Kelly’s Eastside

Used to be a great place but has gone way downhill in the last few months. Gave it one more chance yesterday but no more; it’s off the list of decent places to go…

A little improvement to the space, itself, would go a long way to making this a downtown Plano staple destination. As of now, it’s unassuming exterior, obscure signage and undecorated patio mean they are probably often overlooked as a dining option to newcomers.
We stumbled in after staggering past the line at Lockhart BBQ up the street. It was between Kelly’s and Brix… and Kelly’s was closer. So. That’s the unglamorous story of «how we met.»
Inside, it reminded me of this old bar my grandma used to own called The 534 Club… with strings of Christmas lights draping from the ceiling as décor, oversized, ripped sofas serving as a lounge area near the door, things hung happenstance upon the walls and one harried server taking on the entire joint by herself on a Sunday afternoon.
Walking in, I smelled old beer and immediately wanted to leave. But, still, we noticed the place filling up with regulars — always a good sign.
They are a beer joint, carrying a large selection of brews including some seasonal options that a chalkboard on the wall keeps you apprised of. The fare is what you’d expect from a Texas hole-​in-​the-​wall bar: Burgers, sandwiches, fried things, bbq.
We got the bbq brisket for the kiddo, came with fries. It was a good portion and tasted great. My husband had the chicken fried steak — breading wouldn’t stay on the steak so it was a bit of a mess to eat, but had great flavor.
I had the Southwestern Burger. The menu said it came with quac and sour cream ON it… in addition to the lettuce, tomato, pickle that are standard, melted pepperjack cheese, and grilled onion and peppers, I knew this was going to be a drippy, squishy mess (and that’s okay) so I opted to have the guac and sour cream brought on the side. Good choice. The sourdough bun had become soggy on the way to the table, the patty was so juicy, so adding any more sauce would have rendered the thing inedible. The flavor was okay, the texture was too wet overall and it needed more heat. BUT my favorite burger bun for overall flavor is that sweet sourdough bun, the burger is a giant, and the fries they serve are delicious. I’ll try just the classic next time.
Kelly’s isn’t a bad spot to check out if you want low-​key, divey, family owned atmosphere and standard American bar food. I’m not sure it speaks to the appeal of downtown Plano or if I’d consider it a destination as it is now, but it’s certainly A-​OK.

A decent hole-​in-​the-​wall! The fried pickles are good! I’ve heard the sandwiches are really good as well. Nice, cozy ambiance. If you are looking for a place to just hang with a friend, this is a good place to do it at.

The chicken fried steak was excellent and was a large portion. The grilled zucchini and squash were SUPERB, as usual; I’m not particularly fond of squash or zucchini, but the way that the veggies are grilled is fantastic. Green beans were heavy on onions. The tacos were very good; the sauce was a little spicy. The volcano dessert was the only thing that did not live up to our expectations. The cake tasted like it was from a mix (just so-​so), and there wasn’t much warm chocolate in the middle. Overall, a very good meal.

The jobs and I have been here to grab a couple of beers (great selection, btw) but tonight is the first night we’ve grabbed s bite.
So here’s the deal: I ordered the chicken fried chicken sammie, not expecting rainbows and unicorn glitter farts but… by golly, the R and GF made a grand appearance!
This masterpiece consisted of a super moist breast (can I say breast on Unilocal), thin, cracker crisp breeding served on a toasted, buttered brioche. Substitute the jalapeño ranch for gravy to dip your Sammie in and voila… perfection! They give you tomato and pickle but don’t bother… you don’t need it. Loved the fry seasoning but the fries were a bit soggy for my taste.
There is a great atmosphere at the bar… lots of friends at tables and all ages represented. Service was attentive and friendly so we will definitely be back.
I heart unicorns. That is all.

For a local (or national) brew, and a good burger, Kelly’s reliably delivers. I took two coworkers there last night since we decided to boycott the organized business meal. The burgers were good, meat cooked as requested (well done and medium well) and the cheese fries — akin to a loaded baked potato in terms of topping, were good too.
However — the service was a tad frustrating. The server would appear, attempt to be very pleasant but then would rush the serving — as in spill the beer, then spill the bowl of salsa, then spill another beer. Perhaps it was his «off night» — we all have those days. Also, he was very keen to spread his religious views on the bill — I find that offensive. I think he meant well, but there were three or four too many close shaves with the service failure — or if he is serving again, just wear a tyvex protective suit in case you end up wearing dinner! Like I said, the burgers were great, and the beer choices were good too, but service can be a bit hit or miss!

Cheese fries are great! Plenty to share. Plan-​o burger was good as well. Only sat outside for a quick bite but I’d go back.

Have eaten here a couple of times in recent years and always hoped the experience matched the potential. This is a great location with indoor and ample outdoor seating. The food has been good but seemed somewhat overpriced for what you get. The sandwich menu is an exception. Fairly priced and a great selection with several featuring smoked meats – but more on that later.
The interior has a cool Texas-​theme decorated brick wall design with regular and counter height tables. This time the back tables looked like a work area, covered with a tool box, cleaning supplies and extra restaurant supplies. Seemed odd and out of place for a dining room.
This visit we decided to order takeout on a Friday night. The separate bar room was busy with a decent crowd, but the dining room side had plenty of room with only a handful of occupied tables. There was no sign directing us to take a seat but also no one to greet us, so we grabbed a seat at a table near the middle. After a few minutes without service (one server appeared to be setting up tables for the next day and another was near the back at a register) I eventually walked over to get our own menus. That wasn’t the level of service I had expected or experienced before but from then on the servers were attentive.
Now for the food – We ordered three sandwiches to go expecting them to be good but maybe my expectations were too low. They were fantastic! I had the Kelly’s Reuben, which is a double decker of brisket and coleslaw between toasted rye bread. It wasn’t loaded up with meat, it was a great idea and they hit that one out of the park on flavor alone. One teen daughter ordered the smoked turkey sandwich, that was loaded up with 6 layers of thick smoked turkey and served with a side of guacamole and fries. She’s a big eater but only managed to finish off half of the sandwich. My other teen ordered the shaved ham sandwich and that was just as delicious. The sides of pinto beans and potato salad or both surprisingly spicy but also tasty.
All in all, I’m happy we came but just as glad that we ordered takeout. We’ll be back to try more of the menu but service may dictate whether it’s for dine in or take out.

I love Kelly’s at the village but because of an event they were having we decided to try this location instead. We got seated right away but it seemed smaller than the other location but that’s not a big deal.
We sat down and waited a few minutes when our waiter came over and took our drink order. He did not know the beers they had in season and they were out of at least three beers my sister in law wanted. Someone asked if the pinto beans were good and he said they are ok. When someone else asked if he liked pinto beans he said no. This to me says this waiter should not be giving advice on something he doesn’t like.
The food was good as always and it came out within a reasonable amount of time.
Overall though I was really disappointed in the service we had. The waiter seemed annoyed that we were there and seemed nervous and he acted like he wanted us to leave.
I will definitely go to Kelly’s again but not to this location.

Great burgers! Great bar! Meagan made my lunch perfect. The location is in my hood so I foresee being here on the reg.
once it cools off the patio looks like the right spot.

Went here and got food to go.
Hubby got a burger, I had the chicken fried steak salad. We got the $ 5 off an appetizer through Unilocal so we ordered potato skins to go.
Nothing overly impressive about the food. The steak on my salad was good with crunchy breading, but a little bland.
For a $ 30 dinner, I think we would have done better going to Lockhart’s.

Good food– nice selection of beers– staff was friendly. Only sad face– fries a bit over cooked, too much butter on the grilled cheese bread

This place used to be the place to go for lunch. Now it’s decent at best and that might be nice. It’s sad. I know they opened an Allen location but did they just abandon this location? It’s dirty. Service is not great. Food is so so. Used to have awesome burgers but now its just ok. I don’t see the Kelly’s in there anymore, they must be at the Allen location all the time. Get this place back to where it used to be.

Best burger in Plano! Incredible fries served in their own hot canister!!!
They also had the best salads in town! Seriously.
About to leave for a Vietnam vacation, and this is where we went for our last taste of America. It hit the spot!!!

I was thinking I was in the wrong about what I was getting ready to post until I read through the most recent posts and it just confirmed my thoughts. Kelly’s has taken a turn for the worse and has gone down hill which is sad. I’ve been going to Kelly’s since they opened and have always has the best experience until last night.
I was looking for a place downtown to take my high school sweetheart who I hadn’t seen in 27 years and wanted a special night. I just knew that sitting outside on the patio and enjoying the nice night, talking, having drinks/​dinner, would be exactly what I wanted. I wanted to show her why I felt Kelly’s was the best place to go.
Everything started great as we were able to sit outside, ordered some drinks, and just enjoyed each others company. We started talking about getting some appetizers to get started so we were just waiting on our server to come back. 5 minutes passed…10…15…20…basically never saw him again. We did however watch another server bust his ass serving everyone else on the patio and getting them taken care of, but we just sat there at this point hoping to at least get some napkins to clean up the water that was coming off the glasses. That is the point she went from smiling to looking at me and wondering why the hell I would take her to a place where we were invisible. I just tried to tell her I was sorry as I had no idea why the night was starting off so horrible.
We decided it wasn’t even worth trying to salvage a night here anymore. I caught the other server who was there for everyone else and told him we needed a check as we hadn’t seen our server in 25 minutes and just wanted to go somewhere else. Our server finally reappeared saying he was sorry and we weren’t being charged for the drinks we did have. Now yes, while that was nice not to charge us, it’s hard trying to get out of someones head that you are trying to impress that you just took her to a place and it was a horrible experience for her. I went from staring into her eyes and seeing a love lost and starting to come back, to a look of «I’m going to kill you once I get the chance»!
We left and headed down to Fillmore and had an incredible night. She was very impressed with everything there as I have always been as well without fail, so I was saved thanks to that. But to see Kelly’s hitting bottom just shows you that no one really cares about the place anymore and don’t care to keep customers coming back. Sad, but good that there are many other places downtown where you can get treated the way you should. I won’t ever go back to Kelly’s.

Boy — has this place cratered. Food is nowhere as good as just a few months ago. Noticeable decrease in quality of ingredients. Even the mayo on the club sandwich was oily and separated. Ham was horrible — how about using smoked ham? What used to be the best burger in Plano did not measure up. As a side note — how about some decent pickles?
On top of everything — major ant infestation at our table… They went after us and not the food. Geez…
The thin crowd for dinner should have tipped us off.
Took a long, last look around — probably not be back. Real shame — used to a solid joint

Megan Rox! Fantastic service– Great patio and tower of beer! Always great food. Highly recommend!

The only reason I don’t give 5 stars is because service was a bit slow. Food was excellent though! And decent prices. The fried pickles were great.

Horrible service good beer no food.
Been here over an hour and the 12 year old manager comes out and finally apologizes why are food is not here. One of the cooks did not show up. Hmmm. Hate posting bad things to usually good restaurants but this place is clueless today

Went to Kelly’s for Friday lunch. Ordered a Fajita Chicken Salad from their Lunch special menu. You can order it with various types of lettuce, and an choice of 2 or 3 dressings.
Wait staff was Excellent!
The salad was on the small side for the price (regular soup bowl size) $ 7.50.
The Grilled Fajita Chicken had a very good flavor to it. There were 3 (¼ inch thick X 1 inch wide x 3 inches long) Fajita slices laying across the top of the greens. Meat to lettuce ratio was o.k. The greens were fresh and crisp. There were 3 or 4 tiny grape tomatoes, and about 4 croutons on the side of the salad.
The taste was good, but the value was not so good!
For the price the salad looked and felt like it was a side portion instead of an entrée.
Would I go back? … Not for the salad!