The Machus Red Fox, ya see, was this joint on Telegraph Road up in Bloomfield Hills, just north of Detroit. It got real famous when Jimmy Hoffa, the big union boss, vanished without a trace on July 30, 1975.
Harris O. Machus opened the place in ’65. It wasn’t just any spot; it was the gem in his chain of restaurants and bakeries. Fancy joint, real high-end, done up in some English country style with hunting club vibes. Could seat about 270 people, so it wasn’t no dive.
Come ’96, the place shut its doors, and an Italian spot, Andiamo, moved in. Poor Harris Machus kicked the bucket in 2001.
Now, let’s get to what happened the day Hoffa disappeared. Hoffa left his home in Lake Orion around 1 p.m. and made a pit stop to visit a friend in Pontiac. By 2 p.m., he rolled up to the Machus Red Fox in Bloomfield Township, set to meet Detroit mob enforcer Anthony “Tony Jack” Giacalone and New Jersey mob figure Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano.
At 2:15 p.m., Hoffa called his old lady, Josephine, saying nobody showed up for the meet. That was the last anyone saw or heard from Hoffa. Word on the street is he was planning a comeback with the Teamsters, and some folks didn’t like that idea. They say he was iced by his enemies.
By August 2, the Feds got involved. Over 200 agents sniffin’ around in Jersey, Detroit, and a bunch of other cities. They found Hoffa’s green Pontiac Grand Ville unlocked in the parking lot on August 1st. The FBI even set up shop in the Red Fox’s banquet hall for a few days.
Because Hoffa disappeared from the Red Fox, the place got a rep. People started comin’ around just to see the spot where Hoffa was last seen. Harris Machus was worried sick about his place’s rep, but folks kept comin’, lookin’ for a piece of the mystery.
Hoffa was declared legally dead in 1982, but his disappearance is still burned into the collective consciousness of the American people.