It’s been a part of Birmingham’s bar scene for decades, but it has new owner.

Billy’s Tavern on Sixth Avenue South reopened this month, after new owner Jesse Thompson spent several months renovating the interior.

“Everything but the bare bones of the place is different,” he said. “The physical aesthetic of the place is all new. It wasn’t in very good shape. It was very dark, not much lighting. It wasn’t very inviting.”

Thompson, 39, is a veteran of Birmingham’s drinking establishments. He started back in 2007 at the Blue Monkey Lounge and was at Lou’s Pub & Package Store for 12 years.

But while he added new seating and pool tables, Thompson said he wanted to preserve the dive bar feel of the building – a friendly, casual, welcoming social place.

“The feedback has been phenomenal,” he said. “Walking in, you’d think the place had been open 50 years, and it has.”

Take the outside as well. Billy’s stands out for two reasons – there’s the colorful Coca-Cola Santa Claus mural that adorns one wall of the building’s exterior. Then, not a few feet away, is the old Coca-Cola sign out front, which actually misspells the business’ name as Billie’s Tavern.

What gives?

To understand that, you have to understand the history of the place.

Once upon a time, Billy’s Tavern was a gas station, built in the 1940s, Thompson said. It was converted into a bar in the late 1950s, and former owner Billy English took over in the early 80s. Coca-Cola gave him the sign, but the sign maker misspelled his name. He just rode with it.

Now, more than 40 years later, it’s a conversation starter.

Thompson bought the bar in February from English shortly before his death earlier this year.

“When I took the place over, that sign was all faded out and didn’t work,” he said. “I repainted the name. It kind of adds to the dive bar aspect in that, 10 feet away from it, is a different spelling of the name.”