Charlie and Sandra Wrape served 27 dinners on their first day of business. The year was 1973, and they had just opened a restaurant in a former bait shop on the shores of Wolf Bay in the tiny Baldwin County community of Miflin. Fifty years later, their daughter - Charlene Haber, continues her parents’ legacy operating Wolf Bay Restaurants (Foley and Orange Beach), Boutique (Foley), and Catering Services.
“Wolf Bay is still going strong thanks to the wonderful people in our local community and all of the out-of-town visitors that have dined with us throughout the years. My parents believed that when you do something, you better do it right. When it comes to making good food, it is so important to use fresh, high-quality ingredients and prepare them by hand. People have a lot of choices when it comes to dining these days. I want to make sure when they choose Wolf Bay, they always receive great tasting meals and wonderful service, just like when my parents were here,” said Haber.
At Wolf Bay Restaurant, which is known for its fresh Gulf seafood prepared using community recipes handed down through the years, they peel, devein, and butterfly every shrimp by hand. Even many of their salad dressings are made by hand.
“I think the most valuable thing that my mother and father ever told me was … get in there with your employees, work hard with them, and they will always give you 200 percent,” said Char. “I couldn’t do any of this by myself. We are a team, and I have developed a family here,” she said of employees, some of whom have been working for the restaurant since the 1970s.
Wolf Bay’s attention to detail, commitment to their customers, and hard work is most definitely appreciated by their customers.
They were recently recognized by Baldwin County voters in six categories for Big Beautiful Baldwin’s Best of 2023. Wolf Bay ranked first for Bartender – Gina Lee, Fried Seafood, Fried Shrimp, Best Local Business, Seafood Restaurant, Gumbo.