Kelly’s Pub

My friend and I both got food poisoning after eating here the other day– both of us had ordered different menu items too. Drinking is the only safe option here, and it’s pretty expensive. Most bars in downtown San Diego charge less than this place does. I used to come here all the time to eat, but unfortunately the *newer* management has lowered the quality of this place. The only reason why I didn’t rate them ¹⁄₅ is because of their nice beer selection. Spend your money at a better place.

Just a casual bar to hang out at if you’re the type who doesn’t like crowds.
Friendly bartenders.
Games, and quarter pool tables.
Indoor and outdoor seating.
The place could definitely use an update, or at least new tables and chairs that are more comfortable.
Overall, chill spot. Nothing special.

Good drinks. Not horrible prices.
Had a nice time with my coworkers sending away a pal.

Wow. In another life, this place was called McKee’s and I’d walk in and know everyone there. That was, oh, more than 10 years ago. Now it’s Kelly’s Pub, and it hasn’t changed a lot. It’s a bar. In a strip mall. They do have shuffleboard, but other than that nothing really drew me into the place other than nostalgia. If I lived in the hood I wouldn’t mind going there, but I doubt I’ll make a trek out here again.

Terrible bar, bartenders more worried about tips than service to the consumer. Do not waste your money here. You’re welcome.

Another day, another dive bar. This one is larger than some, and a little cleaner than some too.
Things I like: shuffleboard, pool tables. Semi-​cheap (though not as cheap as other dives) drinks. Acceptable beer list. Outdoor patio
Things I dislike: Really expensive wings. Some TVs are dying/​not HD (they’re sort of a sports bar so TVs are important.)
Overall, it’s a dive bar, so you know what you’re getting into. I’ve also heard the crowd varies — I’ve only been on a weekend afternoon (around lunch) so the crowd was a mix of regulars from around the neighborhood and people going to a wedding at the RB Inn who were looking for a bar that served liquor at non-​hotel prices nearby. I’ll be going for the shuffleboard. I know that much.

I don’t understand the bar situation here but me and my girlfriend were standing AT the bar for at least 10 min and the bartender skipped us twice to serve the 2 guys on either side of us, who came way after! We were literally leaning on the bar with a credit card in hand. And the men on either side of us were leaning over us, hands near our face and we were still ignored. Sorry this place is sexist, or maybe just plain rude? Won’t be back. Ever. There are so many other bars in rb, go there.

Cool spot to grab a drink. Stopped by to grab a drink and got the $ 4 Shock Top special.
Beer’s not cold. Crowd’s probably very representative of the area (I’d say leaning towards the older side).
A bunch of TVs. A couple of pool tables.
It’s a good after work pit stop.

I tried this place about two weeks ago for the first time with my fiancé and one of his friends. It’s okay, pretty kick back for the most part. You can tell this is the PLACE for people to just grab a beer, shut up, and wind down.
However, I could really appreciate the kitchen being open late night (if you can consider 11pm late night?) so that I’m able to eat something with my drinks. The closest thing I got to food was tortilla chips. ALTHOUGH I will not discount the effort of the bartender who scrounged around for those chips. (Thank you, donut man.)
The atmosphere was alright. My fiancé says that the crowd used to be way better, but my first experience didn’t make me want to come back. Nothing against the pub itself, I just noticed a lot of persistent, (is trashy allowed?) on-​their-​way to drunk, and annoying guys who kept coming up to our table and trying to make way to our friend we brought along. I get its a bar and it’s a «typical» place to get picked up on, but jeez, no means no, buddy.
Either way, I’m neutral about this place. I wouldn’t recommend UNLESS you’re going with a big group that will stick together. If you go with 4 or less, you might have a harder time to just enjoy time together as friends. Couldn’t get a shot on the billiards AT ALL, so if you wanna shoot, I encourage you to get there earlier. Shuffle board is a bit boring to me. The beer was alright. We shared a couple pitchers of shock top and I tried some beer that sounded like a weird island and didn’t like it much. *sigh*, if only I didn’t have expectations of this place.
4 stars for service & guest accommodation,
3 stars for the hit or miss crowd.

The place is very accommodating. The food is good, bartender is very friendly and cute. Drinks are… drinks… I’m sure you’ll get drunk if you drink a few. What more can i say? Oh yeah, they open at 7am. So if day-​drinking is your thing, this is the place for you.

I don’t usually like to leave bad reviews but feel obligated to update my last review so people spending their hard earned money know what to expect.
A group of 5 of us came here to watch a college play off game on a week night. The place was packed but they had just 1 waitress. Seriously, 1 person and just 1 bartender. Needless to say it took forever to get drinks. Our food all arrived cold. At half time the owner finally arrived and started bussing tables but still no additional servers. The place, including us, all cleared out at half time to watch the game somewhere else.

My first and last time here. Good Hamburgers! However I was cashed out after 2 hours even though I had no interest in leaving. It seemed like the regulars were being catered to while outsiders such as myself were being pushed out. My friend and I were having a conversation at normal volume and did not bother anyone around us. I would not recommend any outsiders to come here.

We were directed here by one of the bartenders at the Urge when we asked about a nearby pool place. Was not too far of a drive and we basically just walked in to play pool.
Two tables right in front of the restrooms. Was nice hitting the balls around as I have not played for a while. Had a fun time and would not mind coming again. It is a dollar for a game so if you do not have change they also have a change machine. But keep in mind, there’s only 2 pool tables and no jumping the balls off the table!

Service can be hit and miss, depending on the bartender — and if there’s a waitress for the tables. And likewise food has been an adventure… my last experience was a cold dish because of inattentive service. But most of the staff are nice and so are the patrons.
The sad news is they just jacked prices up 20%, so I’ll be spending more money down the road at another Irish pub.

Kelly’s used to be our go to. The one star given is for Will, Rhiannon, and Marie, who are beyond friendly and we have grown close with.
Unfortunately enough about a month ago we had an incident happen where one of the bars «regulars» who hangs out with a biker gang there decided to sucker punch my boyfriend in the middle of the bar a few times for no apparent reason. Then my friends and I were kicked out of the bar! To apparently diffuse the situation.
The new ownership is absolutely terrible here. We used to love hanging out at Kelly’s with old friends and coworkers. I now know to tell all my friends to avoid it like the plague. Go ahead and keep serving trashy «regulars». They’re the only thing that is going to keep you in business. But don’t forget that others aren’t as courteous as we are, and having troublemakers in your bar will eventually get you shut down.
DO NOT GO HERE unless you want people to pick fights with you, people to slip things in your drinks, or people to offer you drugs.

Service here is terrible. The trailer trash folks working behind the bar are more concerned with taking shots and socializing. What a bunch of losers. The clientele who come here look like busters. Definitely stay away…

So I came here on a weekday a while back and it was great the older lady bartender was friendly etc Etc.
Came here on a Saturday 7÷11÷15 and there was a little 21 year old looking door guy with no identification that he works their. Of course when he asked for my i. d I took his little scrawny ass as a joke. He became upset and got all cowboy. I didn’t want things to get ugly for him so I left and took my business elsewhere. Clearly he has no door man experience or professionalism. Also there was a drunk guy laying outside the pub. I will be contacting BSIS and reporting the business because clearly this door guy/​kid is not licensed to be standing at doors. I do not recommend this place to anyone. Go to PITCHERS instead. Because that’s exactly where I went after dealing with that kid.
Hope this helps. Avoid this place like the plague.

OK the only way this place must manage to survive is that the people in the surrounding neighborhoods do not own cars. Because if they did they would probably go somewhere else. I came here with a group with high hopes. We were told that the cooks here are training with a high end chef and the food quality is much improved. Well the appetizers were yummy. We had some great tasting mushrooms and the French fries were delicious. But other than that everything seemed to be a miss. My vodka soda was a little off. My hubby’s margarita was pure mixer. And he had something called a California cheesesteak that he was excited to try but was ultimately disappointed. The blue cheese sliders were overcooked and one of my friends did enjoy the sandwich they ordered but I forgot what it was.
It’s a shame because the bar itself is pretty cool. They have a pool table and darts and a nice big outdoor patio. Even the service was weird. Not overly rude or anything but kind of intense. We definitely didn’t feel welcome. And it took over an hour to get our food and the place was less than half full. Unacceptable.
They have some tweaking to do. Maybe more training with that high end chef or a menu mix up or maybe some customer service classes. There is just some major things lacking.

Great place to enjoy a nice mellow lunch with great fresh food. The chef’s can seriously put some snap in their food! Always fresh and quality for a very reasonable price!
The bar manager Trevor is definately in-​touch with what a good beer is and how to make some incredible cocktails! Keep up the great work and innovative drinks Trevor!
Thanks for everything Kelly’s Pub! Love this place!

Kelly’s is always my first choice for a place to grab an adult beverage.
I am always greeted with a hug and a smile.

Yuck yuck yuck! Food sucks, beer sucks, cocktails suck, ambience sucks and the service sucks. It’s too bad because we live in the neighborhood. Previous owner and new owner need to make changes to the place. Call the show bar rescue!!! Fingers crossed that this bar will get better. I hate to be so negative but come on all other dive bars are way better.

Rhiannon is the best bartender I have ever seen in my life. She makes customers first and takes customer service to the next level.

The drink sucked ! Asked for a margarita and it tasted like pure mixer
The waitress was not attentive at all.

I love the changes the place has gone through over the last couple months. It feels like a downtown pub, but you are in Rancho Bernardo.

I’ve been coming here for a couple of years now and unfortunately since the new owners have taken over, the service has gone down. The Servers are still great. Its more of the owner lady/​bartender that is insanely slow when she is running the bar. I’ve been in there and waiting over 15 mins for my drink (when its less than half packed) and watched her bullshit with the people she knows sitting at the bar while Im sitting at my table with an empty drink. Service always slows down tremendously when she is running the bar.
Please lady, fork out the cash for your replacement behind the bar or let the other bartenders work more often.

Best bar in the area by far. Old school regulars kind of place. They have good bar food as well. Lots of TV’s with sports and a nice big smoking patio. This is the place to go in Rancho if you don’t want to deal with those fake ass plastic places. A real bar with real people.

Terrible. The older lady behind the bar (whom I was told is the new owner) was incredibly rude. She said and I quote, «I have no glasses back here. Maybe you can go get some from the tables for yourself’».
I have never received service like this from Kelly’s, or anywhere for that matter. What a shame.
I want the old Pub back. This place sucks.

Please note I have flagged 3 of the photos the new owners have added as «current photos» as these were stolen from the old management. Please see my old review below as this reflects the new ownership despite the changes.
Wait… I can’t give this no star? As you can tell by my check ins this is obviously my go to… Until recently…
I have been going to Kelly’s for many moons. I’ve met many of my greatest friends here, and I’ll forever cherish that! Unfortunately the owners sold the bar…
When we all first heard of the bar being sold, we found people that have been 86’d (for good reason) assuming that they were allowed back due to the ratchet new owners. Because escrow had not closed they were kicked out… And obviously they threw a fit. (How mad would you be if you weren’t allowed into the bar that your friend was claiming they owned already?) so… The ratchets kept on Rollin in… Eventually it got to a point where we joked that it was the new IR.
So after two days under new ownership, I decided to give it a try despite the crowd the new owner had drawn. I work in Carlsbad and drove about 40 minutes to there… And guess what… IT WAS CLOSED.
Maybe it should be expected that someone in real estate can’t run a bar, but really CLOSED DURING THE WORLD CUP?! Who are you?!
Needless to say there are plenty of other places to drink around here, Kelly’s will never again be one of them. Hopefully you’ll read this review and assume based on the thousands of dollars I spent here with the previous owners, that my opinion holds some truth.
Good luck driving this place into the ground!