Kelly's Roast Beef is a regional

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

located in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. It is known for its roast beef sandwiches, lobster rolls, and other seafood. It was founded in 1951 in the city of Revere,

, on

Revere Beach Revere Beach is a public beach in Revere, Massachusetts, measuring over long and located about north of downtown Boston. In 1875, a rail link was constructed to the beach, leading to its increasing popularity as a summer recreation area. In 1 ...

shoreline by two partners, Frank V. McCarthy, and Raymond Carey. Neither partner wanted to be the namesake of the restaurant, so they decided to name it after a mutual friend, Thomas Kelly, a florist from Dorchester. The chain's menu consists primarily of

sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

es,

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

, and

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

, as well as its signature

roast beef Roast beef is a dish of beef that is roasted, generally served as the main dish of meal. In the Anglosphere, roast beef is one of the meats often served at Sunday lunch or dinner. Yorkshire pudding is a standard side dish. Sliced roast beef ...

. The restaurant features a

drive-thru A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word through), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products (or use the service provided by the business) without leaving their ...

at every location except at Revere Beach. To compete with fast food giants like

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

and

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

, the company added

chicken fingers Chicken tenders (also known as chicken goujons, tendies, chicken strips, chicken fingers, or chicken fillets) are chicken meat prepared from the pectoralis minor muscles of the bird. These strips of white meat are located on either side of the ...

and

french fries French fries, or simply fries, also known as chips, and finger chips (Indian English), are '' batonnet'' or '' julienne''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and f ...

to their menu. Kelly's claims to have invented the modern roast beef sandwich, stating it was unknown before they introduced it in 1951.

Menu and recognition

Despite its name, Kelly's Roast Beef is also noted for its

lobster roll A lobster roll is a North American dish comprising lobster meat served on a grilled hot dog–style bun. The filling may also contain butter, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper, with variants made in some parts of New England replacing the b ...

, with frequent mentions on reader contributor websites like

Yelp Yelp Inc. is an American company that develops the Yelp.com website and the Yelp mobile app, which publishes crowd-sourced reviews about businesses. It also operates Yelp Guest Manager, a table reservation service. It is headquartered in S ...

and

Chowhound Chowhound (or chowhound.com) is an American based food website launched in 1997. It changed ownership in 2006 and 2020, with its third owner suspending the website in March 2022. In October 2023, Static Media purchased the operation, reactivatin ...

, and placings on top ten lists of the area's best. Kelly's has become nationally known and has been featured in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' Sandwiches That You Will Like'' and on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

show ''

$40 a Day ''$40 a Day'' was a Food Network show hosted by Rachael Ray. In each episode, Ray takes a one-day trip to an American, Canadian, or European city with only $40 US, to spend on food. While touring the city, she finds restaurants to go to (often ...

''.

Locations

Massachusetts locations include the flagship restaurant in Worcester, Dedham, Revere, Danvers, Medford, and Saugus. In 2022, Kelly's opened in New Hampshire and Florida, with further expansion in the works.

References

External links

* {{Commonscatinline, Kelly's Roast Beef
Official website
Fast-food chains of the United States Restaurants in Massachusetts Restaurants established in 1951 1951 establishments in Massachusetts Revere, Massachusetts Roast beef restaurants in the United States