Kelly's

I've gone to Kelly's periodically over the last 7 years of living in this area. I've never had a great experience with this place. I want to start off with saying that I cannot drink whiskey without a mixer or chaser. I ordered a shot of Black Velvet and was able to drink it with no aids. This tells me that the whiskey is watered down.  My companion also order a different type of alcohol in a shot and had the same complaint. Not a good business practice! Another time I went on a Karaoke evening and someone had vomited on the women's bathroom floor. I notified the bartender but she never did anything about it. Gross!

The food is "OK" but not outstanding for the outrageous prices they charge. I've had several things on the menu and have never been impressed.

One thing about Kelly's is that they do have two enclosed outdoor smoking areas which is nice. In the summer you can sit on the back patio with your beer and a smoke and enjoy the heat.

All things aside, the thing that bugs me the most about this place is the employees. Every time I've been here I feel like I'm being talked down to. The owner and manager seem to think that they own an up-scale restaurant in Milton-Freewater but sadly it's only a low end bar with "OK" food.

I would not recommend this place unless you want to be ripped off on drinks and food.

Despite its proximity to Walla Walla, drinking in Milton-Freewater is not for the sophisticated set. There are no chic wine bars, no swanky lounges where you can flirt with cute guys over happy hour martinis. Bars in this town are for getting drunk, smoking indoors while playing the lottery, doing bad country music/hair band karaoke, and getting drunker. Kelly's delivers on all counts.

Despite its name and the shamrock on the sign, Kelly's is no Irish bar. It is a small town, blue collar bar that serves strong drinks, crappy domestic beer, decent appetizers, and plenty of local flavor. I always have interesting stories from my visits to Kelly's, for better or worse.

My most recent visit was for my high school reunion earlier this month; Kelly's let us use the back patio and served appetizers. The food was okay (although they put green food coloring in their ranch dressing b/c it's an Irish bar...) Our bartender was doing her best, though I was perturbed by the fact that she wouldn't start tabs for anyone in our group, forcing us to use the ATM inside and incur $4 in bank fees. But it was still fun, and a great place to meet up with old friends.