Foxy Brown, a downtown Fort Lauderdale comfort-food titan from restaurateur Elliot Wolf and his Be Nice Restaurant Group, is set to permanently close following Mother’s Day dinner service on Sunday, May 10.
The cozy and critically acclaimed New American gastropub at 476 N. Federal Highway, notable for its popular weekend brunch and elevated twists on patty melts, beefaroni, fish ‘n’ chips and grilled cheese, chose not to renew its five-year lease expiring at the end of May, Wolf told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Friday morning.
Rising lease renewal and accompanying insurance costs played a role in Be Nice’s decision to close Foxy’s Victoria Park location, he said, adding that employees were told internally about the closing on Wednesday.
“I just don’t have confidence in the direction the market is going,” Wolf said. “New restaurants opening on Las Olas, places like Earls and Sixty Vines, they eroded our customer base. These things nip at you, nip at you, and you have to be realistic.
“Foxy Brown isn’t over by any means,” he said, adding that he wants to reopen the restaurant at a future date. “But right now, we’re taking a break.”
Most of the restaurant’s staff will be retained, he said, with at least 19 employees so far being rerouted to other Be Nice restaurants, including Top Hat Deli, Coconuts, Lunchroom and G&B Dockside, which debuted in January
The nearby breakfast-lunch Top Hat Deli in Flagler Village will add some Foxy Brown dinner items over the next two weeks, said Be Nice spokeswoman Sasha Formica, who started her Be Nice career as a Foxy Brown hostess in 2012.
“I’m incredibly sad, but it’s been a great 15-year run,” Formica said.
The Foxy Brown restaurant in downtown Fort Lauderdale, as seen on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
From the moment it debuted in 2012 on East Broward Boulevard, in the former News Room Café, the warm and welcoming sit-down drew strong word of mouth for its over-the-top brunches, featuring menu items such as banana bread grilled cheese and maple bacon chicken wings and waffles.
In 2021, the critically space-challenged Foxy Brown moved five blocks north to Victoria Park, shuffling into the former Good Spirits Fifth and Fed, as a way to increase its parking and patio seating, Wolf told the Sun Sentinel at the time. The much-larger space is appointed with a massive island bar, a midcentury vibe and lowercase “be nice” bumper stickers — a modest affirmation and ever-present motto that defines the brand and South Florida’s culture.
Be NIce Restaurants
Chicken & Waffles Sliders, part of the brunch menu at Foxy Brown in downtown Fort Lauderdale. (Be Nice Restaurant Group/Courtesy)
“I am immensely proud of our team and deeply grateful to the guests who made this neighborhood spot their own,” Wolf posted Friday afternoon in a message on Foxy Brown’s website. “It means a great deal to me that many of our team members will continue with us at our other restaurants, carrying on the Foxy Spirit.”
This story will be updated. Check back for more information.
Staff writer Phillip Valys can be reached at pvalys@sunsentinel.com or on X/Twitter @PhilValys.
Sophia Piersall, a bartender at Foxy Brown, serves drinks to patrons in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, May 1, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)