Meet the new owners of Howlin' Wolf Bar who were in the same year in an Orange high school but only became mates in the business they now own.
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Ben Abraham, Luke Symons and Scott Mileto moved to Wollongong to study business and engineering at university. But in the process they all realised their shared the same passion for whisky and hospitality.
The three 25-year-old’s took over from Howlin Wolf’s previous owner Manny Mavridis last week. They worked there at various times and even lived together for a while while studying. So when they heard the bar was for sale recently they decided to pool their resources and buy it.
“Ben and I worked together and Scott and I just drank a lot together. So this seemed the next logical step. I guess you could say we dropped out of uni and bought a bar. I did it because I love hospitality. I’m a social person,” Mr Symons said. Mr Abraham said “this is what I want to be doing. It is a dream”. For Mr Mileto, who managed Howlin’ Wolf two years ago, this is his second bar ownership venture after opening Washington & Co in Orange.
All three love the hospitality lifestyle and interacting with people which will be a feature of their ownership at Howlin’ Wolf where they have kept the same crew. The one thing they have already done is to introduce a big selection of craft beer and they are expanding the range of whisky.
“One thing we do well is we talk alright. So when we get behind the bar we just do that,” Mr Abraham said.
”Whisky is still the focus but we have introduced more than 25 craft beers. And we are going to have a big focus on cocktails which will rotate monthly. We have about 150 whiskies now and we are aiming for 300 within six months.”
The new owners think the best thing about Wollongong night scene is variety and every bar and venue being unique.
With many more people about to live in new units in the Corrimal Street area and a number of venues making changes they think there is plenty of choice that will bring more people into town.
His Boy Elroy is on the move and will reopen soon in a new location in Keira Street and Three Chimneys will reopen soon after being sold and undergoing a complete refit.
Entertainment will continue at Howlin’ Wolf.
“Fridays we have live music and on Saturday DJs. We are open 4pm to midnight Tuesday to Saturday and 4pm to 10pm on Sunday. I think it is a good time to be in lower Crown Street,” Mr Abraham said.
The new Howlin’ Wolf owners would all like to expand and open more bars in NSW.
They also plan to hold two Women Who Whiskey events a year and will reveal all soon on Howlin’ Wolf Bar’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HowlinWolfwollongong/?fref=ts.