Kelly’s Tavern

Wish the bartenders smiled more… love playing pool and watching football here. great happy hour

Super yummy food and our server was great, he checked up on us often asking if we needed anything, he also gave us a heads up the appetizer we ordered would take 10 — 15 minutes. Such a great atmosphere and awesome tasting food.

Surprised at the reviews, my experience today was great. It was a bit slow for a Friday afternoon but service and food on par with my past Kellys experiences.
I had turkey burger and fries, perfectly cooked and delivered hot to the table!
I happen to like the layout with screens and separate bar area.

We’ve been avoiding Kelly’s since they opened because of the food quality and the fish-​bowl design. Finally I went again for lunch on my own because the wife refuses to go. And the food quality is still off. Having gone to several different Kelly’s locations over the years I reallly reallly wanted this place to be good because it’s newish and close by. It really should be in the same league with No Frill but in practice the pre-​prepared nature of the food and questionable seasoning choices is sub-​par to an Applebees. Sorry Kellys, I tried… really I did. Never again. Having seen other establishments come and go in this location ever since it was ‘Blue Hawaii’ I reckon that day is coming soon. Who knows maybe your successor will open up a nice breakfast joint like Citrus? –Signed TummyHatesMeNow

Crappy service and crappy food!
Pete had the personality of the bottom of my shoe. He never checked back to see if we needed anything. We had to ask for drinks. I had to wave him down to ask for something… And the food was awful too. Overlooked chicken sandwich and cold fries. Kellys used to be so good…
Stay away unless you will be sitting at the bar drinking!

Our burgers came to the table almost raw and after a conversation with the waitress our food went back. The cook came out with alleged new burgers and gave us some attitude («i hope yoir burgers are perfect now») The burgers were exactly as inedible as the first. The manager informed us that was how Kelleys makes a burger” The pool tables are a joke (one is next to a pole another does not release balls) If poor service and bad food your idea of a night out then Kelleys is your place.

The place is trying too hard to be a hip bar and live up to a much higher hype and it’s not working. The food is okay but is generally overpriced along with their drink selection. At these prices you’re better off going somewhere other than this shopping center from where you can’t really walk anywhere else to the next bar. The waitresses are nice and prompt, but with the few amount of people that go here I would expect them to be.

The food was great our waitress Amy, was NOT. We stopped in on a Wednesday night at 6:40. We waited 10 minutes to get seated and then another 20 to order our food. The place was dead; there was no reason for the wait.
The food was pretty great! My burger was a tad over cooked but still delicious and I could have made a meal out of the caesar salad I ordered! Husbands burger and salad filled him up. The grilled cheese was a hit with the kids even with a picky eater.
Our waitress put the food down and we didn’t see her again until I asked for a box and check. Well, we walked out through their patio and our horrible service made sense… she’s chatting with friends on the patio. Needless to say we won’t be back to this location anytime soon.

I still miss the old Kelly’s at Pembroke Mall. Something about the dark green sticky carpets and lingering smoke in the air that made everything so much better. But alas, it’s gone and the new one at Haygood is open. I’ve never had a bad experience here and the food is always spot on. I really love the crab dip… get the crap dip… it’s so gooooood! Nice and hot and crabby and full of old bay and man… served with warm pita bread triangles! Get it! You can’t go wrong with their burgers either, the french dip, and the grilled reuben.
So if everything is so good, why 3 stars. Well, I really don’t like how the place is set up. When it first opened the bar area allowed smoking so there are glass walls separating the bar area and the outer edge seating area that is non-​smoking. Ok, thanks for separating that, but all the TVS (like a billion of them) are in the bar area and it looks like so much fun in there, but I’m sitting on the edge of the restaurant because I don’t smoke and honestly, don’t care to sit near the smoking but I want to have fun too! It just feels very segregated and that’s not cool.

Nice place to chill and have a beer after work, or catch up with old friends. Has a few games but I like the pool tables the most. Food is pretty big so you will be bringing home left overs.

The food was mediocre and the customer service was slow. But the ketchup was good if that counts towards anything.

Ugh! I was so disappointed with the Philly cheesesteak! I guess that’s what I get for thinking a chain restaurant in Virginia can make a decent cheesesteak. My husband’s hamburger was pretty tasty. If I come back, I’d definitely opt for the burger. The appreciate the fries being hand cut and fresh, BUT they were on the bland side. A little season salt or garlic powder wouldn’t hurt.

First off, if any of you remember Kelly’s Tavern at Prembroke Mall; that was the place to be. Unfortunately, Bahama Breeze took over. That being said, Kelly’s Tavern in Haygood is oka. Food is Great but the atmosphere lacks the tavern feel which makes it so great. That’s my only tiff.

I was a bit skeptical to try this Kelly’s since the reviews were less than stellar & the last time I ate at the Laskin location it was pretty bad. However, it’s close to home & my dude & I wanted to check out a spot to grab a quick beer between errand running.
They must have quit letting people smoke in the place like previous reviews at stated. There were no ashtrays or hints of smoking. It’s very clean/​new inside with perfect viewing off all the tvs they have. We sat at the bar & were psyched to see they carried El Guapo on tap. The bartenders were very friendly & the crowd around the bar was cool too.
We decided to stop in for dinner one night & it was delicious. I had the Ponderosa burger with their fresh cut fries. It was super yummy. My fiancé ordered the Grid Iron burger with onion rings. We were both pleased with our meal.
We went again this past Sunday to watch some football & were blown away with their happy hour specials. On NFL Sundays they have select appetizers that are ½ off the already reduced happy hour price! Between the 3 of us we all enjoyed beers, spinach dip, nachos, bacon & cheese fries, and my favorite, the chicken quesadilla.
I definitely recommend to come here for good eats & drinks while you catch a game.

I’ve been here 3 times so far over the past few months, and I am quite pleased with it. The food is delicious! I’ve tried the fish and chips as well as the bacon and cheddar burger. I love that any of the burgers can be customized so easily as beef, turkey burger, a vegetarian option, and chicken breast. The first and third time I was there, the service was excellent. Both of these waiters were attentive and very friendly. However, I do have to say that our second visit had less than stellar service. I gave this place 4 stars simply because the service seems to be hit or miss.

Lunch with Mom is always a good thing, right? Hadn’t been to this location and it was a pleasant surprise. Even though it was mid-​afternoon and almost empty, the staff was still pleasant and attentive. I can’t recall the burger’s name that I had, but the taste was awesome. Mushrooms and onions sauteed in Heinz 57 before being slathered on the bacon cheeseburger. Cooked to a perfect medium, the burger was juicy without being a mess. Since I was with Mom, I even substituted Steamed broccoli instead of fries, and that was a surprise too. instead of being steamed to within an inch of losing it’s green, this was blanched and still firm so it had some real flavor and crunch to it. I would definitely go back, work on more of the menu.

Service even with a trainee was very good, décor inside was great outside on the patio not so good. Bathrooms spotless! Food was not the best we have had at a kellys and have had better at this one bacon cheese burger med rare was closer to med well fries limp needed a lot of salt, chix salad wrap for the wife the chicken was dry and potato salad just ehh. Back to the patio needs some spice/​greenery and really when your at the end of a strip mall off independence blvd maybe patio not the best the chik fil a across the parking lot smelled great though!

Great! Good atmosphere. Plenty of sports on TV. And really good local brews. The wait staff is super nice. Although it is not very non– smoker friendly. This place deserves a chance. Can’t wait till football season. May have to start paying rent here!

There are multiple Kelly’s locations throughout Hampton Roads. I have visited quite a few of them. This location is relatively new and it falls short of the other locations.
First off, this place could aptly be named «Blah’s sports bar» and it would probably fit better than the tavern. When we first came in, you get the option of smoking or no smoking. Which is something that I can honestly say I haven’t had to deal with for awhile. However, we did the non-​smoking and were sat accordingly. I’d assume that the smoking area was in the central area where the main bar was.
Upon sitting down the very first thing I noticed was how rickety our table was. Thinking that it was the legs, I tried to fix it. However, the problem was the section that tied to the legs. It was rather annoying having to deal with a continually tilting table that would make us quiver at our beers every time we pushed on the table. Then the booth we sat at had the «teeter-​totter» effect where if I leaned back, I pushed the person behind me and vice versa. I hate to nit pick but for a facility that is relatively new, to have a booth or seat like this is unacceptable. Furniture-​wise it can only go downhill from there.
The second thing I noticed upon sitting down was how «distant» I felt from all the action of the restaurant. The non-​smoking section lies on the outer perimeter of the bar and in order to make sure zero smoke goes from the inside out, they have to seal the two areas off from each other. Now, did I smell any smoke where I sat? Nope. However, I felt like I was an outsider the whole time as it seemed like the bar and sports area was the focus while the seats on the perimeter were for the lowly porters who want table scraps. Definitely, not a good «feel» for a dinner.
For our food we ordered some mozzarella sticks, I had the Au Jus sauce philly, and my wife had the garden veggie wrap. The food came out relatively quick. We were very appreciative of how fast the food came out. However, speed doesn’t always mean a good thing. The food does not stand out — at all. The sticks seemed like something you could order from a fast food italian place. The philly I had was VERY basic. It was pretty much a run of the mill philly with some dipping sauce on the side. Lastly, the Garden Veggie wrap was just as «meh». For a suggestion, if they could pull out the bleu cheese and substitute it for feta, that may make a substantial improvement on the wrap as it is over-​powered by the volume of bleu cheese they put on it.
Service-​wise our waitress was pretty awesome. We tipped her great and she was nothing but fun and helpful. A+ on her part as smiling, checking on us, and making sure we were satisfied was high on her agenda as with everyone else she was serving. It’s just too bad she has to deal the food she deals.
If you’re a smoker and are a sports fan, this is definitely the place for you. I can only imagine how hard it is to find a bar where you can smoke, drink, eat food, and watch the games is becoming. But for date night for non-​sports people, there are other options in the area that may work better for you.
Food taste — 3
Overall Service — 4.5
Value of food to cost — 3
Facility — 3
Repeat customer? — no

We had high hopes for Kelly’s Tavern (a new addition to the shops at the corner of Haygood & Independence). My boyfriend and I went tonight for the first time and are sad to say we were disappointed.
The good: Very nice décor (laminate wood flooring, glossy furniture, nice lighting) and many TV’s all make for a good sports bar atmosphere; there isn’t any other sports bar in the immediate area. Beer was cold and there were several local brews on tap. Waitress was friendly but overworked.
The bad: SMOKE! The entire inside bar/​restaurant area is «smoking» (small perimeter area is non-​smoking). Even though it’s a new restaurant, the smoke smell is strong to the point of not being able to eat comfortably. We were going to stay for coffee & dessert but the smoke was too bad. FOOD. The food is not that great. Not awful, but not great. Watery French-​onion soup and (canned?) she-​crab soup that was very thin. Salads OK.
This would be a MUCH better bar if it didn’t allow smoking. Oh well.