Kelsey's Neighbourhood Bar & Grill

Kelsey's Neighbourhood Bar & Grill is a Canadian bar and grill restaurant chain headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario owned by Cara Operations. Cara Operations also owns other restaurants including Swiss Chalet, Coza!, Milestones, Montana's and Harvey's. Founded in 1978, there are restaurants across Canada, excluding the province of Quebec (where the chain was withdrawn in 2008).

Once a chain of more than 140 locations from Quebec westerly to British Columbia; the company has closed all but 2 locations in British Columbia; shuttered 9 locations in Alberta; closed all locations in Saskatchewan; all locations in Manitoba have also closed. In Ontario, numerous locations across the company have closed including locations in Kitchener, Simcoe, and Fort Erie. The Owen Sound location was due to close on December 20, 2013. As of November 2013 there are just 88 Kelsey's locations left in Canada, primarily in the Province of Ontario.

Kelsey's Logo used from 2006 - 2015

Kelsey's has a licensing agreement through early 2011 with CBS Consumer Products for the rights to the theme song from the 1980s sitcom Cheers, which the chain says could lead to "other opportunities" in the future.^[1] Kelsey's also uses the show's title in its slogan "Cheers to good friends", although (due to the generic nature of the word "cheers" in regards to pubs and the like) it is not clear whether permission from CBS was required for this.

Menu

Despite Kelsey's being a subsidiary of Cara Operations headquartered in Vaughan, Ontario, they serve an American style of cuisine including Chicken Wings, Burgers, Steaks and Salads. During Valentines week, they offer a limited menu with specials where 2 people can dine for a set price. Some of Kelsey's Signature appetizers include: The four cheese spinach dip, Reuben Spring Rolls, Crispy Calamari and the Won Ton nachos.^[2] For 30 years,^[3] wings have been a popular menu item of choice and more recently boneless wings have appeared on the menu. Every Kelsey's offers a kids menu. As well, many American inspired desserts can be found such as a the Caramel Brownie Lava Cake.^[4] Aside from food, Kelsey's is well known for their margarita mixed drinks as well as their famous Beerita's which are a bottle of Corona tilted upside down into a margarita. Other soft drinks are supplied by PepsiCo and include free refills.^[5]

Dining Experience

Every restaurant has two sections for dining. The first is the dining room which features tables and booths. At older Kelsey's locations, each of the booths features a celebrity theme and includes memorabilia that are frame up on the wall. These items range from signed movie posters to certain accessories that are worn in a movie. Newer locations feature pictures of Kelsey’s history. The second choice for dining is the bar area also known as the lounge. Some locations also have booths in the lounge but mostly high tabletops are found as the main dining option. The bar is another place that one can choose to eat at. The lounge features the full Kelsey's menu along with an enhanced drink menu.

Revolution Era (2013-Current)

Kelsey's' parent company Cara Operations has been going through an era of rebranding and renovations including its location located at 1011 The Queensway Etobicoke, Ontario ^[6] where the company is piloting a new restaurant design that features an emphasis on a newer style of Kelsey's dining experience. Many under-performing Kelsey's restaurants have been closing down over the past couple of years and the new design is going to change the customer's eating experience to become more lively and exciting. The restaurant's old slogan "Neighbourhood Bar and Grill" has been upgraded to "Ambitiously Hardworking and Socially Unpredictable".^[7] Bright neon colours are found throughout the restaurant along with an upgraded menu that features a smaller and more limited selection of the most popular items found at other Kelsey's locations. The new bar menu that was first used at this Kelsey's is now available throughout all 88 locations in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. The new bar menu is modeled after its location in Etobicoke featuring bright neon colours along with new items that reflect more of a Pub than a Bar and Grill. The restaurant design is going to be applied to more locations when the franchisees choose to upgrade.

See also

• List of assets owned by Cara Operations

References

External links

• Article on Kelsey's withdrawal from the Quebec market
• Kelsey's Neighbourhood Bar & Grill Official Website