Kelly's Pub Presents a True Hybrid

There's a scene in "Sweet Home Alabama" in which Reese Witherspoon's character Melanie Carmichael returns to her hometown to find that her classmates have not only remained there but are now married with kids. She says, "you have a baby... in a bar" when she runs into an old friend at the local watering hole. I always think of this scene when I go to a bar/restaurant that has a kids' menu. It seems odd to me to have a plethora of beer and liquor while also offering chicken fingers and grilled cheese for the kids.

The food at is decent but typical pub fare with some surprises thrown in. The potato bacon soup is fantastic. It's heavy but delicious. The thick and creamy potato soup is dusted with bacon bits and cheese so that each spoonful has a salty, starchy, cheesy rush of flavor. It's a well seasoned soup that begs to be eaten on a cold day. While it's offered in a cup ($3.25) or bowl ($4.25), I would be hard pressed to finish a whole bowl of this stuff.

The Kelly's salad ($5.95) had greens, candied walnuts, blue cheese, dried cranberries and a balsamic vinaigrette. The walnuts were good, but I wished for a saltier, more flavorful blue cheese. However, given the highly affordable price point, it's a very sophisticated salad.

The appetizers are perfect for pairing with a cold beer. All your favorites, including chicken wings, potato skins, chicken fingers, nachos and belly buster fries are here. 

There are numerous burgers (mushroom swiss, BBQ and Kobe), sandwiches (grilled chicken, hot roast beef, cheesesteak, BLTs, tuna melts), fish and chips and pizzas. I had the mushroom swiss burger ($8.95), which came with fries. The burger patty was cooked well done, and there was a generous heaping of cooked mushrooms. The skin-on fries were good, though they didn't survive the drive home--they got soggy. The toppings for the burger were a thick slice of tomato, butter lettuce, pickles and red onion. The bun was quite large and soft. For dessert, there is a warm brownie sundae, an apple cobbler or dessert of the day.

Kelly's has a dining area both downstairs and upstairs. For families, I would suggest the upstairs dining area as it's more secluded from the bar. The decor includes wooden tables, wooden chairs and a wood floor, and there are large windows that let in plenty of light during the day. The vibe of the place is quite lively, no matter what time of day you are there. The crowd tends to be mostly college students and older professionals.

Is Kelly's a bar? A restaurant? I would say that though for me the bar tends to dominate the scene, this place is a true hybrid that offers an ambitious amount of menu items as well as a well-stocked bar and great selection of beers.