We first visited The Wolf on a Tuesday night, which also happened to be open mic night. The relaxing environment really stuck out to us, and it was so much fun enjoying some original music and delicious food. We have visited during lunch hours also and found the menu to be delightful and enticing, with very high quality food to choose from!
Overall Rating ★★★★
Food ★★★★
The Wolf has a breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu, as well as a bakery case and beer and coffee menu.
We tried the hummus plate as an appetizer, which was served with cucumber, carrots, and organic tortilla chips. The hummus itself was pretty mild, but it had a little bit of a garlic kick to it, which added nice seasoning. We also got the quinoa bowl special, which was made with grilled tomatoes, zuchinni and topped with mozarella cheese. This was much more flavorful.
We tried the Raspberry Chia Bar which had a thick layer of sweet crust and was topped with a raspberry chia spread and sprinkled with oats and almonds. We also tried the coconut roulade, which was very rich and delicious. They were also both gluten free which was very exciting!
Most of their bakery case is gluten free, with some vegan options as well, making the restaurant accommodating to different dietary needs.
They even have gluten free beer options as well as coffee that has been freshly roasted in house.
Tried and True Favorites:
- Slinger Bowl
- Daily Quinoa Bowl
- Kale and Artichoke Dip
- Kale and Parmesan Chicken Salad
- Black Bear Sandwhich
- Big Kahuna Burger
- Coconut Roulade
Quality ★★★★
The Wolf tries to use sustainable, local, and fresh ingredients as much as they can, with some organic options. They have organic oats, quinoa, and tortilla chips. Their meats and fish are of higher quality than most restaurants.
They use Chester Dairy milk and Windcrest Dairy Yogurt, which are not the highest quality, but they are local farms. They get their cheese from Heartland Creamery, which is also local and is hormone free.
All of their meat is hormone and antibiotic free. Their chicken is from Martin family farm, which is a locally owned family farm. The chickens have a fenced in chicken run around the chicken coop, and the chicken are organically fed. Their ham is from Todd Geisert Farm, which has pasture raised pigs. And the ribs are from Rain Crow Ranch, which have pasture raised and pesticide free grass fed cows, and are AGA Certified as being 100% grassfed. This quality of meat is much higher than at most restaurants and is a true gem for meat eaters. Grass fed meat is extremely healthy with many beneficial nutrients.
They are rated with 5 out of 5 stars in the Green Dining Alliance, indicating their admirable commitment to local, organic and sustainable practices in their restaurant! They compost and recycle 95% of their waste.
I had the privilege and pleasure of speaking at length with the head chef, Carl Zimmerman, who shared with me the restaurant’s high commitment to quality. They use grass fed, antibiotic free meat as Miriam stated previously, along with wild salmon when it is available to them. Carl advised me that 50% of their food items used are organic and he talked very enthusiastically about the restaurant’s commitment to serving high quality, unique and delicious food. He advised me that they are unable to label many of their foods as organic, because only portions of the dishes are certified organic.
Carl spoke with pride about how the restaurant has no microwave. Having no microwave is exemplary, given the little known fact that microwaves destroy food’s nutrients and are actually banned in other countries, such as Russia. ( I had our microwave removed a couple of years ago, when we did some upgrades in our kitchen. )
Their oils used are ghee, olive oil and safflower oil. Ghee and olive oil are good cooking oils. I don’t like safflower oil as much, but it is superior to other more processed oils and is GMO free.
Water is filtered, but not fluoride free.
90% of their food is made in house, so it is always fresh and homemade.
They use Companion and Breadsmith bread, which are both local and made fresh daily. The ingredients in the bread are not the best, but they are preservative free.
Atmosphere ★★★★★
The atmosphere is casual, comfortable and relaxing with nice seating outside for when the weather is nice. The staff is wonderful and check on their customers even though it is self serve in nature. In the evening when there is live entertainment certain nights, the environment is especially upbeat and enjoyable.
Service ★★★
Food is ordered at the cash register and brought out promptly to your table. The staff were friendly and did check on the food and removed used plates.
Price $$
Reasonable for quality and uniqueness of food, in the 10-15 dollar range for entrees.
Location:
15480 Clayton Road, Ballwin, MO
Check out their website for more details: The Wolf
