Tyler G.
Yelp
Three stars for decent drinks and service, but points deducted for a terrifying way of handling credit cards, and a clearly confused bar design.
While exploring South Beach Thursday night, a few friends and I decided to look up what bars were in the area, and came across the Yelp listing for Foxhole. Seeing they had a check-in special for a free drink, we decided to stop in. Had it not been for pictures from fellow Yelpers showing the entrance to the bar being in an alleyway directly under a red lamp, however, I don't believe we would have ever found it.
I wanted to start by saying this bar has a clear identity crisis. Hidden in an alley, unmarked, as a sort of speakeasy, once inside, the vibe doesn't match that at all. Immediately upon entering there's a few arcade machines and a billiards table to your left. Walking past that, a large projector hangs above broadcasting whatever sporting event is currently going on. The design and aesthetic of the bar is modern/ rustic with a clean black open air bar, and walls and booths covered in reclaimed wood. The booths also contain TVs displaying more sporting events. Upstairs there's a large wall featuring assorted guns and weapons, further cementing the fact the bar has no idea what it wants to be. A sports bar? A speak easy? Just a casual spot to grab a drink? In the super competitive scene of Miami, the bars have to do anything they can to stand out and become memorable, but this one really needs to go back to the drawing board.
Feel of the bar aside, drinks were always quick and well made, and the two bartenders working that evening were both very friendly.
The only major complaint I had about service was the way that credit card transactions were handled. The bartenders would take your card and swipe it like normal, and would also ask for your photo ID. They would then take your card, and imprint it on to the bar copy of the receipt where they would then write your drivers license number directly above it. I'm not super positive on the law, but I'm assuming this would be considered a fairly illegal practice. If it's not, it's opening the bar up to a potential large guest data breach as anyone who snapped a photo of, or got their hand on these receipts would have more than enough information to do some serious damage. As I didn't feel comfortable leaving my credit card and drivers license information out there in the open, I took the imprinted copy with me to shred at home, and left the bar the plain copy that was supposed to be for the guest.
If I'm in South Beach again, I may consider re-visiting Fox Hole if they work out some of their issues, but I would not go out of my way to stop by.