By DEREK KALISH
Contributing Writer
Most Thursday nights, college students crowd the entrance of Mild Wally’s on Quail Street for $1 cheese slices.
“I know that when I’m broke and hungry, I’m going to scrape the change off my dresser and get a slice from Mild Wally’s,” said Robert Borovec, a local college student.
The $1 slice grew out of a marketing strategy brainstorming session among the managers at Wally’s, said owner Brian Kovelman.
“Around five or six years ago we had 50 cent slices,” said Kovelman. “There really isn’t a lot of money to be made for the dollar slices. It’s about getting menus in the customer’s hands and exposing them to the environment.”
The dollar slices, however, are not Mild Wally’s only attractive option. A variety of other selections are available for customers with more money to spend.
Wally’s fresh jumbo chicken wings come in 15 different original flavors, ranging in price from $6.25 for 10 wings to $22.99 for 50. The shop also runs a Monday special and cuts $5 off a 50-wing order.
“We do quite a few things that stand out but wings are our most popular order,” said Kovelman. “Honey BBQ is the most popular non-spiced, and Buffalo medium is the most popular spiced flavor.”
Long-time employee Brett Gold said there are other customer faves as well.
“Our hickory Philly steak is unique, I don’t think anyone makes it the way we do,” said Gold.
Wally’s also recently added the Chef’s Choice options to the menu, for customers with a more sophisticated palate.
All of these selected items have been marked with a black circle containing “CC,” written inside the menu, or the choices can be found grouped together under the “C
hef’s Choice” section of the menu. These include the chicken penne alfredo, and the Hickory Philly Steak Sub mentioned before. Most items range from $4 to $7, but a large order of wings can still be more expensive.
Albany is full of hungry college students but it’s also swarming with other food establishments, and this can make running a business hectic.
Wally’s is at Quail at the intersection near Western Avenue, right next to the new Chicken Joe’s, and only 350 feet from the Quail Street Market. That thoroughfare is home to other successful pizza parlors including Paesan’s, I Love New York, and Madison’s. The competition is certainly fierce.
“It is certainly exponentially more difficult than it would appear,” Kovelman said. “There are different customer bases.”
Between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., most Wally’s customers are folks who work in the neighborhood. During these hours, the slices with special toppings are most popular.
When evening turns to night, from around 11 p.m. until early morning, about 1 a.m., Wally’s switches gears and prepares for the rush of cheese slice orders.
The store employs about 27 or 28 mostly part time workers throughout the work week, but even so, “it’s hard to keep up,” said Kovelman.
“We’ve been here a long time, and we know what we’re doing, this is an Albany institution,” Gold said. “Places come, places go, we’ve lasted a long time and we’re not going anywhere.”
