New Restaurant Moving Into Downtown Foley's Historic Bakery Building

Everyone has wanted to know what is going into the old Bakery building in Downtown Foley  - or if you are a more recent transplant - the old cactus cafe building.  The wait is over.  The cat is out of the bag!

At Foley Main Street's biannual meeting, Mayor Ralph Hellmich announced that Colt Grill BBQ & Spirits will be taking all 10,000 sq feet of the old bakery building, and introduced owner Brenda Marie Coulton who shared her thoughts about the decision to open one of the grills in Downtown Foley.

Brenda Marie who owns and runs COLT Grill with her family, was on hand to talk to the Foley Main Street group about the reasons her team chose Foley, Alabama. 

“We grew up in a rural lifestyle, we love vibrant small towns that are trying to preserve their historic authenticity and traditions while navigating modern growth. Foley is one such town, and has so much to offer.  We are really enjoying living here, mainly due to Foley's charm; it's kind people, local beauty, and practically speaking, the way in which the City works with small business. When a person has a dream and saves their money to open a business in a community, they quickly learn the city's overall attitude toward small business as reflected in the regulations and system. Foley is quite impressive as compared to other cities, as we’ve found the building dept. to be stringent but equitable, and overall very efficient."

Harnessing her background in hospitality design and culinary recollections, Brenda came up with the original idea for COLT while traveling home from their residence in North Carolina in 2015.  

“Like many entrepreneurs, the idea was born from a void; in this case, a restaurant that we wanted to go to and couldn’t find. One that had good barbecue, healthy salads and juicy hand-ground burgers along with a cool bar, and a cozy dining room where you could easily hear your friends across the table. So, we created where we wanted to go. For us it's all about comfort while serving up high quality, handmade foods while keeping the prices as low as possible. There is an obvious difference between “Southern Hospitality” and “hospitality" in other states. We want to do our part to ensure these important friendly traditions live on. Our restaurants may look a little bit classy when you walk in, but they’re really just casual, affordable "walk-up and order” grills. You can dress up or down. Dusty farmers and fishermen are welcome right alongside those on “date-night.” We play great music (live and digital) have cozy upholstered chairs, and strive to give you welcoming hospitality with kindness."

Grateful for any success the restaurants have achieved, Brenda says she strives to give back to the communities where they do business. “We like to support and be involved in community events and help out as much as we can. I have a strong faith in God, and it's important for me to know that we are using our restaurants in a way that helps others. I also hope to partner with a local stable to create opportunities to connect children and horses in a way that provides healing and self-confidence. I have many ideas I’d love to try, so we’ll see!"

“Overall, we’re excited and grateful for the opportunity to open a business that we believe people will really enjoy, and look forward to building on the hard work of so many people over the years who've invested their time and resources to make Foley the wonderful place it is. We hope to provide an additional 'gathering place,' that adds to the quality of people’s lives."

The 5,000 sq. feet downstairs will be the restaurant and they will have three apartments and an office upstairs. Caring for their workforce led them to supply apartments for part of their team. The Coulton's have four Colt Grills in Arizona, this will be the first one outside of Arizona.

Mark Wright and Jeremy Friedman believed in this building enough to buy it and bring it back to life. When you are working with an historic building it is always a labor of love, sweat and tears.

Pictured: Mayor Ralph Hellmich, Brenda Marie Coulton, Darrelyn Dunmore Executive Director Foley Main Street, Chad Watkins President of Foley Main Street, and Donna Watts President CEO of the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce..

Downtown Foley has had numerous new businesses moving in since June of last year breathing new life into downtown.  South Baldwin Chamber moved back into downtown,  GypsyQueens Java has new owners Shay and Shelly Borodaj, Southern Shore Eats & Drinks opened it’s doors, along with Feast! Catering & Co.  Have you been to the Orange Courtyard lately?  Two new businesses  Paint Party Studios set up shop and we have acquired a new bookstore with Dorothy June Booksellers.  Continuing on Orange Ave is "As Seasons Change Down South" owned by Misty Garza - retail and flowers. The Christin Weaver Farmers Agency and Thrive Beauty Salon & Spa owner  Cambri Radford  - both moved in on South Alston St.  Last but certainly not least, Marcus Banks and Dana Dailey moved their restaurant The Gathering on to Laurel Ave a few months ago. 

But that's not all - coming by the end of the year we have Camelia Dermatology moving to downtown Foley. They are busy renovating the building and it looks great! The law firm Milam and Milam is moving into the old chamber building on West Laurel and of course, Alex Warner will soon be opening Cheeseburger Randy's on Alston along with a vegan bakery.  Michelle McConnell is taking the old Jan's Art Studio and converting it into the South Baldwin Social -  a shop to find fancy clothes for social events for women AND men! Michelle is shooting for a November opening.