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mokenamessenger.com dining out
the Mokena Messenger | November 15, 2018 | 21
The Dish
Focus on family, community at Fox’s on Wolf
Nuria Mathog, Contributing Editor
Fox’s on Wolf has been a Mokena
staple for roughly a dozen years,
but the restaurant’s story is half a
century in the making.
Tom and Therese Fox opened up
the original location in Beverly in
1963 with a focus on pizza, sandwiches
and “good food, fair price,
good service.” The Beverly restaurant
on Western Avenue is still up
and running, and Fox’s has since
expanded to several additional
sites, including Orland Park in
1973 and Mokena in 2006.
Today, Tom and Therese’s grandson
Ryan Fox manages the Mokena
and Orland Park locations, and is
the third generation to help run the
family-owned business. He started
by washing dishes when he was 13
and worked his way up, becoming
general manager roughly a year ago.
“The restaurant was a huge part
of my life,” Ryan said. “It was a
good learning experience, definitely.
... [It required] hard work,
dedication. I enjoy the restaurant
business, I enjoy dealing with people
on a daily basis. I enjoy making
people happy.”
While Fox’s is primarily an Irish
restaurant, the menu offers a variety
of Italian-inspired dishes, and
its handmade pizzas are always a
popular choice with diners. Customers
often opt for the Fox’s
Special ($29.99 for a large pizza),
which is topped with sausage,
mushroom, onion and green pepper,
Ryan said.
“The pizza’s been the same since
1963,” he added.
Another standout entree is the
Italian combo ($13.99), which features
three types of pasta dishes
on a single plate: the restaurant’s
signature lasagna, penne pasta and
cheese ravioli topped with homemade
marinara sauce. Other bestselling
items are the fish and chips
($16.99), featuring hand-battered
Icelandic cod, dipped in a Guinness
batter and then flash-fried; and the
charbroiled rib-eye steak ($19.99), a
12-ounce cut with garlic lemon butter.
Pasta entrees come with a soup
The Italian combo ($13.99), comes with the restaurant’s signature lasagna,
penne pasta and cheese ravioli topped with homemade marinara
sauce. Photos by Nuria Mathog/22nd Century Media
Fox’s on Wolf
11247 W. 187th St. in Mokena
Hours
• 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday
through Thursday
• 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and
Saturdays
For more information ...
Phone: (708) 478-8888
Web: www.foxspubs.com
or salad, while other entrees also are
served with a choice of two sides.
For appetizers, diners can dig
into delicacies such as the pretzel
bites ($9.99), served with a cheddar
Guinness cheese sauce, and
Reuben rolls ($11.99), a culinary
fusion consisting of shaved corned
beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and
cream cheese, stuffed into crisp
wontons and served with Thousand
Island dipping sauce.
The restaurant aims to a familyoriented
experience, complete with
live entertainment for customers
of all ages, Ryan said. There are
coloring contests for children, and
entertainers — such as balloon
artists and magicians — regularly
perform at the restaurant on the
weekends.
“We kind of stick to our roots ...
we have bands, single entertainers,”
Ryan said. “St. Patrick’s Day
is huge for us, because we’re an
Irish restaurant.”
First-time customers can expect
a meal crafted entirely from fresh
ingredients and based on family
The charbroiled rib-eye steak ($19.99) is a 12-ounce cut with garlic
lemon butter and the diner’s choice of two sides (pictured are the baked
potato and rice pilaf).
The fish and chips dish ($16.99) at Fox’s on Wolf in Mokena features Icelandic cod made with a Guinness
batter and flash-fried.
recipes that have stood the test of
time, he said. The dishes served at
Fox’s on Wolf are the same ones
that Ryan grew up eating.
“I think one of the biggest things
that I’m proud of is that I am third
generation,” he said. “There’s not
many restaurants that can say, ‘It’s
been in the family for three generations.’”