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You may have noticed that, around May 1, Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub – at 435 SW 152nd Street in downtown Burien – closed very quietly, signage was removed, and paper was put up, blocking the windows.
A sign near the front door and a post on their website says “Closed for remodeling”:
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The original Mick Kelly’s first opened in September, 2005, and was owned by Mick Purdy and Adrian Kelly. They were named as “Business Leaders of the Year” in 2007 by the City of Burien.
Mick sold his half in early 2012, and Adrian stayed on as a partner until around July, 2013.
Prior to their Irish pub, the building was a Chinese restaurant at various times, then was called the Silver Swan for a while, then just before they took it over it was called The Shaft.
As many of our Readers may recall, the pub’s new owners had some issues with late-night noise and crime and the business struggled.

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Rita Dixson

Enter Rita Dixson, current owner of a sports bar/restaurant called The Bridge in West Seattle.
Rita took possession of this property on May 1st, and confirmed via phone with The B-Town Blog on Monday (May 11) that yes, she is the new owner, and she hopes to open a brand new restaurant/sports bar sometime this summer.
“It will be similar to The Bridge, with locally-sourced food,” she said. “It won’t be an Irish pub though, but will have a real neighborhood-like feel and a big focus on sports.”
Rita also wants to assure her new neighbors that there will no longer be any late-night live music or DJs at the location.
Oh, and one other thing – she’s still looking for an appropriate name for the new business. Have any ideas? Leave ’em in Comments below…]]>

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61 replies on “B-TOWN BIZ: Mick Kelly's closes, will re-open as sports bar under new ownership”

  1. How about “Center of The Known World” Since West Seattle is known for the Bridge, and Burien is known (in car ads) as the Center of the Known World.

  3. Call it “Under The Bridge” Burien is being overrun with transients so that name is appropriate. And please remember that Burien is “not” West Seattle, we do not want it to cost what you charge over there, and yes I have been to both the old and new versions in W.S. Welcome to the neighborhood.

  4. Many people have referred to it as McKelley’s, like McDonalds. In print I see it’s two distinct names.

  6. How about the B-152! B for Burien, 1 for the number 1 sports bar & 52 cause it will be the Bomb and it’s near the airport!

  7. The 4th Runway or just Runway Sports Bar.
    The Annex
    Something w/ B-Town in it or even Sunnydale (if you know the history).

  8. Call it 2 Bridges
    I am over the moon about your new place!! I love the Bridge but now I will have one in my neighborhood!!
    Yippee!!

    2. I believe the Elliott Bay Brew house has already taken ownership of “B-Town”
      so that wouldn’t work.

  14. I vote for Score or The Score – it applies to all Sports. Hopefully everyone will want to know “The Score.”

  16. There Is already a bar called The Highline on Capital Hill. And the Runway was a bar that used to be in Boulevard Park and currently there is a Runway Cafe in Georgetown. Good suggestions but someone got them first.

    1. Already taken by the nearby “Pit Stop Bottle Shop” which is the go to destination hard to beat for cold beer and good times.

  22. How about “The Cascadia”?
    It’s an obvious nod to the Cascadia Cup (local sports related) and an overall “northwestern” name.

  26. Cogests Rita & welcome to the neighborhood.
    I vote for “Burien Public House”. A comfortable place where B Town locals can gather for a meal, a beverage and good friends or neighbors!

  27. An obvious natural name for this new restaurant is THE HIGHLINER!
    A search reveals that there was a restaurant by that name in New York…however, it is not is business currently and there appears to be no restaurants with that exact name here in the Pacific Northwest.
    A “HIGHLINER” is typically a term used in the fishing industry and is now generally used to describe a well respected, productive and successful corporation or member of a family. It has a very positive connotation and is immediately recognizable.
    And what could be better than a reference to Highline High School and the Highline School Districtl! Go for it!

  29. Burien Pub and Sports is my humble suggestion.
    Welcome! Thrilled to have new energy and a better crowd draw.

  32. “Home Public House” the shirts could get very creative…I’ll see us at Home?!? Home is wear the heart is..or at least the beer. No place like Home…Homeward bound 😉

  39. Rita’s Sports Bar and have the “i” in Rita’s a baseball bat with the ball above it , The “o” could be a basket ball . Then various other references can be about the sign such as a flying football or a seahawk .

  42. 1:52 or The 1:52, as in time left on a game clock. Then it could be the one fifty-second or the one fifty-two. If possible, it would be fun to find images or video clips of cool sports plays that happened at that exact time.

  43. ok I know some people are going to dislike this idea and some are going to like it but here we go. Why don’t they close down the bar and expand the pet store since there has not been any complaints or any crime from the pet store. Maybe even put in a small bar in the back. They can call the bar area tweety’s

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