By Jackie Orchard / Albany Student Press
Published On: April 30, 2019
Albany’s local pizza and wing delivery staple, Mild Wally’s, closed last Saturday, April 20th, after 28 years of service. Brian Kovelman, the owner of Mild Wally’s, started working there in 1991, and purchased the business in 1995. Since then, he has built a loyal customer base who depend upon his crispy wings. But, dedicated customers will not have to despair completely. Kovelman is replacing the every-day busy schedule of take-out orders with his new company, Wally’s Catering.
Kovelman’s nickname was never “Wally,” in fact, the name of the restaurant was never a reference to a person.
“It was a branding attempt by the previous owner who was trying to rename wings as ‘wallies,’” said Kovelman.
The name stuck, and has grown on him.
Many people have asked: Did Mild Wally’s close because it went broke? Kovelman says no. The money was never the problem, just the lifestyle.
“I am tired,” Kovelman laughed. “I work 70 to 75 hours a week, every single week.”
He purchased Mild Wally’s in 1995 and he takes pride in his work. Because of that pride, he never gave himself the day off.
In 2007, when Kovelman got heart surgery, he was back at work less than 30 hours later. He remembers the moment he got the call that his father passed away. He had to finish the catering order in front of him and count the day’s receipts before he could fly out for the funeral.
“I’m just trying to make my life a little more realistic and a little bit easier,” he said.
His new catering business will give his life some more predictability, creative freedom, and, according to Kovelman, “an opportunity to take things up a notch for my customers.”
At Mild Wally’s delivery restaurant, Kovelman answered the phone with a, “Mild Wally’s what can I make for you today?” and a friendly laugh. He also ran the counter, cooked food, and was constantly multi-tasking and running the catering sector.
“I’m going from a floodlight to a laser beam,” said Kovelman. Instead of having to keep a wide variety of food hot and ready for a moment’s notice delivery, he can instead prepare only what the catered event calls for, making it extra delicious.
“We’re Italian based. I serve a lot of marinara sauce. I serve a lot of Alfredo sauce,” but he makes fresh salads and sandwiches, too, and talks with the client to see what fits their needs.
Kovelman catered before as part of the Mild Wally’s delivery restaurant, he will continue to cater, just with less additional duties now.
“I’m just wearing a few less hats,” he smiled.
Kovelman is walking away with some very fond memories. Two days before he closed, two UAlbany alumni walked into Mild Wally’s to get one last wing fix before they closed.
Dave Hays and Jeff Grossman laughed and recounted “the good ol’ days” when they lived in Dutch and State Quad dorms and ordered late night wings.
“The later at night we ordered them, the hotter they would get,” Hays laughed. “There used to be a level called ‘absurd’ and we would get them- but that was when we still had hair.”
Hays called Grossman about Mild Wally’s closing after he saw the announcement on Facebook.
“I drove two and a half hours to come up for this,” said Grossman. “It sucks because this place is a landmark for our lives. It’s special to me. I even cranked Nirvana on the way here.”
Hays and Grossman both ordered wings and shook hands with Kovelman, who brought them out a box of old t-shirts and reminisced with them about how hot the wings used to be. Kovelman even handed them an old, tattered book of matches that says, “You’re drunk, we’re open.” They all cheered.
“It’s been great to serve as many people as we’ve served,” said Kovelman. “If I had to guess, we’ve employed 5, 6, 700 people over the years. People in their 60s, college students...” He is still in touch with many of them, and says he has learned from each of them.
“When we announced we were closing, we had the most heartwarming, wholesome, overwhelming, outpouring,” said Kovelman. “I never imagined it would be this kind of a send-off.”
As for what’s next, Kovelman is excited.
“Ending something that you’ve wanted to end for so long is a very joyous and satisfying thing,” he said.
But, he doesn’t want to completely abandon his fellow wing-lovers.
“I’ll also be the secret outlet,” Kovelman dropped his voice conspiratorially and whispered, “if you need your wings.”
Kovelman is still happy to supply wings and small orders to those who ask, so long as it lines up with his catering hours.
“If you and your five family members called me up and said, ‘Brian I need three pizzas and 50 wings for Thursday at 12:15.’ I would look at my books and say, ‘I’ve got a delivery here and a delivery here, ya I’ll run your order over in between.’”
How is Kovelman feeling now that the doors are closed and he’s on to the next chapter?
“Nostalgic,” he said. He looked off into the kitchen as though seeing the last 28 years there.
“Wally’s wouldn’t exist without the customer base,” he said, “I’m grateful for every one of them and grateful for every order, grateful for every time we messed up and they came back again, grateful for every bit of praise and feedback. Positive or negative. In the restaurant business you don’t fear the customer that calls and complains, you only fear the customer that doesn’t call you back.”
Even though Mild Wally’s Delivery restaurant is now closed, Wally’s Catering has your back. You can call Kovelman anytime to see if he’s available to drop off some wings for you and your family.
“If I can do it, I will,” he said.
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