Kelly’s Gastropub

Great place when they have live music all the college kids pack this place during the weekend. Food is good beer selection on the better side for the area. Nice location and ask for Duthie to be your bar tender

Not a lot of selection on beers and the second it gets cold outside I mean cold, not even snow, their lines for beers freeze up. So annoying…
Then we came for a football game last week and they had is random live music happening. What the?! We’re here for the game. We couldn’t even hear ourselves think! Live music, whatever, it’s fine but get real it was SOOOOOOOO LOUD.
Had their truffle fries – eh? No beer with it was a total disaster.

Ate outside, it was lovely. The system was a bit hazy, but we figured it out. the veggie burger was good. you get to pick from several varieties of French fries (Yucca was the clear winner, the polentas surprisingly not that great). The bloody mary was delicious!

Wish we sat outside… outside looked nice. We sat at the bar… was ok. Wine was meh… more of a beer place.
Had a app… the beef chilli rolls… not bad, quite nice.
Wouldn’t rush back unless to try outside.

Atmosphere and staff are very nice! Delicious appetizers, highly recommend the almond encrusted baked Brie along with their Ruben Spring Rolls! For the main course only one of the meals was perfect the second meal was sent back and replaced. The new meal was excellent and spot on! They recovered nicely, but I must admit their staff definitely saved the day!

The service was amazing (minus the hostesses being really awkward. They both stared at me when I walked up to them and I had to explicitly say «I want to eat here». They also let me seat myself and handed me a dirty menu). My server was great and the food runners were also super.
They also didn’t have a drink menu to give me because they «hadn’t printed out any yet». Wish I could comment on the drink selection but can’t. Had a glass of Pinot Grigio which wasn’t half bad. It was served in a nice custom wine glass with the restaurants logo laser engraved.
I got a burger that was okay. The beef was not that bad but the bun was strange and I couldn’t fit it in my mouth. I had to eat it with a fork and knife. The fries are okay – they’re thick and made fresh which is nice, but almost lazily thick.
I want to emphasize again how great my server was! She was really nice and super attentive and was really accommodating because I had a train to catch soon. Wish I could remember her name!

Went last sunday for the Jazz sunday brunch and it was great! 10 piece jazz band and was glad to see all ages playing. looked to me like a few high school kids too and they were tight! We were lucky enough to be able to sit outside and except for the occasional city bus it was quiet and sunny! Bloody mary was large and tasty. we had a group of 9 and had no issues with any meal. Steak and Eggs were great and i heard yums from those with fish and chips. Can’t wait to go back there again and explore the rest of the menu.

Dined here in a larger party. Everything was so mixed that I left with that «was that good or bad?» feeling. So I am going to make a list to sort out good and bad.
The good:
——
The fries. I consider myself equipped to really appreciate one food done well and that is the potato. The two varieties of french fries I tried– truffle and normal– were amazing.
The sauces that come with the fries. There’s about six and they’re all delicious. I liked the curry mayo and Cajun sauce the best.
The ambiance. They really have a nice restaurant with the setting I think they were going for. It felt like a cross between a light country kitchen and a techy pub.
The meh:
—–
The service. I think our waitress was nice and I think she got some complicated orders right, but I never once got a refill on my drink. I walked up to the bar to get it myself. Others at my table had a similar problem. There was also incorrect (severely short) change given, but that was politely sorted out.
The burger. I got a burger called the GCC burger with andouille sausage and a fried egg on it. It was a burger. I’ve had one done better elsewhere and I kinda wished I’d tried something else.
The bad:
—
The fish in general. I got to taste the trout and hear about the ale battered fish. Both seemed to be horrible concoctions that didn’t really work.
The beer list. As a self-​appointed beer snob pointed out: wow, they’re doing it all wrong.
In the end, this seems like a bar trying to be a restaurant trying to be a bar… And what you end up with is a mix of good and bad.

I recently rented the private party room at Kelly’s for 55 people. It’s always a challenge to satisfy that many people, and to get them into an area that’s intimate but spacious. Kelly’s private room absolutely nails having a casual affair in an inviting and modern space. The area is set up into three sections, dining, food serving and a lounge area to really space out. It also includes its own separate bar. Far more square footage than I’ve seen at a restaurants party rooms.
Prices for the party per person were fair, as was our final tally on the consumption tab we ran. Everyone raved about the food, as well as the bartenders. Staff was more than accommodating, and working with the Manager Jeanne was a breeze. She responded to my emails in a timely manner, and was open and available to keep me at ease.
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the cleanliness of the bathroom. There’s a private bathroom for the party space, but one of the waitstaff advised me that this space turns into a club at night — the bathroom visibly wasn’t cleaned after the previous nights dance party. I couldn’t exactly ask them to do it when I had 55 people sitting a few feet away from the door — I just wish this was handled. The rest of the party area was sparkling, even smelled like cleaning solution when we first got there. I’m confident this was an over sight. Reading other reviews Kelly’s seems to be short handed and this was evident for our party at times. I had to ask them to find a busser for the tables — again staff jumped on it — but I didn’t want to delegate work as much as enjoy the evening.
At the end of the day, we along with everyone else had a pleasant time and would even recommend others host a party here. The space they provide for a private party and the location is just awesome. We really enjoyed our time — and maybe for the next party they’ll have one or two more people on staff and power wash the bathroom.
Heads up; they offer A/​V hookups including a projector screen, MP3 w/​full audio. It was nice to make a playlist and save big money on a DJ.

Dria was a fantastic bartender! Dealt with a poorly pouring 668 and really delivered. Ate the Russell Henry skirt steak. Awesome. Props to the kitchen. Dave was incredibly helpful and great conversation.

I finally check out this place and was very please I did had a great time with my girlfriends. We eat chatted and enjoyed music from The group Family Affair. Great band.

The seafood quesadilla is so so so delicious as well as inexpensive. Definitely recommend it.

I was there early… Being alone in a strange city I wanted to eat an head to the hotel room. I was one of the only people there but the bartender was so sweet. She made a killer margarita and I had the biggest best hamburger I have had in years! Yay!

I’ve walked past this place a bunch of times, but with the live band and the bouncer yelling «Come on in, there’s no cover!» we decided to give it a shot.
The love music was highly entertaining. We came in to take shots, and I asked the bartender for anything that was 100% blue agave tequila that wasn’t patron. She grabs a bottle of Jose Cuervo Silver and I yelled over before she wasted any of it. She then asked me what was the difference, and while I was disappointed that she didn’t have a clue, she was very receptive to learning and wasn’t offended at all.
Overall we had a really fun Saturday night! They should really thank the band for the fourth star.

The food and service at Kelly’s are both consistently good, particularly their Irish specialties like the Shepherd’s Pie and Beef and Guinness Hot Pot. They have a decent number of draft beers and the selection is well curated, with a nod to standard pub beers as well as local breweries like Two Roads. The outdoor patio is great during the summer months and they have enough TVs scattered around that you can easily catch a game if you so choose.
Twice now, however, I’ve had to leave because they had a live jazz band start playing and the music was just deafeningly, obnoxiously loud. I’m probably biased as I can’t stand jazz to begin with, but when you can’t hear the servers and carrying on any sort of conversation is impossible, that’s not a great vibe. I enjoy earsplittingly loud concerts as much as anyone, just not when I’m trying to have lunch with friends.
Bottom line: go for the food and beer, but if you see instruments being set up, do your cochleae a favor and beat a hasty retreat.

Just had a rehearsal dinner here and the
Food was excellent and the staff was so friendly. Great place

Consistently good food here. I go as often as I can. They have a very nice, relaxed outdoor seating area, and this inside can be casual to upscale casual. It’s actually not as popular as I would think it should be, so don’t let the vacancy deter you.
I’ve had several experiences here with exceptionally great service, but once or twice had rather poor service. Worth the gamble, though, in my opinion.

The best feature of Kelly’s is the outside patio, and the prime location in New Haven. This makes Kelly’s excellent for things like watching major sporting events and lunch with the co-​workers. Kelly’s also seems to be popular for both locals and Yalies… it seems like a nice place to mingle and meet people on weekends. There’s also live jazz at their Sunday brunches. In fact, I like everything about Kelly’s except for the food, service, and prices.
The Unilocal!description of a two-​star establishment is «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» That describes perfectly how I feel about Kelly’s. Don’t get me wrong, the food is not bad. It’s just really standard pub fare. The service is also slow, especially if you dine on the patio. Since most people dine there, I’m surprised they haven’t addressed this. The last time I ate here I waited an hour for a sandwich. When we tried to ask the waiter to bring over an appetizer, he literally got flustered and ran off. So yeah, the service while not bad can be improved.
I feel bad ranking them so low, but they get so much business I’m sure my review will have minimal effect on the owners’ and staff’s livelihoods.

I can only speak for our band and drink experience here. We did not eat here as the kitchen was closed when I wanted to order dessert (lame)…but my whiskey sour was decent and the band was free and very good! The place is humongous and it seems there are no servers when the kitchen is closed, so you had to go to the bar and get your drinks. My time here was hilariously fantastic because of the people I was with… we were all just maniacs there that night… dancing and playing air instruments for no reason. I would come back to see a band because it was super comfortable and fun. never saw a menu so I cannot speak as to what kind of fare they have… but I would guess American.

Fantastic apps! We had the Ahi Tuna Tartar Stack and the Truffle Parmesan Fries. The stack, though only two wonton wrappers high, was stuffed with fresh, flavorful tuna, perfectly ripe avocado and mango, and drizzled in a sauce I wanted to lick off the plate. The fries were hearty steak fries– perfectly crisp, not too soft nor burnt– with great flavor on their own. Paired with the sauces, they were fantastic! I recommend the black pepper mayo to compliment the sharp cheese.
Service was quick and super friendly, and the server/​bartender was not shy to help on any hard decisions with the menu.
I will definitely be coming back!