A reader wrote in with this follow-up to the 4/30/2012 QoD about Holy Cow! and we confess to not having heard of Foxy's Deli, so for a change, we posed ourselves a QoD as an excuse for digging deeper into the background on Foxy's. It turned out to be an interesting story.
Abe "Foxy" Fox opened Foxy's Restaurant, Bakery, and Delicatessen (sometimes the names are listed the other way around) at 2423 Las Vegas Boulevard South when he arrived in Las Vegas in 1955. Notable for being among the first, if not the very first desegrated restaurant in Las Vegas, Abe opened Foxy's doors to all colors and recalled delivering meals to Nat King Cole when he was performing at the Thunderbird Hotel in the '50s. Fox even hired Cole to be his spokesman when, for some reason, he was campaigning to have Pahrump's name changed to Palm Springs. Beloved by performers including Sinatra, Wayne Newton, Ann Margret, Liberace, Don Rickles, The Mills Brothers, and Shecky Green, Foxy's was also a hangout for the good 'ole boys and numerous deals were said to have been inked on the back of a Foxy's napkin in the '50s.
Originally born in New York City on Nov. 29, 1914, Abe Fox moved to Los Angeles with his family, before later relocating to Vegas. Renowned for being one of the truly authentic New York/Jewish delis in town, we've read former patrons of Foxy's waxing lyrical about the Reuben sandwiches, the cabbage soup, the chocolate chiffon pie, and the egg creams, among other things. You can take a peek at an authentic menu, although the way that it's presented means you have to zoom in and scroll around to read it. Entrées were in the 45¢-$1.95 range, while you could order a "complete dinner" for between $2 and $3.50. The deli was open 24/7 for dine-in and take-out orders.
Abe had a reputation for being a practical joker and once presented a friend with the leaving gift of a live goldfish in a bowl, just as the friend was about to board a plane. On another occasion, when asked to cater a turkey dinner for some businessmen on Mount Charleston, Fox apparently sent a live turkey that the prospective guests had to catch.
In 1975, Abe Fox sold his business, although he continued to dabble in real estate and remained active on the Las Vegas social circuit. He died in December, 2004, following a stroke he'd suffered a few days earlier while watching a football game at the Las Vegas country club. He was 90 years old.
Foxy's Diner went on to become Foxy's Firehouse, a slot parlor with about 100 machines and a half-sized crap table. This in turn shut down in 1988 to become the Holy Cow! casino and microbrewery. (See QoD 4/30/2012 for the rest of that story, if you missed it the first time around.)
