Milton’s Fox Hole closes

After a little more than two years in business, the Fox Hole in Milton has closed.

Founder Kristen Latham said the building at 102 Federal St. was sold and the restaurant could no longer afford to pay the rent. She said the Fox Hole’s brunch menu, served from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., has been integrated into Latham's main restaurant, The Dough Bar. In addition, Latham said, the four most popular menu items from the Fox Hole – chicken milanese, steak and frites, scallops and shrimp, and pork chop – will be incorporated into the Dough Bar’s menu in July. 

According to records with the Sussex County Recorder of Deeds, the property was sold to 102 Federal Street LLC; a listing from Coldwell Banker shows that the property was sold for $900,000 after being listed for $950,000. 

The Fox Hole took over the space that had been the longtime home of Cantina Ultima, which rebranded as the Dead Pig Tavern in 2019 before closing. Latham and partners leased the building in early 2020 and opened in March 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. 

It was the beginning of a run of bad luck for Latham. Her first venture, Suburban Farmhouse, located across from town hall on Federal Street, was a popular social spot for Miltonians to gather in the morning. 

After the building’s lease ran out, Latham regrouped and planned to open a new version of the Farmhouse across the street at 105 Federal St., which also housed her retail shop, The Speckled Roost. That building, however, was destroyed in a fire in September 2020, and did not reopen until late 2021, when it was leased to the Milton Arts Guild. She then refocused efforts on the Fox Hole and the Dough Bar, which opened next to Irish Eyes and has become a popular spot for its view of the Broadkill River and pizza-centric menu.