Finnie Haire originally launched the locally famous shrimp shack in the early 1980s from a train caboose. The restaurant is currently located in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on 75th and Vincennes.

Haire’s mother, affectionately called “Big Mama” by family, passed the shrimp recipe down according to Michael Haire Baldwin, nephew of Finnie Haire. Baldwin vividly recalls the afternoon, back in the ‘70s, when his grandmother called him and Haire into her kitchen to teach them how to make fried shrimp. The experience has since become a treasured family story.

Haire’s Gulf Shrimp is a family business and a beloved part of the neighborhood.