Firefly

Always consistent quality of food. Bigger portions than other Dupont Circle restaurants.
I have been to Firefly many many times (since I used to live right around the corner from there) for both lunch and dinner.
Lightening Lunch:
Plenty to choose from for this rather economical lunch. at $ 22, you get one app, one entrée, a soft drink and some granola to take with you back to work. Can’t beat that…
Oyster Po-​Boy is delicious, so are the wedge salad, the deviled eggs, and the burger.
If you are looking for a casual dinner or fast but sit-​down lunch, then look no more.

We really enjoyed our dinner experience at Firefly a lot. We had just come in the DC area that day. We wanted a relaxed dinner and we definitely got it. The Wine… oh, the wine… it was marvelous! Great selection; reasonable prices; and the one the waiter suggested was very good.
Our food was delicious. I’m sorry I didn’t write this right then and there. I remember our son got the seamless raviolis. I got the hamburger. And we did have 2 other entrees, but I don’t recall. I do recall we had no leftovers. Enjoyed everything. And the waiter was EXCEPTIONAL!
I definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone; kids, groups, intimate… all good!

Terrible food and service. I found a piece of chewed gum in my mussels. What else can I say. The manager almost ignored me but took it of the bill. I was sick all night. Never go to this Restaurant.

I went here for lunch on a weekday. We made reservations, so we were seated quickly. The restaurant definitely filled up around lunch time, so make a reservation if you don’t want to wait! First thing I noticed was the huge tree in the middle of the room. The décor was really cute and trendy with tree branches lining the walls and mason jars as table centerpieces, which made for a nice and cozy atmosphere. I ordered the turkey wrap which came with a side of fries. I didn’t love the wrap but I didn’t hate it either — it was just like a normal wrap. The fries were pretty good and flavored well. Our server was friendly and attentive, and we didn’t have to wait long for our food. I enjoyed my lunch and will probably visit Firefly again to try some of the other recommended food!

Stayed at the Kimpton Madera and the restaurant shares the ground floor. Checked out their Happy Hour, which goes till 7 pm. It’s a good space with a nice bar and pretty busy for a Tuesday night. For pub grub, really liked the parmesan truffle fries and boneless wings.

Just look at my photo-​self explanatory. Joe is
and suggested this gf option. #thankyoujoe

We stayed in DC for the weekend and ate here both mornings for breakfast.
The Eggs Benedict has to be the best I have ever had anywhere! There’s crab cake on top of the English muffin that really brings so much flavor into every bite.
The bread basket includes a lemon pound cake that is also very good.
We ordered $ 15 mimosa carafes– great deal, and great OJ to champagne ratio!
The staff was very attentive, which is always a plus!

Firefly, I dig you! This local restaurant is all about accommodating guests with certain dietary needs/​restrictions/​preferences, so their menu reflects a great variety of items for those who require GF/​vegan/​vegetarian offerings as well for the various palates (creole/​cajun/​southern comfort/​Italian/​American offerings), all using fresh seasonal ingredients. This place is also built around an indoor tree, that looks pretty neat, and their restaurant pieces (such as the tables, the glassware, their recycling program, etc.) supports and showcases the restaurant’s belief in sustainability. We celebrated a birthday here, and we tried the following: Crawfish Gumbo (filled with Andouille sausage and crawfish), Chicken Fried Oysters (with a Po’Boy sauce; the oysters themselves were plump, but I wasn’t really a fan of the sauce); Deviled Eggs (with smoked paprika, black forest ham, and topped with a garlic chip — this had a liquid-​smoke-​type of a flavor to it, and the filling was creamy); Devils on Horseback (dates filled with Point Reyes blue cheese, wrapped in applewood bacon and drizzled with a bourbon balsamic reduction — this was a bit too overpowering with the bleu cheese); Roasted Pork Loin (with sauteed kale, carbonara sauce, caramelized onions, and slices of pickled red onion — the pork loin was a little tough, but the taste was pretty good — I just wished there was more sauce to the dish); Mini Pot Roast (beautifully-​braised roast with Yukon gold mashed potatoes, braised baby carrots, and covered with a roasted shallot jus — this was pretty delicious — seasoned well and comforting!); Top Sirloin (set on top of some pommes lyonnaises and sauteed mushrooms and dressed with ramp butter and a red wine reduction — the steak itself wasn’t really evenly-​cooked (requested as a medium rare, but it came out more of a medium); Mac ‘N Three Cheese (at first, this seemed a bit too watered down and too runny — however, the taste itself was pretty tasty, as it seemed more of a thin bechamel-​like consistency; it had a nice cheesy taste to it); and, Caramelized Brussels Sprouts (this had a nice sweetness to it, with a hint of a wok stir-​fried taste to it; I liked that the sprouts weren’t too large in size so that it was cooked throughout). Complimentary rolls were given with soft butter — these tasted like an oversized version of a Parker roll — soft with a nice crusty top, these were delicious: D For drinks, we tried the restaurant’s selection of mocktails — a raspberry lemonade, a basil-​infused lemonade, and a virgin Mojito. For a birthday treat, we were presented with a Chocolate Pot de Crème (salted caramel, chantilly cream, crushed pistachios, and candied orange zest mixed within — this had a nice slight orange liqueur taste to the nice cream). Our server was Mr. Martin, and he was attentive, patient, efficient, and super nice! The only issue was that the restaurant’s AC was broken, so it was a little too uncomfortable with the humidity and the stuffy air; opening the windows was slightly better. Situated next to Hotel Madera and the Hampshire House, this was a nice find and I’d like to go back to try out the rest of their menu: D
+complimentary rolls: D
+Deviled Eggs
+Mini Pot Roast: D
+Mac ‘N Three cheese
+Caremlized Brussels Sprouts
+weekday HH offered at the bar
+ask for Mr. Martin: D
+limited restricted parking around the area

8 years ago I was like, pfff, look at this fru-​fru restaurant with a sparkly tree in the middle!!! 4 years ago I invited my friend to go check it out, and she had an amazing meal because of all the Gluten-​Free options and I was equally pleased! And last week, I went again and was floored with its dishes and service.
FOOD: 5
SERVICE: 5
AMBIANCE: 5
VALUE: 5
OVERALL: 5.
This was my actual note from my phone:
pot roast. off DA HOOK
So yes, please please try the pot roast. You don’t need a knife — it was that tender! Beautiful flavors from fresh vegetables
The «chicken fried» oysters were also a 5 star dish, and a good portion for it being an appetizer. Also the Mac n Cheese, I mean, come on, you can’t go wrong!
Further to the impressive food, was the great service while sitting AT THE BAR. Usually I find at other places you get overlooked or slow service at the bar. The bartender was quite attentive, friendly, knowledgeable, and speedy!
I should also mention that it was a TUESDAY and the restaurant was full (surprising). That is why I sat at the bar.
The cocktails we had were:
one with beet = kinda weird
tequila /​fruit /​jalapeño = delicious
Ambiance: you can go for a casual dinner after work, or a more romantic setting. Pretty sure I saw 2 dates at the bar alone.
Enjoy!

This is an awesome restaurant! Had dinner here with a few friends and was really excited to see the décor totally themed with a firefly feeling. There is a big tree in the middle of the dining area. The kitchen area looks like a quaint house… it is a very charming space. The menu was great, lots of great options. The shrimp and grits were really creamy and delicious. I got the crab cakes and WOW… so much crab, I love that. It wasn’t all breading, it was legit crab meat and the sauce was phenomenal. The best part for me was dessert-​the carrot cake was accompanied by this scrumptious ice cream and wonderful sauce. Overall, I loved the experience, the food and service. Will definitely come back, it will be hard to forget this place! Almost forgot, your check is served in a mason jar with a light like you caught a firefly… nice touch!

Came here today (Sunday) for brunch at 1:30pm, and was very pleased with my experience. I got here in time for the reservation I made through Open Table, but the person I was meeting there ended up not showing up until 2:10pm. Unfortunately, they only serve food until 2:30pm. ****Spoiler Alert****, we put in our orders in time and god our food.
The mimosas were $ 3, and the bloody mary’s were $ 4 — what more could you want?! Answer: Pancakes. The answer has always been pancakes for me lately, especially since I don’t drink, and this place delivered.
So this restaurant is relatively small, and has interesting decorations. While I was waiting slash essentially getting stood up, the staff was incredibly friendly and making sure I was taken care of along the way. The bartender was especially nice, and definitely hilarious, which was perfect in my situation.
When my friend finally arrived, they seated us next to the window, which looked like the best seat in the house. The waitress was really nice and attentive, and she answered the paranoid vegetarian questions I always ask at every restaurant I go to, patiently.
I ordered the lemon-​ricotta pancakes. They came with fresh blueberries, and they came pre-​glazed with maple syrup. These pancakes were delicious, and satisfied my constant craving for them.
My friend got the Kale-​N-​Eggs and was very pleased with her meal as well. We both licked our plates clean.
Before we left I asked the bartender to take a photo of us, and he did and was super nice about it.
Overall, great experience. I would definitely come back — only I would make sure everyone in my party arrived on time.

I had my birthday brunch at firefly and I was not disappointed! Everything was great, especially the service! I ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes and they were so delicious. I ate the whole thing! The service was amazing and I will definitely be going back!

I went to Firefly 2 weekends ago for my friend Cristina’s birthday brunchus. We were a group around 10 and they accommodated us perfectly!
I ordered a $ 3 mimosa that was the perfect balance of orange juice and bubbly and an even better price!
The restaurant starts everyone off with some of the softest buttery bread ever, all the yumzzzzz. I luv when people give you bread! Especially delicious bread. #allaboutthatglutenlyf
I ordered the Firefly egg white omelette with no cheese, it had ham, roasted butternut squash and spinach. It came with roasted potatoes or «home fires» and two toasted pieces of multi grain bread. The presentation was very nice, I really enjoyed the omelette (I just needed to add some salt and pepper to it) and the potatoes were delicious. It was a really good size dish for the price too! I’d highly recommend this restaurant for brunch!
What makes it a 5 star place is because our waitress (forgot her name) was so incredibly nice and went out of her way to make our birthday girl feel special! I’d definitely come back!

Brunched here today with a couple of my girlfriends. Food was 4 stars, delicious, big portions, and great pricing… Service unfortunately was about a 2.5 stars. We had an 11:15am reservation and didn’t even end up being seated until 11:35… we definitely thought diners were still at our table causing the delay but come to find absolutely no one was at our table so we were confused. After the asking the third time if we were going to be seated soon the hostess was slightly rude to my friend as if it was totally ridiculous of her to be asking if we’re going to be seated soon.
After being seated, we then sat at the table for another 12 minutes or so without anyone coming over to take a drink order or provide waters. Looking over the memo, their drink orders are really well priced with $ 3 mimosas and $ 4 bloody’s. I ordered a mimosa and some other girls ordered the bloody’s and they raved about how delicious they were. Onto the food… there are soooo many good looking options. I opted for the raisin bread french toast with apple compote and an added a side of scrambled eggs and bacon,. Other orders at the table were the other the breakfast tacos, the lemon ricotta pancakes and the crab cakes benny. We all absolutely loved our dishes. French toast was sweet and delicious and great thickness. The side of eggs and bacon were pretty sizeable that you could probably split with someone else ordering a sweet dish. The breakfast tacos seemed to be a real fan fave at the table along with their ginormous breakfast potatoes. All in $ 30 for 3 mimosas, 4 large halves of french toast, eggs and bacon. Of course though once we were clearly finished with our food, we spent about 30 minutes with our plates in front of us and no waitress to be found.
We all decided the food and pricing is so great that we’d definitely go back and see if it was an off day for service. Definitely make a reservation as when we were leaving around 1:30 the place was packed and not a lot of seating.

Service: Great
Décor: Creative (aside from the inner back part of the restaurant)
Cheap Mimosas: CHECK!
Food: Just okay.
I came here last weekend for brunch and unfortunately, was pretty disappointed. The amount of items featured on the menu is typical for a place that serves brunch but the selection isn’t 5 star material. I decided on the Eggs Benedict, but for $ 17, I definitely wasn’t wowed! It just consisted of the English muffin (?), some crab, egg and the sauce with home fries on the side. Nothing special. My friends got the breakfast tacos. Don’t be fooled though. Both my friends ordered these tacos because they came with an avocado crema, which basically was the reason they opted for that dish. They were disappointed.
Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes or came at a bad time! I’m not sure if the menu is seasonal, it just may be. Try this place out for yourself though!

I visited Firefly last week for a work lunch and was pleasantly surprised by my experience. I had walked by this restaurant a hundred times and never really thought to go in and man, I am happy I did!
The ambiance is pretty comfortable, but the food is where it’s at. To start, their rolls are tremendous. They are soft, fluffy and buttery topped with sea salt and I seriously had to restrain myself from eating the entire basket.
For appetizers we ordered the fried oysters. They were delicious (of course) but to be completely honest, I don’t have much to compare them to as I had never tried fried oysters until Firefly.
For lunch I ordered the vegetable lasagna and boy, oh boy was it GOOD! Layers of freshly cooked vegetables replace lasagna noodles in this melt in your mouth experience. I loved this healthy (carb-​free) twist to traditional lasagna and found it to actually taste better than the norm. In addition, I loved that the lasagna was light on the cheese, so you could really taste the flavors of the eggplant and portobello mushroom layers. My only complaint about this dish was that it cost $ 18 which for a vegetarian dish is kind of insane. However, my guess is that this dish takes a lot of time to make and it’s something I would never be able to recreate at home!

A group of 10 of us decided to check out Firefly for brunch. It’s not bottomless but mimosas are only $ 3 and carafes are $ 15 so it’s still affordable.
The service was great, we were never low on water or mimosas, and we easily split the check. We tried a ton of stuff, all of us liked our food. I had the burger, and while it’s not the absolute best in DC, it was solid. My husband had the steak and eggs, which he really enjoyed. We also all loved the bread basket brought out before our meal — fluffy biscuits and a few other options.
Overall this is a great brunch spot. We ended up spending right around what we would for a bottomless brunch, had great service and good food. Recommend if you’re in the area!

Pretty good restaurant. Fairly small inside so prepare for that. We hadn’t made a reservation but were able to sit at the table tops in the bar area. Food was pretty good. They serve different kinds of bread when you are seated. We had a yeast bread that almost tasted like a pretzel top and pound cake. I ordered the shrimp and grits. It was decent– I probably wouldn’t order it again though. My fiancé ordered biscuits and gravy. They were DELICIOUS! Service was pretty good.
I will return :)

This place is so adorable. There’s a huge tree in the middle of the restaurant with «fireflies» on the ceiling. The check comes in a jar with a «firefly» in it. It’s just too adorable.
The shrimp and grits tasted like somebody’s gramma was in the back making it while listening to James Brown. It was so buttery and creamy! I loved how they used tiny shrimp, giving me a consistent ratio of shrimp to grits. The fresh fruit were very fresh.
I didn’t care for the deviled eggs, which is odd because I LOVE EGGS. They used a beet filling, which reminded me of pickled eggs (yum). There was some weird red beady things that freaked me out and my boyfriend took advantage of my unsophisticated palette and told me they were octopus eggs. I really almost threw them up. The eggs are topped with some god awful tasting cracker that I had to wash down with half of my $ 3 mimosa.
The parking in that area is the reason why I can’t give Firefly 5 stars. It isn’t the crammed space or the deviled eggs. We over spent 30 minutes looking for parking about 5 minutes away. There are hotels and other restaurants in the area, so I’m not sure why they had ALL of the nearby (and not so nearby) parking garages closed. I guess I’ll have to wait until it’s warm outside to come back.

I really wanted to give this place only 4.5 stars, mostly because they cram you in like sardines here. But everything else was so great, I’m giving in with a full five stars. We had a lot of difficulty finding parking (yes, I know, not the best area to find parking, but you gotta do what you gotta do), and were late for our reservation. We called to let them know, and they were very understanding and accommodating, and tried to give us suggestions on where we could find a spot.
The main reason Firefly really deserves the full five stars is for the impeccable service — both on the floor, and in the kitchen. One of my friends has some very strict dietary requirements, and both our server and the kitchen were diligent in ensuring we didn’t end up with any type of health emergency. They were incredibly patient and helpful.
We started with a cheese board, which had a few different high quality, yummy cheeses. There wasn’t quite enough bread to go with it, but I always feel that way pretty much any time I order a cheese board, no matter where I am. (Girl has to have her carbs.) For dinner, I had fried green tomatoes, and ravioli. I figured the fried green tomatoes in DC would at least be better than anything I could get in Baltimore, and they were, but they still weren’t quite up to par to what I can get further south. But they were still good and I wouldn’t turn them down a second time.
The wine was delicious, and if I hadn’t been completely full by the end of my meal, I would have loved to try one of their decadent-​sounding desserts. Maybe next time.

I dined at Firefly for Restaurant Week during lunch on a weekday. I thought the food was quite tasty and the atmosphere is cute (with their faux bamboo branches and their foresty feel).
I initially wanted to order the gumbo soup as my appetizer, but I got there at 11:30 and, apparently, they said they couldn’t have the gumbo ready for 30 minutes because they hadn’t started making it yet. Uh, if you open at 11:30 and have guests ordering around then, you should probably plan that in advance!
I ended up ordering the following for my Restaurant Week meal:
–Appetizer: Arugula Salad (balsamic shallot, Cherry tomato, American grana, sherry vinaigrette)
–Entrée: Cobb Salad (grilled chicken, avocado, Maytag blue, Cherry tomatoes, hard boiled egg, bacon, farmhouse ranch dressing). This was quite tasty and a large portion!
–Dessert: Winter Orange Sorbet (with a salt oat cookie). This was refreshing!
Service was excellent and my server constantly stopped by to make sure everything was great. And at the end, they bring your check out to you in a mason jar containing a fake candle. Nice touch.
The restaurant is located a few blocks south of the Dupont Circle metro station. It’s great for small groups and larger groups alike. Even though it’s not one of my DC restaurant favorites, I’d certainly visit again.

Came here for dinner with friends and it was all right. The ambiance is nice, it looks like a treehouse but for adults since there’s a pretty substantial bar. The four of us got seated and I started with the chicken matzoh ball soup, a family recipe according to the menu. The soup was. well, if it’s a family recipe I won’t disparage it.
I looked at the menu options they had and settled on the shrimp and grits which was under their urban picnic section. The shrimp was cooked well and the grits were a nice texture. The grits came in a tiny cast iron skillet. A good shareable dish, but who shares shrimp and grits? Fortunately, the lady got the halibut and there was enough of the leftover for me to eat. Overall, the quality of it is pretty good but for the amount, not enough for the price.

My friends, fiancé and myself decided to try Firefly, as it had very positive reviews, and was within walking distance of our Air BNB in Dupont Circle.
Firefly was a cozy and clean restaurant and had a very trendy atmosphere. My fiancé and I arrived about 30 minutes before our reservation, so we posted up at the bar. Our bartender was hilarious, friendly, and made some great recommendations on some local craft beer. I enjoyed chatting with him before our party showed up.
Once we were seated, we were immediately greeted by our server. He was prompt, friendly, and knowledgeable. He checked in with our table regularly to ensure that we had water, condiments, and another else we might have needed.
I ordered the ½ pound beef hamburger, which was fantastic. I ordered it medium-​rare, and it came with cheese, tomato jam, and garlic chive aioli. My favorite part of the meal wasn’t actually part of the burger — it was actually the included side. The TRUFFLE FRIES were unbelievable. I decided to splurge a little bit and got the fried green tomatoes as well. The meal was a little pricey, but it was well worth it.
Overall, Firefly was a great choice for dinner. I’m very satisfied with the level of service and the quality of the food, and I’ll definitely return if and when I come back to Washington D.C.

The food was too salty and the service was terrible.
Lovely atmosphere. Nice looking brunch menu.
The food was too salty. Both mine and my wife’s were noticeably over salted.
It was the worst service I’ve had in a long time. It seemed like our server actively ignored us. She never checked in on our table, when we tried to get her attention even when she was at the table next door she ignored our entreaties. It was like there was an invisibility bubble around us. We saw everyone else getting service but us. It was weird.

This is a review solely on our brunch today ⁹⁄₀₇ Labor Day. First of all, we arrived at 11:40am and when we got inside, there were 2 parties still waiting to be seated and no one was at the podium for more than 5 minutes. That was bad.
The Wagyu Burger was out this morning but it as not mentioned by the server at first. Bad cause that was what I wanted.
The Cobb salad with chicken was drowned in dressing and tasted no way close to be $ 15. There was no creativity in there.
The server was holding the water glass at the top area where your lips go to and straws were not provided.
The noise level is very high here especially with those loud mouth people laughing so loud with the help of lots of Mimosas at $ 3 per glass.
The only thing we liked was the complimentary bread.

Let me preface this by saying that I love RW.
Okay now that that is out of the way, you do know that I patronized thee Firefly for that reason.
Here it go.
Located on New Hampshire Ave, it is a part of the Hotel Madera, so yes there is a street entrance and an entrance from the Hotel. This place sort of reminds me of a tree house… I mean there are trees all up an through. Dim lighting, slightly warm for my taste, but nonetheless a nice ambiance. Fairly quaint, the dining area isn’t that large. I can see this as a nice spot for tbt of a fbt. All date like and what not.
Now if you aren’t familiar, the RW deal is three courses; an appetizer, entrée and a dessert. On this date, I had the kale caesar salad, the acclaimed pot roast and a chocolate mousse like dessert.
The salad, was flippin awesome. How is it that my greedy foodie behind never thought to make my own kale salad. This whole thing escapes me. Seriously. So simple, yet so fresh. I really enjoyed it.
The entrée, pot roast, was cooked to perfection, so much so that there was no knife needed to cut the beef. The veggies; carrots, onions, and I swear I tasted some celery were cooked nicely and added to the roast. The potatoes were delish too, not too creamy but not overly chunky, just the way that I like them.
I also tried the frites, and the steak. The steak was seasoned nicely and not over done. The frites, weren’t my favorite, as they reminded me of the shoestring variety, and I’m never a fan honestly.
The dessert was delish, a chocolate with a hazelnut linger.
Our server was attentive, and extremely helpful.
Nicely done firefly. I’d certainly return if in the area.