{"id":264744,"date":"2026-08-13T18:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/264744\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T18:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:48:14","slug":"kellys-seafood-to-close-after-68-years-in-northeast-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/264744\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelly\u2019s Seafood to Close After 68 Years in Northeast Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kelly’s Seafood, a family-run restaurant in Northeast Philadelphia<\/a>, is winding down its operations after nearly 68 years in business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The business began in 1958 as a small luncheonette managed by general manager Brett Kelly’s father and grandfather \u2014 ham sandwiches sold for a quarter \u2014 that eventually grew into Kelly’s Seafood. Four generations of the family have worked behind the counter of the business.<\/p>\n

Famous for its snapper soup and intimate dining room, Kelly’s Seafood has become a popular neighborhood gathering place.<\/p>\n

“One customer put on Facebook that we’re like the ‘Cheers’ of Philadelphia, because people come in, like, ‘Hey!'” Brett Kelly said to CBS News Philadelphia. “Everybody knows everybody.”<\/p>\n

Brett said the reason for the closure is personal: His twin brother and “right-hand man,” Brian Kelly, was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma and can no longer work the long hours the restaurant demands.<\/p>\n

Beyond Brian’s disease, Brett said the business has faced its own share of challenges over the years.<\/p>\n

“The 9 o’clock and after crowd, business is gone,” Brett said. “I never had to close the kitchen at 9:30 on a Friday night until this year.”<\/p>\n

The rising cost of ingredients has also eaten its way into the restaurant’s profitability. As an example, before the COVID-19 pandemic, king crab legs cost about $18 to $19 a pound. Now, he said, the price is around $48 a pound.<\/p>\n

“I can’t sell it,” Brett said. “I had to take it off the menu.”<\/p>\n

Kelly’s Seafood is scheduled to serve the public for the last time on Sunday, Aug. 30. The family plans to hold a private gathering for staff and family the following day on Monday, Aug. 31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kelly’s Seafood, a family-run restaurant in Northeast Philadelphia, is winding down its operations after nearly 68 years in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":["post-264744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}