UPDATE: The Wally’s management team has announced that the official opening will be on Monday, June 17.
When Wally’s Mills Avenue Liquors closed suddenly in late August of last year, Orlando residents were in a fit wondering what would happen with the popular Mills 50 watering hole.
We then told you in December 2018 that a new owner, in the form of small-scale developer, Minesh Patel of Beacon HOA Landscape Management, had purchased the property in the hopes of restoring it and reopening it under the same name.
Patel also happens to own the nearby building that will house Pizza Bruno’s new “Slice” concept.
Patel is finally almost ready to open the Wally’s space back up to the public to show off his team’s hard work – which you can see for yourself in the following video before the opening.
Patel enlisted interior designer and Orlando native, Reid Pasternack (Website), to lead the charge on the restoration work which included extensive renovations of the roof, and interior due to years of escalating water damage.
The infamous “booby” wallpaper was de-cigarette smoked and restored with painstaking care. The bar tops were redone with a thin veneer of stained concrete. The wall paneling was uncovered from layers of what we’re just going to call “gunk,” cleaned, and reinstalled with some newer pieces using a specialist manufacturer in San Francisco. The liquor bottles are expertly backlit. The original drive-thru window has been uncovered and reworked as a nod to the past alongside framed photos that were found on site or donated from long-time patrons.
Changes include a new non-smoking rule and no live music for the foreseeable future.
Things that didn’t change include some colorful bathroom art, the package store by the main entrance, and Wally’s ashes are still on premises (albeit in a safer location than behind the bar).
Wally’s is expected to open the week of June 17th to the public.
Wally’s regulars should be happy to hear that longtime OG bartender Cindy Melchor will also be returning to sling drinks from the newly-resurfaced bar.
