What I Did On My Christmas Vacation:
When I visit my mom, there are a few foods specific to the North Shore of Massachusetts that I must eat. When we went for a visit last week, I missed out on going to Betty Ann’s Subs (home of the greatest sub pretty much anywhere, for reasons I’ll detail some other time) but I did make it over to Kelly’s Roast Beef.
Almost every North Shore town has a roast beef joint the townies are loyal to, but Kelly’s is an institution — the progenitor of the sandwich, if you believe what you read on the Kelly’s placemats. Ben and Casey Affleck argue over whether to go there in Good Will Hunting. And check out these kids who went to all five Kelly’s locations in one day. I am not as hardcore all that, so we just went to one.
As much as I love Kelly’s, I have to say the wait for your order is sometimes unexpectedly long, probably because in addition to the full dining room, there’s usually at least 5-6 cars in the drive-thru — more after the bars close.
My omnivorous friends, you are looking at one of the greatest sandwiches ever assembled: extremely rare and tender roast beef, piled onto a grilled bun and doused liberally with a spicy-sweet-smoky sauce.
Some get theirs with cheese, or mayo, or both, but I’m more of a purist and I like to savor that super-rare beef with only a little extra added to it with the sauce. Still, no matter how you order it, it’s going to be good.
10 Comments
rachel
Oh my god! That is the best looking sandwich ever. I am adding to the list.
And love your daughter’s nails!
Suzabelle
Oh my god. I never knew such a wonderful thing existed.
Cheryl
Did you live near there while you were vegetarian?
Kristen
Actually, this particular location didn’t exist when I was vegan/vegetarian — although it was a roast beef sandwich (while about 9 weeks pregnant) that broke me of my years of vegetarianism.
Anne
Great pics! Both of you and the drool-worthy sandwich. It makes me want to hope a Fung Wei bus pronto.
Kristen
Ha. Well, thanks. I guess that’s probably as good as I could look after driving 6 hours the day before and then spending the night on my mom’s pull-out couch.
ann
dang skippy, that looks goooooooood! now you’ve made me bummed about my choice of vietnamese noodles for lunch, thanks kristen ;-)
uglyagnes
i love kellys so much, and those guys visiting all five kellys’ really made my day, its so gross, to imagine eating 5 of those sandwiches in one day, but really they are now kind of a hero to me.
Kristen
And they finished the day with CHEESY BACON FRIES! I didn’t even know that existed and now I totally must have some.
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