Please note that location entries may feature older photos or post card views that may not represent the current appearance, features, addresses, phone numbers, or contact names of the attraction. This site is intended to be a historical as well as current record of various attractions but it is not always possible to have up-to-date information due to the vast number of locations featured here. We ask you consult the propietor for current information.
I have been researching an old sign on Saginaw and E Humphrey for a time as I have driven by it several times. My digging has led me back to Walli's so I will use this is an opportunity to expand on this small chain. The locations are as follows:
First off, the old sign on N Saginaw turned out to be the Walli's North location. This despite the fact the sign frame left behind as of 2025 does not match the shape of the original sign. Street addresses on Saginaw and Dort get confusing because they repeat. However, I found an old ad for Parker Appliance at 5398 N Saginaw and it indicated it was "next to Walli's Drive-In".
The old Parker Appliance building still stands today so that is 1 clue. The other is although 5414 N Saginaw does not exist anymore, it would make sense given the sequence of numbers in that area. Lastly, There was on old photo of the Hilltop Drive-In (which was once Walli's) and it showed the sign next to a fairly unique telephone pole which is still on the lot today. So, even though the top of the sign looks different, I can say that was Walli's North.
That area was "Walli's City" in some sense in that Walli's Supper Club was also right across E Humphrey from Walli's North. Across the street back off the road, there was Walli's Scandia Hall. The building still stands for that and it has Raywoods Memorial Hall on the side.
From MLive (In reference to the Pierson Rd location):
The restaurant opened in 1972 as Walli’s East as part of an expansion by founder Arne Walli.
Walli, who died in May 2014 at 93 years old, opened up the Richardson Rootbeer Stand in Genesee Township in 1950 alongside wife Frances.
A drive-in restaurant was opened in the vicinity in 1958 followed by the purchase of a garage three years later to open their first supper club -- using recipes from Frances -- on the same property as the drive-in. Frances Walli died in June 2005 at 83 years old.
The business expanded in 1964, with the new Walli’s West opening on West Pierson Road in Mt. Morris Township and Walli’s Scandia Hall built in 1969, across from the supper club. When the original supper club was a victim of fire in 1980, Arne built a new version behind Walli’s West.
Walli also had two laundromats and began to offer lodging for travelers to the area, building a hotel in 1976 to go along with the restaurants, along with a second location in 1972 at Walli’s East, where the current restaurant stands on Center Road.