Every Orlando native knows that if you’re looking to grab a cute drink and a light bite with some friends, you’re not going downtown — you’re going to Mills Avenue.
Mills Ave, nestled between Winter Park and Downtown Orlando, is a mile-long strip expanding from Princeton Avenue to Colonial. The street is full of bars, restaurants, and a community that far outweighs the sweaty crowds of the city. Some bars have called Mills home for decades, like Wally’s, which, aside from a brief hiatus in 2019, has been open for nearly 70 years.
Like Brooklyn’s neighborhood Bushwick, the avenue is known for its artsy, grungy crowd and urban charm. Lil Indies and Grumpy’s Underground are alternative staples, often allowing local bands to share their music and hosting niche events.
If Will’s Pub culture is a little out of your league, there are tons of other options to choose from. Let’s start from the top, at the intersection of Colonial Drive and Mills Avenue, and work our way down to Princeton.
- Tori Tori
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21+ after 9 p.m., offers mocktails
Tori Tori is a Michelin-star Japanese pub created by Sonny Nguyen. Immediately upon opening in 2019, the bar was a huge success, thanks partly to Nguyen’s renowned reputation as the mastermind behind the “DOMU Dynasty” of Orlando.
Walking into Tori Tori, you’re greeted with warm ambient lighting paired with gold accents and a deep, sophisticated green that follows you from the front door to the lush plants of the patio. The vibe has a quiet luxury but maintains routine casualness — like pairing red lipstick with blue jeans.
The bar has an extensive cocktail menu, specializing in signature Japanese beverages with a modern twist. Among the most popular is the Toki Highball, a combination of suntory toki, supremely effervescent soda, and a lemon twist. They also offer small bites, from grilled avocado to blue crab & corn croquettes.
Tori Tori is definitely a pillar of Orlando and the perfect place for an after-work drink.
- The moderne
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21+ after 10 p.m., offers mocktails
Okay, this is cheating, but I couldn’t not mention The Moderne.
The Moderne is located just east of Tori Tori, at the intersection of Colonial Drive and N. Shine Ave — so it’s not technically off Mills. However, it’s easily a two-minute walk if you’re already exploring the strip.
Like Tori Tori, the classic bar has an array of Asian-inspired tapas, perfect for a mid-drink craving. There’s ceviche, sushi rolls, baos, gyozas, skewers, and even some vegan-friendly bites for those of us that stick to what my father calls the “bunny diet.”
The drinks are themed experiences, like the crowd-favorite Woman In White, a vodka-based cocktail with lychee, yuzu, and orange blossom water garnished with an aromatic fog bubble that covers the entire glass. If you’d rather stick to whiskey, they offer three Japanese Whiskey Flights at 1 oz pours.
The entire bar feels like you’ve time-traveled to 1960s Hollywood. You’re surrounded by pink palm tree wallpaper, lush greenery, and warm lighting. It’s the perfect place to sip on notes of honey and vanilla and live out your retro-glam dream.
- Wallys
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Wally’s is one of the few bars in Orlando that’s seen multiple generations come and go.
Roy and Walter Updike opened the bar in 1954, predating Disney World by nearly two decades. Although Walter passed away in 2008, his ashes still oversee the day-to-day in a safe spot by the front door.
Wallys’ vibe is unique to Wallys — there’s no other way to describe it. The bar is encased in their infamous “naked lady wallpaper,” there’s an iconic condom dispenser full of stickers and graffiti right next to the bar, and Polaroids hang all around the bathroom doors that capture just a glimpse of the thousands of laughs had over the years.
Orlando Magazine’s Tara Bradley Connell put it best, “You never knew what was going to happen once you walked inside. It had the nostalgic feel of the type of bars that were around long before sports bars and craft beer houses hit the scene. If someone asked, “Want to go to Wally’s?,” there was always a certain glimmer in their eyes. And, of course, you’d say yes.”
Although Wally’s underwent a renovation in 2019, the bar maintains its original charm. The renovator, Reid Pasternack, ensured the charm would remain intact by adding some fresh paint and a protective coating to the concrete; that way, it’s ready to host the next generation of people who stumble through its doors.
- grumpy’s underground
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21+ only
Grumpy’s Underground is exactly how it sounds — think underground dive bar that’s entirely too small, but that’s what makes it magic.
Grump’s is a music venue first and a bar second. On selective nights, they host performances from local bands, open mic opportunities, and comedy specials. The official Instagram is full of announcements of different events almost every weekend, and the community there is similar to Wallys — everyone knows everyone, and if you don’t know everyone, you will after the first round.
- Wills Pub + Lil Indies
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Select events 21+
Lil Indies and Will’s Pub are next door to each other and owned by William Walker. Walker opened Will’s Pub in 1992 to give local bands a space to perform and introduce the community to new creative talent.
Will’s Pub’s decor is eccentric, with colorful lights, various street signs, and a clear message that it’s been standing for three decades. Lil Indie’s came after and was initially going to be an art venue that would host art installations from different artists around the city. Unfortunately, this endeavor ventured outside of the city’s limits, and with a child on the way, the venue was turned into a bar instead.
Luckily, the two venues are still running successfully, and Walker opened a third concept, Dirty Laundry, just two years ago.
Dirty Laundry is a “metal tiki bar” in Lil Indies’ outdoor space. Like its sister venues, it hosts performances and events, including trivia every Thursday.
- Conrad’s Shanty
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Conrad’s Shanty is a tiki-themed dive bar hidden between a bridal tailor and a coffee shop — so basically, it’s the place you happen upon when you decide to leave the bar you’re at to barhop Mills.
Conrad’s is the type of bar that would exist had Tom Hank’s character in Castaway landed on an industrialized island instead of the middle of nowhere. Although small, it’s a classic Mills dive bar and the perfect place to end your evening.
- Alfies
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Alfie’s HiFi is a brand-new 70s-themed vinyl bar smack in the middle of Mills Avenue. The man the bar was named after, Alfie Mawardi, was a regular at Studio 54 in New York City. His son — who created and oversaw Alfie’s creation — drew inspiration from his father and various vinyl-listening bars in Tokyo, Miami, New York, and London.
Prior to its opening, Faiyaz Kara at Orlando Weekly stated that Alfie’s will have three different rooms, “The first with a 22-seat bar and high ceilings; a middle room with two sections for table service and a direct view of the DJ booth where “the music hits direct;” and a lounge with banquette seating and a dance floor.”
Although I have yet to see the bar for myself, it recently caught some attention on TikTok, so expect a minor crowd while you wait for your Sex Pistol.
- Sunroom + guesthouse
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21+, offers mocktails
Like the Will’s Pub trio, Guesthouse and Sunroom are right next door to each other and owned by the same people, Hurst Marshall and Ashley Dish-man. Guesthouse came first, opening in 2016, and Sunroom followed suit just three years later. The concept stemmed from the owners’ desire to own an Old Florida guesthouse with minimalist decor and plants that resemble being next to a lake.
Alexis Senior at Orlando Magazine describes Guesthouse as “charming and familiar, as many of the patrons stay sitting at the bar for hours—the same way family and friends might gather around the island of a kitchen.”
The Sunroom has a slightly different vibe and perfectly embodies “golden hour.” The atmosphere feels like sitting by the ocean in the afternoon sun, reading your favorite book. It’s the perfect environment for a 6 p.m. cocktail — bonus points if the sun rays reflect off your martini.
- Lamp & shade
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Offers mocktails
Lamp & Shade is a bar and kitchen that took over The Lamp Shade Fair, a lighting store previously in business for over 50 years. The decor pays homage to the building’s history, with various lamp shades available for photo ops and a giant “throw some shade” sign illuminating the bathroom hall.
Executive chef Ryan Stewart curated the Asain-inspired menu, offering bites ranging from Korean garlic bread to L.A. short ribs. The cocktail menu draws inspiration from the food, incorporating similar notes to create a cohesive flavor profile for the perfect tapa-beverage pairing.
The building is also complete with two murals. Inside, the back wall is home to an art-deco-inspired piece by Sumner Mormeneo that displays a woman with a TV for a head while other characters hide their faces behind lampshades. Outside, Cherie Bosela created a mural that memorializes the Pulse tragedy of 2016, with hundreds of scattered hearts forming a rainbow.
Even with being open for less than a year, Lamp & Shade is already a crowd favorite, so definitely book a reservation if you plan on coming in during the weekend.
If you want to go out for a drink without worrying about where you’ll park and whether you’ll have to walk a mile at 2 a.m. by yourself, Mills Ave is the solution. It has all the glam and trendiness of the cocktail bars off Orange Avenue without the hassle. No parking meters, no sketchy walks, and no getting harassed by strangers late at night (most of the time). Just the street lights, some friends, and a good vibe.