“Let’s go to Kelly’s. Let’s get some roast beef,” says Nancy Donovan, Julianne Moore’s character in the TV series “30 Rock,” during an argument with Alec Baldwin’s character Jack.
The Kelly’s in question is Kelly’s Roast Beef, the Boston sandwich chain founded in 1951. The franchise has gained a cult following over the years. “Any kind of movie or TV shows somebody does about Boston, we seem to get a mention,” CEO Neil Newcomb said.
Ben Affleck’s character, Chuckie, in “Good Will Hunting” name drops the brand, too. “I’m not going to Kelly’s just because you like the take-out girl. It’s 15 minutes out of my way,” he says.
The brand started at Revere Beach outside of Boston (think Chicago’s Navy Pier or New York’s Coney Island). At the time, slicing up roast beef and serving it on a hamburger bun wasn’t the norm, Newcomb said.
Kelly’s started out as a traditional hot dog stand at the beach. The founders, Frank McCarthy and Raymond Carey, had some extra roast beef because an event venue next door had a cancelation. They served the extra beef in sandwiches. “It was an immediate hit,” Newcomb said.
Neil Newcomb, CEO of Kelly’s
Kelly’s stores previously paid homage to its ‘50s roots with an eclectic, Revere Beach vibe—an aesthetic that Newcomb said he’s fond of.
But people don’t remember what Revere Beach was like when Kelly’s first opened, Newcomb said. “It’s completely changed since then,” he said. His team told him, “Neil, nobody around here even knows what it was like back then.”
So, it was time to rebrand.
Now, Kelly’s has a more modern vibe about it across its six stores. “We are definitely a New England concept and Boston concept and we wanted to keep that and maintain our heritage,” Newcomb said. “I don’t know that old Revere is remembered as much anymore.”
The new look is easier to reproduce, Newcomb said. “A lot of pictures and antiques we had in the old restaurants—a lot of that stuff is hard to find,” he said.
“The soul of Frank McCarthy is still running deep, and that’s something we’re trying to protect when we rebrand,” Newcomb said. “We’re really getting back to the menu items that made us.”
The brand serves more than just roast beef sandwiches. Kelly’s has added more traditional New England seafood fare, like a lobster salad roll and clam chowder. Everything is made from scratch.
Four of the company’s six stores are corporate-owned, and two—both in airports—are franchised. Kelly’s has stores in Florida, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. More are on the way, with seven leases signed for the next year. “I’m not sure we want to step outside our comfort zone” quite yet, Newcomb said. “New England and Florida are very much a comfort zone. We’re doing well” in those regions.
Newcomb has worked as CEO of Kelly’s since 2019. Newcomb’s family founded McAlister’s Deli, where he worked for 15 years. He worked at Brixx Wood Fired Pizza as head of franchising before joining the Kelly’s team.
“This was my third time to start a franchise company from scratch,” Newcomb said, referring to Kelly’s more recent dive into franchising. It’s common for a brand’s first franchisees to be inexperienced in the franchising world, he said. But for Kelly’s that isn’t the case. Kelly’s first three franchisees have experience in restaurants and hotels, Newcomb said.