ORLANDO, Fla. – Wally's Mills Avenue Liquors, Inc. closed its doors last year. But the popular Orlando bar has since reopened.
Here are five things you need to know about Wally's.
1. Wally’s reopened June 17, one year after closing its doors. During that time, the wildly popular watering hole got a refresh by designer Reid Pasternack.
2. The infamous wallpaper is still there (topless women of the 1960s). The wall dividing the bar and liquor store got knocked out. The bar top and ceiling hangings are new. But you’ll notice throwbacks throughout the place, like very specific dispensers taken from the bathrooms, now on full display.
3. Wally’s is a family-owned joint, first opening in 1954 by Wally’s father. It started as a liquor store, then became a bar too, several years later.
4. Cindy Melchor has been a bartender there for 25 years. "I mean, it's just like part of my heart and soul," she said. "It is sentimental. So yea, we've made friends. They're like family now."
5. In case you’re wondering, Wally’s is now smoke-free.