma.
“They were serving filets and had leftover trimmings,” he said. “They had all these scraps and were trying to figure out something to do with them.”
The original fix was simple: toasted bread brushed with garlic, topped with seared filet ends. Alonso and his team enhanced the classic when they reopened Fox’s by adding a cup of au jus for dipping – an addition that quickly became essential to the experience.
One Great Dish
Why the name “thumb bits”? No one really knows — and that only adds to their mystique. What’s certain is that the dish has been a Fox’s staple for decades.
Today’s version mirrors the original: seared beef on toasted sourdough with that sacred au jus. “We use all the drippings from prime rib night,” Alonso explained. “That’s not something you make in minutes. It needs hours, patience.”
While the classic remains the go-to, the kitchen occasionally experiments. A recent chef’s special layered blue cheese, caramelized onions and bourbon barbecue sauce over the traditional toast and steak, adding an interesting twist to the bite.
So what makes the dish so enduring? For Alonso, it’s about getting straight to the good part.
“It’s one of those things where there is the best bite,” he said. “Like the bottom of an ice cream cone or the perfect Thanksgiving forkful with all the fixings. It’s the perfect bite of steak without committing to a whole dinner.”
People don’t just eat here. They’re touching their past.— Randy Alonso, Co-owner
The full ritual demands a proper drink pairing. “The martini with the sidecar,” Alonso insisted. “That cold glass in your hand, the salty-savory first sip cutting through as your eyes adjust to the darkness… then the thumb bits arrive. It’s a sequence as choreographed as any fine dining experience.”
For many locals, thumb bits aren’t food — they’re time machines. Parents who had their first date at Fox’s now bring their grown children. Grandparents tell stories of Miami’s past while a new generation dips toast into au jus.
“People don’t just eat here,” Alonso said. “They’re touching their past. Every table has someone pointing to a corner booth saying, ‘That’s where I proposed,’ or ‘My dad used to sit right there every Friday.’ And every story involves thumb bits.”
In the low-lit lounge, where time feels suspended and stories spill more freely, the dish is more than just a perfect bite. It’s a perfect piece of Miami, served one plate at a time.
A fourth-generation Miamian, Olee Fowler knows every corner of the city. She spent a decade as the editor of Eater Miami, and now as a freelance writer, she captures the stories that make Miami unique. When she’s not exploring Miami’s newest restaurants and bars, you can find her at home with her dogs, Foster and Peanut, or cheering on her beloved Florida Gators. And yes, that’s probably a Coke Zero on her desk.
