Kelly's to open Allston location

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

According to this article in the Allston-Brighton TAB, Kelly's Roast Beef is taking over the former location of Marty's Liquors at Harvard and Comm Ave.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/allston/ne...

I entirely support this.

[TroyOLeary]

Kelly's is open for business. Can anyone comment on the quality of the roast beef?

[chuck s]

Kelly's in Allston is set to open this Thursday, May 27.

[Taralli]

When I went by this morning, they looked ready to open w/some workers there at 6:20am.

[CocoDan]

I have never been able to get the attraction to Kelly's. Tried it a few times, and felt ripped off. Their food is very random (and greasy, and overpriced). Not very chowish to me.

I'm glad it makes those that frequent it happy. For sure there are places I love, others may hate.

Just chiming in!
Enjoy,
CocoDan

[cherrytomato]

Their roast beef sandwiches and onions rings are really delicious. Not everything there is good but it's a guilty pleasure.

[hiddenboston]

It's funny--the one thing I don't really like at Kelly's is their roast beef! (Go figure.) Oh, and their fries are nasty, IMO. I love their burgers and hot dogs, though, as well as their rings.

[scratchie]

I love onion rings but I find Kelly's to be tasteless. Like their fries. Roast beef is good, but a little dry; nowhere near as good as Riley's was. <sniff>

[hiddenboston]

It's tough to beat Nick's in Beverly for roast beef.

[hargau]

after my last visit i swore the place off. Soggy-thawed lobster meat that tasted like cold wet sponge with no flavor. Lousy fries with cheese wiz on them. Fish sandwhich with crappy quality fish. $35 wasted

[cherrytomato]

I take back what I wrote. I ate there tonight in Natick and it was pretty underwhelming. The onions rings were too battery and crunchy. I like them lighter. The roast beef sandwich was not very good and the fried clams were cold. I did not touch one french fry because they did look bad.

[TroyOLeary]

I have to say I've noticed a very big difference between the original Kelly's (Revere Beach) and all of the others (Natick, Medford, etc.)

The last time I had a roast beef in Medford the beef was grey and the sandwich a mess. The last time I had a roast beef at the Revere Beach location the beef was soft, pink and delicious, the bun was buttered and hot, and the bbq sauce was perfectly tangy.

Hoping the Brookline location is up to snuff.

[southie_chick]

Whenever I go to the Medford Kelly's, I order my beef rare - that way the beef is pink (their version of rare is not too bloody). I'll only go there or Revere, & no one I know has anything good to say about the Natick location so I'd avoid that one at all costs. HATE the new o-rings now - the batter is WAY too heavy. I stick with the fries so I can have something to put the tartar sauce on. ; )

[TroyOLeary]

The storefront now has a banner hanging from it that says "Now Hiring"

Don't remember whether signage was in place, but that would indicate things are moving along...?

[Allstonian]

The new awnings were installed this week, and furniture and decor is going into place inside (I noticed a carousel horse a couple of days ago.) Not sure how much work is still pending in the kitchen, but they're clearly pretty close.

[Ruprecht]

Can anyone comment on whether the quality of the Kelly's in the Natick Jordan's Furniture is representative? I've been there a couple of times and found it unremarkable, wondering whether it's just not my thing or if some of the other spots are better.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

I think I ate at that one once and wasn't particularly impressed. Although as many people have remarked upthread, the Kelly's mystique is really as much about the total experience as it is the food, so really none of them will ever touch the Revere Beach location.

[southie_chick]

Haven't tried the Natick location, but both the Revere & Medford / Wellington Circle locations food are about equal. Revere does have a better view, & the seagulls there made Rachel Ray run screaming down the beach during an episode of her $30 a day show (or whetever it's called) so I gotta give props to that location. However, the Medford location has both parking & a drive thru window (and it's right off the highway) so it's more convenient. I order my roast beef rare, & make sure you get the tartar sauce for the fries - they rock like that. Then again, you could put the tartar sauce on anything & I'd probably eat it 'cause it's soooo good. Not liking their rings lately - it seems like they're making the batter heavier & crunchier. Prefer the rings from The Hingham Loberster Pound but they're closed 'till March.

[Joanie]

I've found the clams to be better at the Medford one. And yes, we talked about their change in onion ring style which is a drag.
Had a decent crab roll at the Natick location quite a while ago.

[nsenada]

I kept hoping a tidal wave of dirty needles and Long Island whitefish could have swept her away during the filming of that show.

[Joanie]

I ran into RR at Jim's Cheesesteaks in Philly and gave her a bunch of Boston places to go to but she passed on them, ha ha.

[hynespb]

Any updates on this yet? I am fiending for a new quick lunch spot.

[Joanie]

I walked by last nite and it looks like there's sill a lot to be done. On the other hand, it was a return to 1990 with bands at Wonderbar, just like the good ole (?) Bunratty's days.

[devilham]

Bunratty's was my spot. They had the coin-op pool tables in the basement, and me and my crew would shoot pool there during the days (it was open during the day, but almost no one would be there). I can still smell the stale beer and pine-sol that would wafte out the front door in the day time......I miss old Allston (pre-Allston village, more Allston Rock City)

[devilham]

This post makes me miss Riley's Roast Beef.......remember the Riley burgers at 1AM in the morning? Pure bliss

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Wait, you mean something good was actually in that space once? It's the worst restaurant in the nabe now, and in Allston, that's saying something!

[Janiekins]

Kellys is nothing but greasy overpriced food!

[StriperGuy]

Totally completely disagree and I think a lot of other hounds would disagree as well. I like the roast beef, and the do a respectable job on fried seafood and even a lobster roll. Prices are pretty reasonable compared to other places to get a lobster roll, etc.

Please do tell another place in Boston that serves a comparable menu of approachable food at better prices. I'll be there tomorrow.

[trufflehound]

I enjoy RB sands and clams at the Natick location. Maybe a couple bucks more than some, far less than others for the portion, including the rings on top.

[pemma]

I disagree, too. Kelly's fried foods are actually not too greasy. And, the food overall is a pretty good value considering the quality.

[sheila]

I've to agree with Janiekins. Even though I don't think their food is greasy, it has been going downhill and is on the pricey side for a fast food type restaurant.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Ooh, tell me about all the fast-food-type restaurants in town with cooked-to-order belly clams! I didn't know those were on the menu at McDonald's now!

[StriperGuy]

My point exactly. And I honestly think they make one of, if not the best roast beef sandwiches around. Particularly if you get it with extra horseradish sauce and just a dash of bbq sauce. Dang.

[phatchris]

I actually like everything except the roast beef. Just too thick cut for my liking.Would much rather go to Pete's or Beachmont. That being said it will be the best roast beef in Boston proper.

[StriperGuy]

Do tell, where are Pete's and Bachmont?

[galangatron]

beachmont roast beef is right next to the beachmont train station on winthrop ave in revere

[phatchris]

Pete's is on North Shore rd in Revere and Beachmont is right by the station.

[joth68]

Have you tried Liberty Bell in Southie? I think they do a better beef than Kelly's.

-----
Liberty Bell Restaurant
466 Main St, Woburn, MA 01801

[pemma]

Kelly's is really a notch above typical fast food and the prices are a notch above, too. Even their is a notch above. In Medford at least you order at the counter, but they bring your food to the table.

[hotoynoodle]

i've only been to the revere location. my clams are never greasy, breading just right and the fries are better than lots elsewhere. although i don't get to allston much, that may change, lol.

[psora]

Well I don't exactly dream of it because I miss it so much, but Rileys was better than any place that's been there since. Mainly because they didn't think their entire audience was drunk students, incapable of caring about the quality of the food or the price or the cleanliness or if they got exact change or...

[Allstonian]

And that's because Riley's was there long before the neighborhood became dominated by drunk college students. I think they opened some time in the early 70s.

[PinchOfSalt]

They certainly were there by 1977. (I lived on Aldie Street - literally the other side of the tracks from that part of Allston - from 1977-1982).

[hotoynoodle]

wasn't riley's on the other end of harvard? the blanchard's end?

[Allstonian]

Yes, it was in the space that is now Mitti's, AKA Redneck's.

[BobB]

I was a BU student who lived just across the footbridge from that part of Allston in 1972 and it was my favorite 2AM food stop, drunk or not..

[pemma]

Gee, I remember going to Riley's as a drunk college student in the 70's. Was I a trendsetter?

[hotoynoodle]

yeah, i was a drunk student there in the mid-80s and worried i was too drunk to remember where it had been!

[Northender]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but there were plenty of drunk college students in that neighborhood back in the early to mid 70"s - can't tell you how I know this but trust me.... (: Riley's served many generations of college students over the years as a late night destination - particularly for those who were a little afraid of Buzzy's!

[Allstonian]

Perhaps it's just that the college crowd weren't the overwhelmingly dominant population of the neighborhood at that time. There were, for example, actual children and teenagers who lived in the area (like myself and my siblings and many friends) who went to Riley's for after-school snacks, so it wasn't *just* a late-night desitination.

[devilham]

Ooooooooh Buzzy's!!! Me and my freind would careen down storrow drive at all hours of the night to get us some Buzzy's!!!! In retrospect, a very dangerous proposition (we tended to be drunk), ahh my mispent youth.

[nsenada]

Riley's was my drunk post-Bunratty's food of choice. They were actually not that bad, I think I ate there in the daytime once and found it edible.

[psora]

Oh good, I've actually been hearing that rumor for months, almost since Marty's closed, but never saw anything concrete. Thanks for the update.

[chuck s]

I have mixed feelings. I grew up on Revere Beach and spent my teenage years hanging out in the back room eating roast beef sandwiches and drinking frappes. Now many years later, I still make the trip to the Beach from Coolidge Corner. Having one just a half mile away might change the whole ritual.

[yumyum]

No no Chuck. It's still worth the pilgrimage to the original Kelly's. I do it once or twice a year even tho the Medford location is much closer and more convenient. Had a GREAT scallop roll from there this week ... sweet and meaty!

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

I concur: while it will be lovely to have a good roast beef sandwich a 12-minute walk from my house, that will never replace the whole ritual of the Revere Beach trip. Unless, of course, they put a Kell's Kreme down the block. Then Revere Beach can go pound sand.

[StriperGuy]

I'm with YY and BFP Chuck. NOTHING can replace the original. The original is not even entirely about the chow. It is one of the defining Boston experiences, period.

Even better if a seagull swoops down and steals a fry or two from your lunch as the waves slosh around Revere Beach.

[bornagainitalian]

and the hypodermic needles lap up onto the shore. I get the love, however complicated. Great news, going through the Kelly's drive-through in Natick just seemed... isolating.

[StriperGuy]

LOL, glad you said it, I came this close. No kidding I have actually seen some rather unsavory trash washed up on the beach back in the day. These days they do a pretty good job of raking up the junk.

[hyde]

yeah, I was just thinking "maybe they could put in a bianchis pizza down the street" and then i might never leave the neighborhood...

[chuck s]

That's my one-two combo.

[lergnom]

If they open a Kell's in Allston, I'll have to move or resign myself to an extra 20 pounds.

[StriperGuy]

Yes, FTW.

Nice scoop Barmy.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

I bow to Allstonian, who was the first one who noticed.

As she points out, though, this is gonna be the final death knell for Mitti's/formerly Redneck's. Hope something good opens in that space once they shut down. There's a surprising dearth of good pizza in this neighborhood, maybe Pinocchio's can open a branch.