Firefly Tavern offers a full menu of modern American dishes, some with Southern and Southwestern influence, including chopped salad, a double cheeseburger, a chicken Chili Verde bowl, and red beans and rice. A dedicated Sunday and weekday brunch menu will feature dishes like waffles and fried chicken and cheese grits with Andouille sausage and collard greens.
Happy hour 3-5 daily.
Based on 43 reviews, the restaurant has received a rating of 4.7 stars. Price
✔️ Dine-in ✔️ Curbside pickup ✔️ No delivery
Address:
110 Walnut Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: (831) 291-5880
Hours
| Friday | 11 AM–12 AM |
| Saturday | 11 AM–12 AM |
| Sunday | 11 AM–5 PM |
| Monday
(Labor Day)
|
11:30 AM–10 PM
Hours might differ
|
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | 11:30 AM–10 PM |
| Thursday | 11:30 AM–10 PM |
Menu
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Photo Gallery
Reviews
levi blue
Brand new, and (as far as I’m concerned) the BEST downtown venue!! I’m so happy Firefly has a restaurant now, in addition to their coffee shops. I recently read an article mentioning that their Chef is Jose Ortega from HOME & Discretion Brewery!!! After reading that, I couldn’t get in there fast enough. I want to try everything on their menu. So far, tried the Chicken Verde. Chef’s kiss. A generous serving of Mary’s organic chicken breast, cooked to juicy perfection, with insanely delicious rice, fresh pickled carrots, onions, jalapeño…and a verde sauce to die for. SO GOOD. It was Sunday afternoon, so I tried two different sparkling wines. The first: Italian sparkling red(!)—delicious, and offers interesting pairing options. Secondly: a beautiful French brut by Jean Philippe. I could have had that, alone. It was so lovely.
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Rebecca Clark
Checked out this great new addition to Walnut Avenue downtown!!!! Had a great meal with friends Friday night, we shared four dishes from their eclectic menu (the portions are very generous) and we loved everything ( thanks Chef Jose). Great selection of wine and beer by the glass. Lovely, knowledgeable staff… the owners Hans and April made us all feel very welcome. The decor is warm and inviting with good music. We will be hanging here a lot.
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Shellie Grindy
Sunday July 16. My husband and I decided to give Firefly a try after a morning of Refrigerator shopping. The good/Great: Ambience is nice. Not too crowded, or too noisy. Really nice background music. We ordered the Chicken and Waffles and shared it. It was SO GOOD. Whatever they used for the batter on the chicken was delightfully crispy. The waffle stayed semi-crisp from start to finish. I highly recommend this but it seems to only be available on the weekends. We’re looking forward to coming back to try something else on the menu. Things that could use some improvement: When we arrived at just after 12:30 we were able to be seated almost immediately. Then we waited for 10-15 minutes before we could even get a cup of water. The water was room temp. Slightly chilled would have been better. I love the little glasses it came in 🙂 Once we got our water we waited about another 10-15 minutes or so before the gentlemen came back to take our order at which time we waited another 30 minutes for our meal to arrive. By this time it was pleasantly but not extraordinarily busy. The gentlemen was nice and very apologetic about the delays so we aren’t going to hold it against him, but we hope service gets better as this nice new place gets a little more into the swing of things. Despite the slow service we really enjoyed our meal and highly recommend you give Firefly a try.
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eveleigh jennings
Stopped in to grab a quick lunch. Was not expecting it to be as wonderful as it was! Service was great, our waitress was very friendly and helpful. The food was delicious. The poutine and blueberry pancakes were some of our favorites. It was overall an incredible meal! Could not recommend enough.
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Alex
The place is new so I will give it time and try again but I wasn’t super impressed. The decor is horrendous and uncomfortable. The menu is eclectic. My burger was super under done. Downtown needs places like this so I hope they get it together.
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Carrie A
Cool spot with great food. Conveniently located near a parking garage. Service was lovely as well. Menu is small but changes often and they are very open to making changes. Several items have a vegetarian version available. Have beer and wine and are working on full liquor license. They also serve brunch every day until 5pm! All the people waiting an hour for brunch next door should come here. Can’t wait to go back!
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Mo D
Great new spot downtown that has been vacant for a while. After a lot of work they’re now open. Good food and menu. Come on and stop by, you won’t be disappointed. Popcorn is the BOMB.
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Dusty Fohs
We were looking to walk to dinner somewhere downtown and remembered that Firefly Tavern had recently opened. We decided to check it out and were more than pleasantly surprised. The food is GREAT! We started with a chopped salad that was good and perfect for sharing. I got the chicken chili verde and my partner got the cheesy grits.
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Cynthia Nelson
I’m a big fan of Firefly bagel sandwiches, so I was excited to check this place out. We stopped by on a Friday, early evening for dinner and really enjoyed our experience. The staff were super friendly, the food was SO full of flavor and generous portions. I will definitely be back frequently. A great addition to Walnut Ave!
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filipina warren
Great restaurant to enjoy food, and a nice selection of beer and wine. My friends and I ordered the burrata and arugula salad with chicken confit, brisket tacos, truffle fries, fried chicken and salad, and the cheesy grits. Although the menu isn’t large, the options are fantastic. Everything was delicious and we will be back!
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