May 8, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
A new cafe bistro focusing on Southern European and Latin American culinary fare has opened its doors in Sunnyside.
Firefly, the name of the locale, opened to the public last Friday at 45-12 43rd Ave., and serves a variety of brunch and dinner items ranging from omelettes, soups, grain bowls, pizza, sandwiches, and pasta.
Brunch dishes include Mortadella Benedictine, a dish made with grilled mortadella, poached eggs, asparagus, and aioli; Huevos Rancheros with Crispy Bacon; and Bacon, Gouda and Avocado Omelette.
Sandwiches are prepared with a choice of bagel, toast, or croissant, and come with meats like skirt steak, prosciutto, and salmon. Three salad varieties appear on the menu, along with five pasta dishes like bucatini alfredo, linguini, and capellini.
A tapas menu is also available, along with an extensive drinks menu featuring coffees, iced teas, sangria, and mimosas.
Menu items at the small locale range from $7 to $13.
Firefly’s kitchen is run by Vanessa Ceballos, who got her start in Venezuela after completing culinary courses there, according to Firefly’s website. Ceballos then emigrated to the United States, and began working at Jacups Coffee Bistro in Maspeth before opening her new locale on 43rd Ave.
For more information, visit Firefly’s website.
Firefly opens from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays, and from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekends.
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22 Comments
Very happy to see this place on 43rd avenue. Had coffee and breakfast sandwich on the first Saturday after they opened and they were very busy, had to wait a long time for food but I hope they get organized because the food was good and the place looks great. I wish them the best of luck, will visit them again.
just had breakfast there! frittata i had was excellant! and the coffee very good, my only complaint is that the place was very small and the service slow! i went on a saturday but will return during the week when things are quieter! the staff were great but with time hopefully they can get more organized! trust me this is not a hipster place but a young venezuelan woman trying to make a go of it! i wish them well i believe they have great potencial!
I really want to love this place – it’s charming. But I’ve been twice and it’s been so chaotic. I think maybe the owner needs to streamline a bit – there are 3 menus, sit down, coffee. It takes forever to get things because the cook and service staff are stumbling over each other in the tiny kitchen. I hope word gets back to him to maybe simplify and organize a little better. We’d love a nice place for coffee and snacks on 43rd!
Thanks. wow you have a lot of advice. can I come visit your restaurant. Where is it
Hahahah – YES – you are SO FUNNY George – I know SO MUCH about restaurants because I know waiting 15+ minutes for a croissant (which was handed to the wrong customer) and a coffee (which the woman forgot, handed me without a lid, which she then had to go back for), is slow and disorganized. WOWOW YES I KNOW A LOT ABOUT RESTAURANTS! GIVE ME A MICHELIN STAR NOW!
You’re totally right. I like their ambition but scaling back a bit would help. I bet they will.
Annab, spot on assessment. Georgie, the Sunnyside Goblin, never not trolling.
It is severely underlit. You need a better lighting design with some “warm” feeling lights. If you can’t really see inside – it’s not inviting.
I wish them luck. My egg sandwich was good. My only complaint is they appear to have only one size (small) for ice coffee. And I think it’s the same price of what you would pay for a large at Starbucks.
Lovely little place with tasty, nicely prepared food. They’re gonna have to expand soon.
I ate there twice already. Love it! $3 for a grilled cheese & tomato. Can’t beat that.
you literraly can beat it though
Why another hipster café? Gentrification is already impacting Woodside and Sunnyside.
It’s a fancy sammich place. You want a bodega? A ham sammich with cheese, lettuce and tomato and mayo for $3.50? Move to Bushwick. I’ve yet to see a flannel beard manbun or the like there yet. And what’s wrong with hipsters? They just don’t dress like you.
Um, I think trolls have permeated this site for a while.
It is not a “hipster cafe” and 43ed ave needed a cafe!
What kind of cafe do you wish for? A dirty one with microwaved frozen food? Plenty of those as is.
And by the way, the accent on the e in “cafe” a la “é” was so hipster.
The owner is a Venezuelan immigrant, what a hipster gentrifier.
if the owner is from venzuela i do doubt she’s a hipster entrpeneur.. sunnyside for all as we say.. signs of life and color on a dull ave.. good luck..
Does anyone know how much was/is the rent at this place?
The website looks really nice and I hope they last long time, they have a lot of tasty sounding stuff in the list. We have enough bars and diners with greasy food around here, hopefully we get more of this type of places. Best of luck to the chef/owner.
the rent is monthly