Very few people can say they helped build a town’s restaurant scene from nearly nothing. Tamara Wintzell is one of them. For more than four decades, the restaurateur known to nearly everyone simply as Tamara has opened, sold and reopened more Fairhope establishments than most diners could list, and her longest-running venture, Tamara’s Downtown, has become one of the city’s best-known places to eat, drink and linger.
When she sat down for an interview in November 2022, Tamara was 43 years into her restaurant career and paring back to focus on the place that carries her name. Her story, from a New Orleans birth to a Mercedes dealership in Atlanta to the kitchens of the Eastern Shore, reflects how much Fairhope itself has changed. Forty years ago the town’s restaurant offerings were sparse. Today it is a dining destination, and Tamara had a hand in that transformation.
From New Orleans to Mobile by Way of Atlanta
Tamara was born in New Orleans and was just two months old when her family moved to Jacksonville, Florida. After two years of college, she sold insurance for Independent Life by day and began bartending at night. “Most people don’t know that I’m a full-blooded Puerto Rican,” she says.
From Jacksonville she moved to Atlanta, where her father was a stock car driver. She spent eight years working at a Mercedes dealership and picked up a bartending job at El Chico’s. Within a week, a regional manager asked her to become a manager. She trained in Dallas and was then transferred to Mobile for her first management job.
Her expectations for the Gulf Coast were not high. “All I could think of was rednecks, guns, and dirt roads,” she says. “They told me I could walk everywhere and wouldn’t need a car. Ha!”
Old Bay Steamer and a Career of Concepts
After nine months, Tamara left El Chico’s and moved across the bay to Fairhope to open the Old Bay Steamer, one of the first full-service restaurants in town. The concept grew, with locations in Gulf Shores, Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach. She eventually sold the restaurants, and the Old Bay Steamer in Fort Walton Beach was still operating at the time of her 2022 interview. “They are doing a nice job there,” she says.
Selling the chain did not slow her down. “I had lots of concepts for restaurants including a sports bar, a nightclub, a Mexican restaurant, and a tapas restaurant called Aurora’s where Little Whiskey is now,” she says.
By late 2022, after 43 years in the business, she had narrowed her holdings to Tamara’s Downtown, which had been open for 15 years, and The Venue, a wedding venue on Section Street in Fairhope. She said then that she planned to lease The Venue to Jenna Laine Weddings at the beginning of the following year so she could concentrate on the restaurant. “Keep the standards high,” she says of her goal.
Bloody Marys, Jazz Brunch and No Reservations
Tamara’s has been voted Best Bloody Mary Bar and Best Happy Hour by Best of Baldwin, and its Sunday Jazz Brunch draws crowds. “People are lined up outside as soon as we open,” she says. Guests waiting for a table can still get a drink from the bar. “As long as the atmosphere is inviting, the service and food quality is good, people don’t seem to mind a short wait.”
The restaurant does not take reservations, a policy Tamara adopted after too many no-shows. “I quit taking reservations because people didn’t show up. It just works better this way,” she says. On one Mother’s Day, she seated the first 130 guests while others waited patiently for tables to turn over.
The menu reflects a mix of Gulf Coast favorites and hearty classics. The most popular dishes include the Chicken Tamara, the Cowboy Ribeye and the Jubilee Pasta, while BBQ Shrimp and Escargot lead the appetizer list. “I love cheesecake,” Tamara says, “and our Strawberry Cheesecake is the best!” With enough advance notice, the restaurant also accommodates private parties, and holiday gatherings were already on the books when she spoke in November 2022.
An Owner Who Still Works the Line
Four decades in, Tamara still cooks every day. She works the line, runs food to tables and does whatever is needed to keep service moving. “I do it all,” she says.
Her management style is hands-on and exacting. Each day she lines up her staff to make sure they are dressed properly and reminds them of her standards and expectations. New employees receive a packet of her rules and regulations. When the restaurant is short-staffed, she takes tables out of service rather than let the guest experience suffer.
Like restaurant owners across the country, she has had to adapt since the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on controlling prices through smarter purchasing and reducing waste. Those pressures, from rising food costs to staffing challenges, have reshaped the industry, and operators who have survived often credit exactly the kind of close attention Tamara describes.
“The restaurant business is very rewarding,” she says. “It’s like the show, Cheers in a way. It’s like you’re entertaining in your own home. But believe me, you’re married to it!”
Giving Back to Fairhope and Baldwin County
Tamara is also known for supporting local nonprofits. Her contributions have included:
- Hosting a sponsor party behind The Venue for the Fairhope Witches Ride, the popular fall charity event in which costumed riders pedal through downtown.
- Helping Taste of Rotary by purchasing food at a discount for the annual event.
- Providing food for the Wine Festival that supports the Fairhope Volunteer Fire Department.
- Supporting the annual Police Ball.
- Running a holiday toy drive for Care House in Bay Minette and Family Promise in Robertsdale.
After Hurricane Sally struck the coast in September 2020, bringing damaging winds and flooding rains to Baldwin County and leaving many residents without power for days, Tamara emptied her freezer, cooked outdoors and gave food to people in need.
“I love Fairhope. Fairhope has been good to me,” she says.
Fairhope’s Growth as a Dining Town
Tamara’s career tracks the evolution of a city with an unusual history. Fairhope was founded in 1894 as a single-tax colony by followers of economist Henry George, who believed that taxing land value rather than labor would create a fairer society. The community’s idealistic roots, bayfront bluffs and walkable downtown drew artists, writers and educators for generations, and its flower-lined streets and municipal pier remain central to its identity.
The town also has a long relationship with food and gathering. Its Friday evening art walks, seasonal festivals and the spring Arts and Crafts Festival, one of the largest events of its kind in the region, bring thousands of visitors downtown, and those crowds need places to eat and drink before and after. Restaurants that can handle both a steady local following and sudden waves of out-of-town visitors have become a backbone of the city’s economy.
In recent decades, Fairhope and the wider Eastern Shore have grown rapidly, and the restaurant landscape has expanded along with the population and tourism. Downtown Fairhope now supports a dense cluster of restaurants, bars and cafes, many within a few blocks of Section Street and Fairhope Avenue. Early full-service restaurants like the Old Bay Steamer helped establish the idea that Fairhope could support a lively dining scene long before it became a regional draw.
Family, the Courtyard and What Comes Next
Behind the scenes, Tamara credits Pat Risby, her partner of 15 years, with helping keep things running. “He can build anything. If he builds it, I will run it,” she says.
Asked what she loves most about the business, she doesn’t hesitate. “The customers. Every day is a new day. I know that nobody has to walk through that door to dine with us, so I want Tamara’s to meet my standards. Through the years, I’ve experienced a lot of celebrations and happiness as well as sadness when friends lose a loved one.”
In 2022 she said her plans were to focus on the restaurant, with a menu change set for the start of the new year and more attention to the courtyard. “I’m going to focus on Tamara’s,” she says. Family is also a priority. “My two sons and my three grandchildren are all living in Fairhope now, and my 92-year-old mother is visiting. She loves coming to Fairhope and walks everywhere. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family.”
Planning a Visit
For diners planning to stop by, a few practical notes based on how the restaurant has operated:
- Tamara’s has not taken reservations, so arriving early is wise, especially for Sunday Jazz Brunch and holidays.
- The bar serves guests who are waiting, and happy hour has long been a draw.
- Private parties require advance notice, particularly during the busy holiday season.
- Menus, hours and policies change over time, so check with the restaurant directly for current details.
For more than 40 years, Tamara has been part of the story of how Fairhope learned to eat out. Her restaurant remains a reflection of her philosophy: high standards, a welcoming room and the belief that every guest who walks through the door has chosen to be there.