The restaurant is housed in the Glisan Building,[1] in the southwest portion of the city's Old Town Chinatown neighborhood.

Opened in 1990, the restaurant is owned and operated by Gerard and Lucille McAleese.

[2] Their son Garrett opened Kells Brew Pub (now Kells Brewery) in northwest Portland in 2012.

[3] Since 1995, money affixed to the ceiling has been donated to charity.

[4][5] The restaurant also hosts an annual Kells Irish Festival,[6] and hosted the first Irish Beer Festival in 2017.