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Address: 218 Locust St., Sterling.
Hours: Dining, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; and bar, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Contacts: 815-625-7969; 815-625-7532 (fax).
Website: www.kellysinc.com
What do you do? We are a full-service restaurant and bar. Kelly’s serves fine Mexican food and American favorites. Our bar features crafted cocktails and a full selection of imported and domestic brews.
What’s new? We recently renovated the main room. We repaired and restored the original tin ceiling, installed new flooring and generally spiffed up the place.
What makes your business special? We are obviously in a unique situation – an Irish bar that serves Mexican food. But not too unique in Sterling, a community that has truly melded the Mexican culture and food with the local culture. Our slogan is, “A little bit Irish, a whole lot of fun.”
How many do you employ? We have 24 employees, full and part time.
Tell us about yourselves: We’re co-owners Sally Kelly and Nancy Kelly-McDonnell. Our bar manager is longtime employee and Sterling resident Tim Hammes. We are sisters-in-law – we bought the business from Nancy’s folks, Ed and Mary Kelly, in 1984
We are both homegrown. Our families have lived in the area for generations. Sally is a Sterling High alum; Nancy graduated from Newman Central Catholic decades and decades ago. We belong to the Sauk Valley Area and Rock Falls chambers, the Downtown Merchants Association and Sterling Main Street.
We each have three children. Sally has five grandkids, and Nancy has six.
Anything else you’d like us to know? We love happy eaters. We are committed to serving quality food at fair prices. Ninety-five percent of our menu items are made on the premises. Seasonally, we use locally grown produce and we hand-cut all our choice meat.
We look forward to the start of our 60th year of family business and the opportunity to serve our friends. We are proud to be part of the Sterling community and are happy to be part of the downtown neighborhood.