I was this close to five star review, but alas just not enough to put this Sam Fox creation over the top. That said, this is unquestionably the best Fox restaurant I've patronized to date. Excellent service, great ambiance, and super tasty food. As with other Fox restaurants, the prices are a little out of line. But this one was close.\n\nMy Mom had a Fox gift card and was looking to try a Fox spot she hadn't tried before. I've been to the Yard numerous times, but never set foot next door into Little Cleo's. Seeing mostly positive reviews about this place, we gave it a try. Its a small spot located within a small Fox megaplex of restaurants on 7th St between Bethany and Missouri. Across the way from the Yard and around the corner from Culinary Dropout, is a smaller more refined restaurant called Little Cleo. Inside the restaurant is an open kitchen that backs up to the Oyster bar with restaurant style seating on the perimeter. We opted for restaurant seating with a view of The Yard. My Mom had actually never been to this complex before so it was quite a lot for her to take in.\n\nMy Mom and I were both hungry so we started with their shrimp cocktail. For $14, we got 8 jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce that went heavy on the horseradish. Good shrimp and the sauce had a pretty good kick. We also split some garlic potato fries with aioli sauce. I'm pretty sure I've had these exact same fries at The Henry, but they were good nonetheless and perfect for sharing at $5. \n\nFor a main course, my Mom went with the King Crab salad which was basically a BLT salad with crab laced in there. My Mom said it was good, but we both agreed they probably shorted her on the crab a bit. For $16 she probably should've gotten at least a few more good chunks of crab to spread throughout the salad. For my dish, I went with the one dish seemingly everyone on Yelp has been talking about. The $24 Bouillabaisse. Basically a cioppino with scallops, mussels, shrimp, veggies, and spices. The fish were all cooked perfectly and soaked up that broth. Oh man, that broth was heavenly. All the richness you'd expect and more. Thankfully the bowl included some bread that I could use to soak up the broth. And you better believe I spooned up every last drop of that broth out of the bowl.\n\nWe decided to cap off the night by splitting their beignets. Because, well why not. Only these beignets came with caramel to dip in. Not overloaded with sugar like Cafe du Monde's beignets, but plenty of powdered sugar on those babies to be sure. Those beignets were without question my Mom's favorite dish of the night. \n\nWhen all was said and done, total price for the shrimp cocktail, fries, main courses, dessert, three glasses of wine, tax and tip came out to $130. Like I said, Fox isn't cheap and to be fair I knew this place was on the more expensive end (even for Fox). I actually feel the Bouillabaisse was priced fairly for what I got, but the king salad and shrimp cocktail were priced way too high for what we got. Still, our server was excellent, the aesthetics were cool, and the food was quite delicious. If you're looking to try this place but looking to save a little, I might recommend coming here during Arizona Restaurant Week in May and September. They typically discount their menu at least a few bucks and sometimes will throw in a freebie. \n\nThere are only so many good seafood spots to find in the valley. Little Cleo's is certainly among the better ones, though some pricing moderation would probably propel this place to become among the best in town.
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