Kelly's Tavern — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

This Kelly's Tavern is located in the Strawbridge Shopping Center near the corner of London Bridge Rd. and General Booth Blvd. Inside the shopping center, it is located next to the Regal Cinemas movie theatre. My visit here was on September 11, 2021.

With this place being right next to the movie theatre, parking can be hit or miss depending on the time you come to the area. In this case, parking was not an issue at that time. I had heard some good things about the place, so that's why it was decided to give this place a try. This will likely be my only visit unless things change in the future.

When coming in, the place was pretty much empty. The guy from the bar saw us come in and told us we could sit wherever we wanted to. He came over with the menus and asked us what we wanted to drink while looking over the menu. To start with, my mom and I did go with the Bavarian Pretzel appetizer. A few minutes later we were ready to order. I ended up going with the Grande Nachos since they were on special that day. My mom went with the Loaded Baked Potato Soup (bowl). During this time, we had the Bavarian Pretzel, which was really good with the beer cheese sauce.

After roughly five to ten minutes, our orders came to the table. On the surface, everything looked really good. That would change after starting to eat. For the Grande Nachos, everything was soggy, even the chips. The toppings that were on it too didn't taste fresh either and tasted more like they came from cans. Now, onto the baked potato soup. My mom said the soup was bland and probably one of the worst baked potato soups she has had. It didn't even include all of the stuff that was supposed to be on it as well, such as bacon, scallions and cheese. There was some cheese in it, but it was just a little bit of shredded cheese on top. We never got a chance to address the issues as the server didn't come back until we were ready to get out of there. He pretty much remained behind the bar with the few patrons there at the bar.

Overall, this was not a really good experience, and would not be in a rush to come back. The food didn't seem fresh except for the Bavarian Pretzel and the beer cheese dip that came with it. The Bavarian Pretzel is what saved it from getting a 1 star rating. Service was lackluster at best. There are plenty of other locations in the area that you can go to if you're looking for bar food. I would check out those alternative...

This Kelly's Tavern is located in the Strawbridge Shopping Center near the corner of London Bridge Rd.

I am giving this review a 1 star rating, because of poor food and POOR SERVICE by waitress Hailey B. First, no coasters, were given with the drinks, and they came out with the straw already in the glass, in this age of COVID-19, all straws need to be wrapped. Second, it took almost 20 minutes, to get a simple Bloody Mary, and the drink was only garnished with a very thin slice of lemon, vs lime, and not even a piece of celery or even an olive or two. I say this because, when I was serving we as the waiters and waitress, would dress the drinks, with whatever was called for, to free up the bartender who was steadily mixing cocktails. I was charged twice for my salad, and Hailey, should have reviewed the bill, before presenting it to me. The French Onion Soup, had no bread crouton in it, the cheese was not flowing over the edges of the bowl, and even some of the soup had already spilled onto the plate, POOR PRESENTATION. Also, had to ask another waiter for salt, pepper and extra napkins, because Hailey was no where to be found. My drinks, were delivered by Hailey, my soup, by another waiter, my salad by another waitress. Sad, that it took 3 people to serve my dinner. Hailey did bring my check after tracking her down, but a waiter, picked up the check with my credit card.

NOTE TO YOUR WAIT STAFF...PLEASE PLEASE do not write off single diners, thinking you will only get a small tip, because if you do, that is what you are going to get.

I say this because my first job was waiting on people, and after my first night, my minimum take home in tips was around $200.00 per 6 hour shift, and my highest was over $600.00 (cash) in an 8 hour shift, and this was back in 1978. I worked very hard, too hard, that's why I went onto college so that I would not have to work so hard !!!!

Waiters and Waitress, need to realize that "TIPS" are part of your salary, and something that is "EARNED" and should not just be expected. A tip represents an evaluation of your service.

Because, I have worked in the food service industry, my "standard" tip for GOOD FOOD AND SERVICE is a minimum of 15% and goes up from there by the level and quality of the services provided. But if the service is not there a tip will not be there either.

And, I would also like to add that, this restaurant was not even busy at the time,...

Food: Food quality is slightly pretty average, it's not bad, but it's not particularly good either. The proportions are large yet the food is still ironically not very satisfying, as within the hour I don't retain the feeling of having eaten a good meal. It's not bad, it just feels too safe.

Service: Pretty much average as well, nothing about the service really stood out, but I actually kind of prefer it that way. Waiters and waitresses won't bug you much and will listen to what you say without a hitch, they don't rush you and they don't forget about you. They sort of just leave you to your food and drink and go off elsewhere.

Environment: QUIET. Very quiet, it feels as though were it not for the TVs running in the bar it would be against the rules to speak without raising your hand first. Luckily, the TVs give just enough background noise to have genuine conversations without feeling like the entire restaurant can hear you. However, on this particular day we were one of two or three parties actually in the restaurant and it felt horribly awkward, so I would really only recommend gatherings or dates on weekends when it's no doubt much busier.

Overall: a safe choice for all occasions. The food and service are just good enough that there won't be any significant things to complain about, and the environment doesn't push alcohol and adult themes enough to discourage families from dining there. I would give it a higher rating if they managed to fill it more on weekdays and got the staff to be slightly more charismatic and fun, as well as upped the food to be more filling rather than...