Gainesville, United States
12 W University Ave
N/A
+13523779468
We were slightly worried that there weren’t very many people in the restaurant, boy were we surprised! This place is the real deal. The family style menu is super fun and encourages the exact sort of exploration that our titular Fox apparently went through himself (ask the staff to hear the beautiful story behind the murals on the walls). Highly recommended the steak fries and the dumplings. Although you really can’t go wrong, this place is high quality and excitingly creative. A rarity in Gainesville! Try it out!
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Unique and tasty "small plates", fun atmosphere. No complaints!
Wayward Fox is a wonderful addition to the Gainesville downtown food scene. Super classy shareable food with TONS of vegetarian and vegan options. Each small plate they have on the menu is good for a meal by itself, or great for ordering several and sharing amongst your group. We had the Fresh Veggie Spring Rolls and Fried Chicken Nuggs and both were delicious with a hint of Thai spiciness but not so spicy as to cause discomfort and pain. The sweetness of the spring rolls was refreshing balanced with the tingle of the spicy peanut sauce. I came super hungry while my date was less so, I ate all the chicken (she's a vegetarian) and half the roll and I felt totally satisfied. The bar program really feels well thought out with little to no fluff added. We had 4 different items from the drink menu and each one was great. The "Protect Ya Cuke" was the best cucumber gimlet I'd had in Gainesville, and the "Buzzwords" cocktail was a pleasantly unique journey for a scotch lover like myself. The "Springtime in the Bronx" reminded me of drinking fun drinks by the pool in August and the "Hai Chi" was a great twist on Thai Tea although I think if I ordered it again I would have them make it a double as the bourbon gets a little lost in the sweetness of the rest of the drink. The atmosphere feels higher classes than Gainesville is used to with beautiful murals on the walls and dim (maybe too dim if you need to read the menus) lighting in the bar area which makes it feel like a classy New York city hotel bar. The music was a great mix of old school hip hop jams all night. I can't wait to see how Wayward Fox develops over time as they really find their stride.
We really enjoy Crane Ramen and were excited to try this place out, but it let us down in a few ways. First of all, the food was pretty good--the dishes are creative and tasty, but didn't blow our minds. Alcohol beverages were small for the cost and did not taste great. Now for my biggest gripe. So, this place is counter service, not full service. What is particularly awkward is that the food/drinks are a bit pricey, and you pay upfront and are confronted with a tip line for service (in our case, our bill was 60, so a 12 tip at 20%). How can you tip for service (particularly 12) if you haven't received any yet and it's not full service? You really don't even realize the level of service provided until after you order, when you find out fountain beverages are self-serve and you pick up your own plates/silverware. I have no problem paying a 20% tip for even average service because I know oftentimes wait staff aren't paid a living wage, but this situation was really off-putting. It would help to switch to paying after your meal where you can tip an amount appropriate for the level of service received. UPDATE 1/10/2020: How cool of the owner to respond and change their process! Thank you! Star added :).
I was excited to try this place because it reminded me of another restaurant - Piggy Smalls (it’s in Hawaii). Unfortunately, this restaurant did not live up to my expectations. The food is decent. But the restaurant needs to be more organized. It looks understaffed and has poor space utilization.
Loved my first trip to WayWard Fox. You can tell a lot of time and thought went into creating both the food and drink menu. We went with a group of 4 and split small plates. Loved it and will be back. The Korean BBQ fries were my favorite.
Walked in and was treated like family. Hospitality at its finest. Bing Bam Boom, it was like they read my mind. Food was delicious and service was quick. Thank you chef and staff.
Cocktail menu was very creative and purposeful. Good vegetarian options on the dinner menu. Trendy vibe that's still authentic Gainesville.
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