Kelly’s on King

Reviews

• Ingrid H.

  star star star star_border star_border 15 June 2026

  All roads lead to Kelly's.
  It's a meeting place, it's an Irish Pub that is open very late. Can't find your mates at 11pm in Newtown? Check upstairs at Kelly's.
  
  The Smoker's deck is always always always packed out by about 10pm on Weekend evenings. It's good people watching, and having visited this pub regularly over the past 15 years, I can safely attest to the fashion trends of the Inner west not changing very much until the Hipster movement reared it's cardigan and croc wearing head.  Have your anti hipstermines before you go there these days.
  
  Karaoke. Yes Sydney's worst drunken singers can be found here with a willing captive audience belting out in unison.
  
  I've never actually eaten the food here, but they do a Sunday Roast which seems reasonably priced. Not sure how many takers they get considering it is on King Street where there are a plethora of other food options.
  
  Guinness. Probably the best Guinness in the Inner west. About as close as you'll get to a genuine pour.

• David S.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 9 June 2026

  Honestly, I'm not really a big fan of Irish pubs, namely because they tend to always feel the same. This place was really no different. I guess it does stand out a bit, being an Irish Pub and all that, but there really wasn't anything about this place that did anything to actually grab my attention, or even my imagination. Sure, they had a couple of decent beers, and the staff were okay, but it really isn't one of those pubs that I'd visit again.

• Robert R.

  star star star star_border star_border 9 June 2026

  This is a good Irish Pub in Newtown. There is always lively music playing all corners of the pub and the atmosphere is definitely...old pub. It is a good meeting place but more than that the food is quite good. I took a fussy eater to this pub because he couldn't eat the food at another establishment further up the road. The other place was dearer and With white tablecloths and silver cutlery was more up market. Well my friend was so happy with Kelly's. We had a good feed. By the way the mixed grill is huge.....a little too much meat on the plate for me..but then again he was shovelling it down!! The grog is reasonable. I bought a bottle of house wine for $20 ..and not bad...better than per glass was $6 (which is still good for Sydney prices). So visit this place, not far from the station.

• Rachel C.

  star star star star_border star_border 7 June 2026

  Kelly's became an occasional Thursday night hangout thanks to its often awful, sometimes soulful, always entertaining karaoke.
  
  And although this may not be a draw card for some (it should be noted here that I have pretty dodgy hearing), Kelly's had a couple of other endearing features that make it worth returning to:
  
  * Two good beer gardens (smaller one out the side, larger one upstairs)
  
  * Unpretentious and casual Irish pub
  
  * Pretty cheap drinks
  
  * Takes a lot to get kicked out of here (not that I'm suggesting you should push your limits, I'm just saying)
  
  * Cool dark interior
  
  * Next door to a late-night pie shop - that pie man is smart I tells ya, smart.

• Megan M.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 6 June 2026

  I have walked past Kelly's and kept walking, due to the strangling a cat type karaoke sounds coming out from the front door. It's bad.
  
  The only time I tend to go to this place is when it somehow turns up during the night, and common sense has been replaced by beer. There is an upstairs courtyard for the smokers, as well as a courtyard in the side street (the pub wraps around cafe C). The decor would be better suited to the mean fiddler. Lots of wood, upturned barrels to put your drinks on, tacky American bar style paraphernalia on the walls.