While walking down 16th today we noticed something off, something unusual, something different and then we figured out what it was-- Kelly's Burgers looked not only closed but boarded up. The familiar outdoor tables were gone and the windows were papered over so you couldn't look in. There was no sign saying "closed for renovations" or even a sign saying anything. Is Kelly's Burger gone?

If so, it'll make it the second Valencia Street mainstay to close up in the past couple of weeks (a used car dealership closed down too but nobody ever was in there and we always suspected it was a drug front anyways), the first one being Leather Tongue Video. But while the closing of Leather Tongue, while sad, wasn't much of a surprise, the closing of Kelly's is. Kelly's was never super crowded but there were always customers in there. People really liked it too. More importantly, the Mission might be a great place to dine on Peruvian fusion or vegan sushi or Indian ice cream and you can't go more than fifty feet without stumbling into a taqueria, but the entire area is woefully lacking in good ole fashioned American comfort food places. Cause sometimes you just want a burger, damnit. And actually, why the Mission doesn't have a good deli is one of the great mysteries of this city.

Whenever something like this happens, we feel a little guilty about it. We liked Kelly's Burgers as they made a damn good turkey burger. They also did make an attempt at serving deli styled food. We just didn't go there that often. Lately, we haven't gone there at all because of some stupid decision to avoid carbs. Would Kelly's still be there if we had eaten there more?

Either way, we're sad to see Kelly's go.

Photo from Urbantic