Did Kelly's invent the roast beef sandwich? Either way, it's delicious
The scene: The original Kelly's is a quintessentially New England beachfront takeout seafood stand that happens to specialize in roast beef sandwiches. It is in Revere, a coastal suburb of Boston famed for its long town beach with an esplanade running along it. Kelly's sits just across narrow waterfront Revere Beach Boulevard from the sand, in a corner location it has enjoyed since 1951. The takeout windows are barely covered from the elements, and there are several green metal picnic tables outside, but many patrons prefer to carry their eats across the street to one of the many covered public dining areas along the beach. Food is served in clamshell Styrofoam containers, and everything about Kelly's is old school: you can watch the signature roast beef being sliced thinly on a deli slicer behind the glass, or watch the hot dog rolls used for seafood sandwiches being generously brushed with butter, then toasted on a flattop grill. This flagship Kelly's is open year-round, and still busy even in winter, but totally slammed during the height of summer beach season, a longtime local favorite.
Kelly's has grown to five locations around greater Boston, all owned by the same founding family, and the newer ones are more modern fast food, fast-casual style, complete with indoor dining. The setup is like any other fast food place, with drive-through and order at the counter, but everything else about it is much nicer – especially the very friendly staff. The main restaurant is adorned with large framed displays of antique postcards from the area, giving it a real sense of place, and there are even live potted plants scattered throughout. Tables are set in heavy, comfortable wooden booths. You order at the counter but are given a number and food is brought to your table with a smile. If you opt for drive-through, after ordering there are special spaces out front to wait, and staffers run your order out in a bag when ready, since everything is cooked to order. It's fast food with a real restaurant feel.
Reason to visit: Roast beef sandwich, lobster roll
The food: Kelly's boldly claims to have invented the roast beef sandwich in 1951, and while Boston is definitely known for the specialty – to the point where there are now hipster eateries in New York serving "Boston-style roast beef" – it's a hard claim to swallow. The Italian roast beef sandwich popular in Chicago predates Kelly's by at least two decades, and in England the roast beef sandwich had existed for more than two centuries.
But nonetheless it is the No. 1 seller at Kelly's, to the tune of a million a year, and it is delicious. In the world of fast food, the once-popular hot roast beef sandwich has been disappearing from the mainstream, and is most associated with the rather tasteless versions at the Roy Rogers and Arby's chains. Kelly's is what a roast beef sandwich should be, thinly hand-sliced meaty goodness, with really rich beefy taste, served warm on a good seeded bun. It is offered with an array of condiments including cheese, lettuce, tomato, hot sauce, barbecue sauce and so on, and how you personalize it is up to you, but the key is the beef itself, which is excellent, made with all USDA Choice meat, the second-highest grade after Prime.
The roast beef comes in two sizes, but even the misleading "small" is plenty, with a full quarter-pound of meat. Since it is already cooked, this is quite a bit of beef, more than the pre-cooking weight of a quarter-pound burger, and a hearty sandwich, especially with toppings. Then again, the large is only a dollar more, and it's hard to stop eating.
The second best thing on the menu here is the lobster roll, a New England tradition that widely varies in quality, but is done right at Kelly's, with the full meat of two one-pound Maine lobsters in every overflowing sandwich. It is tossed in a light mayo-based sauce with a bit of diced celery, but here it is an addition rather than filler, and this is a substantial sandwich. The lobster roll comes with a very basic bag of old-fashioned Utz potato chips. If you can't decide which way to go, you don't have to, because Kelly's wisely offers a wonderful "Surf & Turf" combo of its small roast beef sandwich with a half-sized lobster roll, still packing in a full quarter-pound of meat.
The menu at Kelly's is large, with a full slate of regional fried seafood, belly clams, clam strips, shrimp, scallops and fish, all generously sized and served with a mix of fries and onion rings. Unfortunately, after the roast beef and lobster the greatness of Kelly's takes quite a dip, and the seafood, while fresh, tasted mostly like breading and oil. Ditto for the okay onion rings which taste simply fried, and so-so fries that were not crisp enough. Of the seafood, the whole clams are best, but it just doesn't make sense to pass over the two excellent house favorites. If you want to make room for something other than lobster and roast beef, go for a cup of the New England clam chowder. It's a bit light on flavor, but packed with lots of chunky clam and potato, served with traditional oyster crackers, and it hits the spot. At the end of the day, you can get most things on the menu, even the good lobster roll, elsewhere in the area, but it is hard to rival this roast beef sandwich.
Pilgrimage-worthy?: No, but much better than most fast food and the original is a great trip back in time at the beach..
Rating: Yum! (Scale: Blah, OK, Mmmm, Yum!, OMG!)
Price: $$ ($ cheap, $$ moderate, $$$ expensive)
Details: Original, 401 Revere Beach Blvd., Revere; 781-284-9129; 4 more locations in Boston suburbs; kellysroastbeef.com
Larry Olmsted has been writing about food and travel for more than 15 years. An avid eater and cook, he has attended cooking classes in Italy, judged a barbecue contest and once dined with Julia Child. Follow him on Twitter, @TravelFoodGuy, and if there's a unique American eatery you think he should visit, send him an e-mail at travel@usatoday.com. Some of the venues reviewed by this column provided complimentary services.