Serving Since

Boston Area

Serving since

1951

75 years in Revere

Kelly's Roast Beef Revere Beach

Revere Beach, Revere · American

Go here for
Roast beef sandwich · Fried clams
Why go
The walk-up Revere Beach stand credited with inventing the North Shore roast beef sandwich.
Local character
Locals + visitors. A beachfront walk-up stand with national TV coverage; mostly a regional crowd.
Good to know
Outside the center: about 6 miles from downtown Boston.
Directions Official website

Opened in 1951 as a hot dog stand on Revere Beach. This is the original location; Kelly's now has other branches and franchises.

Why it matters

Frank McCarthy and Raymond Carey opened Kelly's as a hot dog stand on Revere Beach in 1951, naming it after a friend. The company tells how leftover beef from a canceled wedding became a sandwich that sold out in an hour. Kelly's claims it invented the North Shore roast beef sandwich: rare, thin-sliced beef with mayonnaise and James River BBQ sauce.

The founding families owned it for more than 70 years. In January 2025 it was sold to AAM15, a Burlington private equity firm, and it now franchises.

The story

  1. 1951Opens as a hot dog stand on Revere Beach1
  2. 2025Sold to AAM15, the first change of ownership3
  3. TodayStill serving Revere

Notes on the record

  • Kelly's claims it invented the North Shore roast beef sandwich. That claim is widely repeated; we haven't found independent proof.

Details

Address
410 Revere Beach Boulevard, Revere, MA 02151
Neighborhood
Revere Beach, Revere
Ownership
Part of a restaurant group
Status
Open · verified Sep 2026

OldScore

A secondary, editorial measure. The founding year above is the fact that matters most. How it works.

Age21/ 35
Continuity15/ 20
Local significance15/ 20
Local food culture15/ 15
Independence0/ 10
OldScore66/ 100

Local character: Locals + visitors. A beachfront walk-up stand with national TV coverage; mostly a regional crowd. This is separate from OldScore: a place can be popular with visitors and still belong here.

More like this

Sources

  1. Kelly's Roast Beef, Our Story (official) Founding year, History
  2. Kelly's Roast Beef, Revere Beach location (official) Address, Current status
  3. Boston.com, 'Kelly's Roast Beef sold' (Jan 8, 2025) Ownership, History, What to order, Founding year
  4. Boston Globe, Kelly's Roast Beef ownership change (Jan 8, 2025) Ownership
  5. Fifty Plus Advocate, 'Revere legend Kelly's Roast Beef plans expansion' (May 3, 2025) What to order