Kelly's Roast Beef, 595 Broadway, Rte. 1 South at Lynn Fells Parkway Saugus, Ma. 01906

With five locations (Revere, Saugus, Natick, Danvers, and Medford) Kelly's Roast Beef is a giant in the roast beef world. They claim they invented the sandwich when their Revere Beach location first opened in 1951. Offering a large menu with everything from salads to seafood plates, as well as hot dogs and sides such as french fries, onion rings, and mac & cheese Kelly's has tried to broaden it's reach beyond their classic namesake. But at what cost?

Bun: Kelly does not offer a super beef, so needless to say they do not offer an onion bun. A huge detractor right off the bat. But Kelly's sesame seed bun was beautiful to look at, it had great volume, and was grilled to golden brown perfection. As far as flavor goes I'm afraid this bun was just ok. It tasted overly like butter. So much so that it bordered on fake. Score: 3

Beef: Thick slices of roast beef are piled high on this sandwich. That being said most of the beef was actually tender and juicy, but occasionally you would catch a piece of fat that would be chewy. The flavor while chewing was pleasing, but once done the after taste was anything but. Score:2

Sauce: When I looked back at my notes I realized I did not take many on the sauce. Just one line in fact. "Sauce is sweet, black peppery, vinegary" This is because this sauce was incredibly forgettable. Score:2

Overall: Kelly's may of invented the roast beef, but they are yet to perfect it. All though this may be more of an issue of selling out to become a more profitable fast food style restaurant. Kelly's Rt 1 location leaves much to be desired in the form of roast beef. Not a sandwich I would crave. Score: 2

Notes: I would like to see how the original Revere Beach location compares.