Frankly, I'm not terribly surprised at this. The food at Kelly's was awful. I was really enthusiastic about them before it opened, but after eating there a few times, I lost all interest. The new Roast Beast place down Comm is much better.
With no parking lot of its own, few available spots nearby and no drive-thru, Kelly's business concept struggled to bring in enough revenue to stay in operation, according to Murphy.
Are they running a parking lot or a restaurant? Maybe they could learn a thing or two from the dozens of other successful restaurants in the area, instead of making lame excuses about parking.
I also think kelly's may have been too expensive for that neighborhood too. I mean I love Kelly's and make it a point to go when I am in the mood for fried scallops (I'm not a hot roast beef fan) but their prices are a big high to cater forward a college crowd. College kids want cheep eats.. and beer.
And I do second the notion that it didn't have a drive thru. For some reason Kelly's does a killing on its drive thru. I think the owners didn't realize this when they opened this location. The drive-thru on the Wellington and Saugus locations always has a line.. and its worse late at night!
i dont know what it is but the food is ten times better at the beach. ive eaten at the natick , allston and saugus locations and the food was terrible but revere beach is still great. maybe its because it looks like they havent cleaned or changed the grills in thirty years? either way, the food rocks.
I wonder how much price was a factor. Its hard to see Allston kids spending $17 on a lobster roll at a fast food place when you've got a ton of cheap ethnic or fast food places around.
Always seems difficult to get fish on the go. We all get sick of burgers and chicken and pizza over and over again. But Kelly's fish sandwich ain't that great. That's why I seldom hit up Kelly's. Too bad for them and their workers, though.
But the top half of the highly stylized letters from Ken's Pub are still hidden even though the bottom half are exposed once Uno's took down its awning. The result looks like "AGUA PUB"...so I've taken to calling it Agua Cafe (Agua Pub just sounds stupid).
The spot that was formerly Uno's is going to be a TD Bank North but not until latter half of 2012, according to the same article linked in the OP.
Seems a waste of a good corner location but in this economy I can't think of any restaurant (new or existing) that could chance it on such a large space [with large rent].
It is. We because Boston needs yet another bank. I mean god for bid people have to walk more than 20 feet to get to a bank. Its a sad day when banks outnumber everything else in the city..
There are neighborhoods where that's accurate, but I don't think Allston is one. I can tell you where a lot of banks USED to be, but as for currently operating bank offices (not counting a handful of mostly high-fee ATMs), there's the BoA across Commonwealth, the East West Bank next to TJ Maxx, and a couple of Citizens branches not too far off in Brookline. Banks are not yet on the verge of outnumbering convenience stores or nail salons in this particular neck of the woods.
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Alas
Where will you go for hipster watching now, Adam?
Frankly, I'm not terribly surprised at this. The food at Kelly's was awful. I was really enthusiastic about them before it opened, but after eating there a few times, I lost all interest. The new Roast Beast place down Comm is much better.
Are they running a parking lot or a restaurant? Maybe they could learn a thing or two from the dozens of other successful restaurants in the area, instead of making lame excuses about parking.
HMM
I also think kelly's may have been too expensive for that neighborhood too. I mean I love Kelly's and make it a point to go when I am in the mood for fried scallops (I'm not a hot roast beef fan) but their prices are a big high to cater forward a college crowd. College kids want cheep eats.. and beer.
And I do second the notion that it didn't have a drive thru. For some reason Kelly's does a killing on its drive thru. I think the owners didn't realize this when they opened this location. The drive-thru on the Wellington and Saugus locations always has a line.. and its worse late at night!
It's a wonder that their original location hasn't failed then
Considering that location has no parking lot of its own, no drive through and fairly limited parking at Revere Beach..
kelly's revere beach locale
i dont know what it is but the food is ten times better at the beach. ive eaten at the natick , allston and saugus locations and the food was terrible but revere beach is still great. maybe its because it looks like they havent cleaned or changed the grills in thirty years? either way, the food rocks.
Lower Overhead
The rent for the Revere Beach location is probably much lower than the Allston or they may even own the building.
price
I wonder how much price was a factor. Its hard to see Allston kids spending $17 on a lobster roll at a fast food place when you've got a ton of cheap ethnic or fast food places around.
Yup
Hipsters are living 20 to a house to avoid rent; they ain't gonna pay $20 for a sandwich.
Not really surprising to me.
Not really surprising to me. It always seemed like an odd fit in the neighborhood, and other than the first month or so never seemed to be busy
I was happy when they came to the 'hood
Always seems difficult to get fish on the go. We all get sick of burgers and chicken and pizza over and over again. But Kelly's fish sandwich ain't that great. That's why I seldom hit up Kelly's. Too bad for them and their workers, though.
Great...
Back to two out of four dead corners there again...
Why isn't the BRA kicking someone's ass to get the Pizzeria Uno's/Agua Cafe space filled already?
Agua Cafe?
Agua Cafe? I'm guessing you mean Ken's Pub.
Yep
But the top half of the highly stylized letters from Ken's Pub are still hidden even though the bottom half are exposed once Uno's took down its awning. The result looks like "AGUA PUB"...so I've taken to calling it Agua Cafe (Agua Pub just sounds stupid).
"agua cafe"
I've been wondering for over a year what those letters were supposed to say.
Me too. Ken's Pub makes so
Me too. Ken's Pub makes so much more sense than what I thought.
Bank
The spot that was formerly Uno's is going to be a TD Bank North but not until latter half of 2012, according to the same article linked in the OP.
Seems a waste of a good corner location but in this economy I can't think of any restaurant (new or existing) that could chance it on such a large space [with large rent].
because..
It is. We because Boston needs yet another bank. I mean god for bid people have to walk more than 20 feet to get to a bank. Its a sad day when banks outnumber everything else in the city..
Too many banks?
There are neighborhoods where that's accurate, but I don't think Allston is one. I can tell you where a lot of banks USED to be, but as for currently operating bank offices (not counting a handful of mostly high-fee ATMs), there's the BoA across Commonwealth, the East West Bank next to TJ Maxx, and a couple of Citizens branches not too far off in Brookline. Banks are not yet on the verge of outnumbering convenience stores or nail salons in this particular neck of the woods.