Photo by David Lawrence

Wally’s Mills Avenue Liquors closed suddenly in late August, following the poor health of then co-owner and ops manager Martin Snellgrove, who passed way not that long after. People lit candles at the door for weeks.

Despite the surprise closure, the property quickly sold to a new owner who has remained a mystery until this week; Minesh Patel. The small-scale developer and owner of Beacon HOA Landscape Management (Website) told Bungalower that he has been taking his time with his development team to come up with the perfect project plan to bring the Mills 50 icon back into working order and that it will indeed remain as a bar and package store.

Editor’s Note: Patel also happens to own the nearby building that will house Pizza Bruno’s new “Slice” concept. More on that later. 

Minor work has already begun with basic touches that included fixing a leaking roof and replacing some of the ridden-hard-put-away-wet interior. A new AC unit is in the works as well.

Patel has retained the talent of interior designer and Orlando native, Reid Pasternack (Website), to try and polish up what is already there and restore/enhance it rather than replace or remove any of its rich history; including the infamous “booby” wallpaper. Even the old drive-thru window has been left untouched, just in case Patel decides to use it sometime in the future.

That being said, one big change for the venue is already on the books; it will be non-smoking inside.

“We’ve been busy peeling away layers of nicotine.” – Minesh Patel

While Patel only recently met with the City of Orlando to present the scope of his Wally’s project, he has already been accepted into the Permitting Express “FastPass” lane at City Hall and the newly-refreshed Wally’s Mills Ave Liquors is expected to open in late February. With as many of the old staff as possible, provided the timeline remains in place.

Brendan O'Connor

Editor in Chief of Bungalower.com

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  1. I hate smoker’s, but Wally’s will fail being non-smoking. They are eliminating their entire clientele. Don’t they want the regulars to come back?