It was only in August of 2010 that Fox’s Pizza Den opened up as a take-out pizza shop in Millville and only last summer that they expanded that shop into a restaurant and bar, but they have more growth on the horizon, with Fox’s Pizza Restaurant & Bar opening in the Harris Teeter shopping center off of Route 54 in Fenwick Island. And if they had a slogan to go with the growth, it might be this: “It’s more than just pizza!”
Coastal Point • Monica Scott
Fox’s Pizza is preparing its new location at the Harris Teeter shopping center on Route 54. The new location will have seating for 133 patrons and will feature Italian food, live entertainment and specialty drinks.
Co-owner Dennis Klimins said they have been fortunate enough to have done well since opening in the summer of 2010, even in the off-season, and are only closed two days a year — Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“We did so well in this location,” said Klimins, who owns the locations with his partners Alex Buinovskis and Alex Laizans, “we decided to open up another.”
Lisa Welling, who manages the Millville restaurant and is helping to get the Route 54 location up and running, said changes will be coming to both locations, in the form of an expanded menu — still at family-friendly prices.
“Our chef, Andris [Salmanis], he’s great. People will come in and say ‘Why aren’t you making your soup?’” She explained that Salmanis, with 12 years of training as a chef, mainly dealing in fine Italian cuisine, will be helping to train Laizans, who has more of an American cuisine background, and take their “more than just pizza” to a new level in West Fenwick with a bona fide Italian-style restaurant.
“We will have daily specials,” said Salmanis. “It will always be something different and we use fresh local produce,” he added of their food now and in the future, “and will have catering eventually.” He said that, for now, they have party trays to-go but they hope to actually cater events in the future, as well.
The Route 54 location is where the former Irish restaurant and pub Slainte was, sandwiched in between Blue Scoop and Subway, just down from Harris Teeter, although no one would know it was the same space just by looking at it. The inside has been completely gutted and redone, and they hoped to have the finishing touches done in time to open their doors this Thursday, July 4.
“We re-did everything” said Klimins. “We will have 133 seats, including the bar, plus entertainment, but the prices will still be family-friendly.”
New menu selections to be served at both locations include Penne a la Vodka, Fettuccini Alfredo with Chicken, Pasta Alforno, Crab Mac & Cheese and Eggplant Parmesan, among others. There will be a full bar and 10 varieties of beer on tap at the Route 54 location, including beer from all the local breweries, including Dogfish Head, Evolution and 16 Mile, said Welling.
“We will have specialty drinks, and infusions, and Fox Barrel Pear Cider,” she added.
The Route 54 location will offer entertainment, as well. Welling said they plan on having DJ Moonshine on Wednesdays and local acoustic groups on Fridays and Saturdays. On Sundays, they will have DJ Rupe, who plays music from the ’50s to today, she said.
The new location will have take-out, as well, and will deliver from Route 54 to Route 113 in Selbyville, said Klimins, which will help them to expand their clientele. He said the Millville location already delivers to the Bethany Beach, Ocean View and Millville, and parts of the Dagsboro and Frankford areas.
Klimins said he is excited for this new venture and the growth that is coming with it.
“Everything we have done, we have done to succeed,” he said. “We are selling the right products and doing the right thing. With these new dishes and our professional chefs, we are becoming more professional. We are not just a simple pizza shop like when we opened three years ago.”