The Burien Police Department announced on its Facebook page on Wednesday (Oct. 22) that, due to last Sunday morning’s shooting on SW 152nd Street near Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub (we were first to report it here), the bar will be making a “complete format change on Saturday nights.” The pub, which has recently been the cause of numerous complaints, will close early this Saturday night, then, starting next weekend, “everyone is invited to come enjoy a new and improved Mick Kelly’s!” The usual Saturday night DJ will be cut, according to an employee we spoke with over the phone. What other changes will be made is unknown, but stay tuned to the blog for more information… Here’s the full announcement:

Joint Announcement from Burien PD and Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub: Burien PD and the owner of Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub have been working closely to ensure its patrons and neighbors safety for many weeks. No one wants Burien residents to be affected by raucous or dangerous behavior. Mick Kelly’s is pleased to announce a complete format change on Saturday nights. It’s Mick Kelly’s desire to cater to area residents who wish to enjoy a good meal, beverage, and company in their own neighborhood. To facilitate this format change, we will be closing early on Saturday night this weekend. Next weekend, everyone is invited to come enjoy a new and improved Mick Kelly’s! Burien PD is committed to ensuring the safety of patrons and residents and will be working closely with the owner of Mick Kelly’s to support their efforts. We all agree a zero tolerance approach is needed for anyone choosing to engage in inappropriate or illegal activity either inside or outside of any drinking establishment. Over-service, minors in bars, excessive noise, and DUI will not be tolerated. We are very pleased to work with Mick Kelly’s on these issues, and their willingness to be the first establishment to work so closely with us towards these goals. Burien PD has assigned resources to patrol downtown bars and will be enforcing appropriate state and city laws.
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26 replies on “Downtown shooting prompts Mick Kelly's Irish Pub to change its format”

  1. I am glad to see that action is being taken quickly. Saddened that it took a shooting to see that something needed to be done. I would sure like to see the city being more proactive than reactive.

    1. Indeed. I’m waiting for a kid to be hurt walking along 4th Ave S from 156 to Sylvester Middle School. When will the city wake up?

    2. In all fairness Mick Kellys has been a great place to eat. I have taken my family there lots oftimes and will continue take them there. The owner and management has always I thought I has done a great job to insure the safety of their customers.

  2. Let’s just kick all the bars and saloons out of Burien. I’m tired of smelling spilled alcohol when I walk through Burien. It’s disgusting.
    Hose off the sidewalks, folks.
    Let’s stop being known as “party city” “wassup dude”…
    Please grow up Burien.

  3. pathetic. 2-3 years ago it ran smoothly. Smart decisions them. They lost their great bartenders and got a horrible crowd instead. Bring back the old micks!!!!

  4. Wow, a shooting… well it is hard to escape crime anywhere. I wouldn’t mind seeing a reduction of the tattoo parlors and pawn shops also. Admittedly I am a fan of free enterprise and markets, but somehow these venues bring dubious characters I am just saying…..

  5. Thank God! Every weekend it was nothing but “wanna-be gangsters” and riff-raff. Hopefully they all go back to White Center and South Park.

    1. I think it’s the people from West Seattle that are the problem. We should put fences up…that’ll help for sure

  6. This pub hasn’t been the same since we lost Adrian Kelly. It has lost the essence of an Irish Pub. The new owner doesn’t seem to get it.

    1. I agree with Sheila! The Irishmen ran a first class establishment and ran out any troublemakers. Their food and service was outstanding. It hasn’t been the same …at all.. since the new owners took over. Bring back the Mick’s!!

  7. I’ve enjoyed Mick Kelly’s for several years. I’ve seen some great live music there. But when they switched over to DJs they brought in the element that’s counter to the experience outside of Saturday nights. It turns from a decent Irish experience to a meat market focused on twentysomethings looking to hook up.
    Maybe they can start working on booking more live music and cater more to their core demographic.

  8. I like the idea of a neighborhood pub, and ate their once. The food was pretty good and they had Irish music. It does not sound like that is the case anymore. Perhaps the owners will decide that they, too, want a change of clientele. The good folks of Burien, South Park, White Center, Normandy Park, and Des Moines could make a point of stopping by for a pint, and support a small business trying to make a change.
    If there is no true change, the bad publicity will hurt their business and they will be forced to close. Sounds like the fate of this independent business is truly in the hands of the owner.

  9. I stopped going there. OK place during the day, but when the sun sets it turns into a paradise of loser gang members and they play really crummy rap music.
    So we have an Irish Pub that fills with Mexican gangs and they play rap.
    Seems like an identity crisis!

  10. Didn’t know that the original person who started the bar had gone. Didn’t know there was a non Irish night. I guess that tells me how many Saturday nights I spend in down town Burien. I hope the situation rights itself now.

  11. I’m disappointed to see so many comments that appear to be rooted in stereotyping and bigotry. Can we stop that, please? There are stupid/violent people in EVERY town and there are nice law-abiding people in EVERY town. There are stupid/violent people of EVERY race, and there are nice law-abiding people of EVERY race. I do not want to be from the town that has shootings on weekends AND I do not want to be from the town that blames “certain people” for bad any behavior that occurs. We ALL have to live here together and we ALL have a responsibility to make it work!! Want to see fewer “dropouts” and more police presence? How about paying your taxes and voting for the initiatives that will increase graduation rates and # of officers we can put on the payroll? Attack the problems at their ROOTS, instead of blaming after the fact.

      1. No Catherine, there are not stupid/violent people in EVERY town.
        Maybe every town you’ve been to, but not every town.
        Typical liberal rhetoric.

  12. I’m going to eat there this weekend to support this business. They don’t have to make changes and try to adapt and doing so risks existing business. Appreciate the efforts on behalf of the community and disagree with the comments that the new owners don’t get it- they had a different approach than the former owners, it had negative consequences, and they appear to be working collaboratively with their community to adjust. Those are actions of owners who do get it and I wish we had more of that thinking.

  13. I used to eat here with my family often. I stopped spending my money in this establishment when they decided they would rather have the business of gangsters and violent low life scum. The DJ and loud rap music obviously appeal to a different crowd. What is Irish about their night life club scene? They attract violent, ignorant, uneducated youth into Burien at night. High time for a change!

  14. The Tin Room, The Mark, and the Black Zia attract the same low-life types, though not nearly as many as Elmer’s or Good Time Ernies seem to bring in. That this incident happened by Mick Kelly’s is a coincidence and I fail to see how them “changing their format” will alleviate crime or suddenly change the crowd who frequent this bar. There are hoards of drunk drivers swerving around the Tin Room and The Mark every Friday and Saturday night but no one phones in complaints about these establishments. The public library in Burien is full of drunks and drug addicts who dump their used needles into the bathroom garbage but this is completely tolerated. A couple of people get shot and suddenly Mick Kelly’s is bringing down the neighborhood? You may not like how they have changed but it’s ridiculous to act as though it is the most awful place in Burien.

    1. Wow Robyn! You go to all these bars regularly? Because how else would you know anything about their clientele?

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