Fox and Hound Bar & Grill

Days: Daily
Times: All Day
Drink Deals: Check daily menu (pictured below)
Food Deals: N/A
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Drink Up: There’s plenty to drink up here with daily drinks specials, seriously – there’s  something for everyone.

Spill the Wine: No food deals. 

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For the past few weeks, I’ve been joining one of my oldest & dearest friends on her weekly pool league nights throughout the west Chicago suburbs. Every couple of weeks, her team rotates bars and a few weeks ago, I finally had an excuse to check out Fox and Hound Bar & Grill. I’ve wanted to check it out for some time, but I had heard mixed reviews, mainly about the drinks. However being a Happy Hour enthusiast, I’m also privy to some information, such as the fact that Fox and Hound had undergone a makeover with grand re-openings of the Chicagoland locations last year. 

Whatever Fox & Hound was before, its rebranding sure paid off!  On a Tuesday night, the bar was packed with folks playing pool,watching sports on big screen TVs , and diners dining in booths. Since the bar was so packed and I was tardy to the party, I assumed that I would have to order my drinks at the bar, but surprisingly the server spotted me as a new face in the crowd and quickly took my drink order.  That night, I ordered $6 Pinot Grigio and enjoyed my night so much that I quickly made sure to schedule a follow-up visit with  with HHT pal Tamika to check out the rest of the daily specials that I saw promoted throughout the bar.

Like a lot Illinois bars and restaurants, Fox and Hound does not have a specific Happy Hour due to Illinois Happy Hour laws, but it does have daily specials. On Wednesdays, there are dangerously delicious Skinnygirl cocktails for $3. I say dangerous because they go down so easy and at 130 calories there’s no reason to feel guilty. Also featured on Wednesday nights is $4 glasses of Skinnygirl wine and 1/2 priced bottles. For the fellas, there’s $4.50 Angry Orchard pints and $5.50 Big Sam Adam and Jack Daniels cocktails.

My first Skinnygirl cocktail was the Moscatorita, a skinny margarita mixed with Sauza Blue Agave Reposado Tequila, Skinnygirl Moscato wine, lite sweet & sour mix, and orange juice. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about wine and tequila, but the drink had me feeling pretty damn happy. The moscato masked the often strong punch of tequila, all while still having the flavor of the average margarita. 

The Moscatorita: 
Sauza Blue Agave Reposado Tequila, Skinnygirl Moscato wine, lite sweet & sour mix, and orange juice

For the next round, we both ordered the Bethenny Breeze, named after Skinnygirl founder, Bethenny Frankel. The Bethenny Breeze is a light vodka cranberry, made with Skinnygirl Bare Naked Vodka, cranberry juice, club soda, and lite sweet & sour mix. While the cocktail was also tasty, if both drinks were on my March Madness bracket, my pick would go to the Moscatorita. 

The Bethenny Breeze cocktail:
Skinnygirl Bare Naked Vodka, cranberry juice, club soda, and lite sweet & sour mix

In addition to hosting pool league, Fox and Hound also hosts many other events such as weekly Sip & Swirl painting night, Girls Night party, and your regular specials for drinking holiday such as St. Patrick’s Day. Unfortunately, there were  no food specials on my visit. However with all the events Fox & Hound hosts, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a food deal pop up from time to time.

And as for those mixed reviews from before the re-model, well, Tamika, who had previously not enjoyed her experience, could not believe how different this visit was – from the friendly service to the tasty cocktails (her previous complaint was simply that the cocktails were “just not good” before). Now, we both can see Fox and Hound as part as our regular rotation!

-JG

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Fox and Hound Bar & Grill 

4320 E. New York Ave.
Aurora, IL 
630.236.9183

foxandhound.com
twitter.com/The_FoxandHound