Burger Restaurant Opens Inside Great Lakes Distillery

Umami Bomb Burger. Photo courtesy of Fox Den.

When Sherrilynn Law and Jacob Neitzer stepped into Great Lakes Distillery for a drink last summer, neither imagined that they would soon open a restaurant just steps away from their seats at the bar. But a few short months later, the pair are on-site daily, serving up signature smash burgers and sides from their counter service eatery, Fox Den.

The venture began in June when Law and Neitzer, years-long friends who met while working in the industry, launched Fox Den as a food truck. The vision, they said, was to take a crowd-favorite dish — like a classic burger — and supercharge it with unique texture and flavor.

“We love cooking all sorts of different foods to begin with, and we were trying to think of something that would appeal to a larger mass of people that would still allow us to have our creativity shine through,” Law said.

The pair ultimately landed on smash burgers — whose patties are smashed flat on a hot grill to maximize browning — and put together a menu of eight, flavor-packed options including three beef-based burgers, three chicken and two vegan patties, along with a selection of sides.

The mobile concept proved to be short-lived due to unforeseen circumstances. But, serendipitously, a space was about to open up at Great Lakes Distillery, the pair learned while chatting with founder Guy Rehorst over the bar.

Fox Den quietly opened in September, replacing The Galley as resident restaurant for the distillery, 616 W. Virginia St. Despite its new format, the restaurant’s concept and menu remain the same.

The title of Fox Den evolved from the owners’ desire to offer a cozy space to grab a bite and hang out for a while, Law explained. While operating as a food truck, the name was representative of foxes’ tendency to move between multiple dens for food storage and safety.

“We had a lot of very awesome businesses become a cozy stop for us to sling our Smashin’ Patties at.”

Of Fox Den’s burger options, The Bang! Burger is the most traditional in the bunch, featuring two, quarter-pound smash patties, American cheese, minced onions, sliced pickles and signature sauce. Other beef burgers include the Umami Bomb, with drunken mushrooms and bacon, caramelized onion, ‘shroom ketchup, swiss cheese, arugula and a parmesan crisp, as well as the Chimi-Hendrix Experience, a spicy, tangy burger with chorizo and chimichurri.

Buff Chicks, a twist on the traditional buffalo chicken sandwich, includes two smash patties and house buffalo, bacon and bleu cheese spread, while the Bollywood burger comes with serrano raita, pudina chutney, curry caramelized onions, cilantro and shredded cabbage.

The Starseed, developed by Neitzer, is one of two vegan patties on the menu. Seeds — pepitas, flax, quinoa and sunflower — are certainly the star of this patty, which also features mushrooms and spinach. The burger is further flavored with habanero pickled onions, spicy avocado and charred lime slaw and crispy shallots.

“I really wanted to make a nutritious and healthy patty that you could get good, whole proteins in, and not have to break the bank with that,” Neitzer said. “My normal patty is a beet and black bean patty, and I was like, ‘well, how can I get weird with it?'”

Neitzer first turned to his long-standing interest in nuts and seeds as a foundation for plant-based foods, and built the burger from there. “We just like having fun with it,” he said.

Rounding out the menu is a collection of “foxy bites” like wonton nachos, fried cheese curds and churro cheesecake bombs.

Guests can also build their own burgers — a good route for picky or restricted eaters due to Fox Den’s strict policy against modifications and substitutions.

“In our opinion, when a person goes out to eat, they should get something they can’t make themselves. That’s part of what made us fall in love with food culture to begin with,” the owners said. “Because of that, we encourage people to try new things that may be outside their comfort zone.”

Fox Den is open Monday through Thursday from noon to 8:30 p.m., Friday from noon to 11:30 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

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