Get to Know Us!

Our Story.

At FIREFLY, you’ll find inspired food, craft beverages, and your favorite games. We are located at the corner of Market and Meade in Charlottesville’s Woolen Mills neighborhood, a half mile from the Downtown Mall and close to the Belmont neighborhood.

We are a living tribute to the man whose dream inspired FIREFLY, Mark Weber. In May of 2014, a cancer diagnosis led Mark to follow his dream of opening a bar + restaurant that combines craft beer, great food, and gaming. Though Mark is no longer with us, his spirit and vision lives on at FIREFLY.

Thanks to a real-life crash-course in restaurant ownership, and a very skilled and supportive team of staff, Mark’s former girlfriend Melissa Meece took over as the owner and operator of this fun and unique spot in C’ville. Melissa sold the restaurant to Jennifer Mowad in May 2023. Jennifer also owns Cocoa & Spice, a boutique chocolate shop located right next door to FIREFLY.

The Food.

Our menu is comprised of appetizers, salads, burgers, and sandwiches inspired by local and seasonal ingredients. Inspired, too, by our relationships with local farmers and producers.

• Our most popular item is the grass-fed burger. We believe our burger is one of the best in town, give it a try for yourself?

• Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options are always available. In fact, we pride ourselves on having a menu that is at least 50% vegetarian. We proudly serve No Bull veggie burgers, made just up the street less than a mile away.

• Mark loved tater tots and used to make tater totchos (like nachos, only with tots). One of our most popular appetizers is tater totchos, or you can get naked tots as a side to any sandwich.

• Our fryer oil is 100% GMO-free sunflower oil.

• Nightly dinner specials and rotating seasonal soup options.

• As Seen On TV: Our wings were featured on a Season 3 episode of Cheap Eats with Ali Khan! Check it out here.

The Drinks.

Pair your food with a choice from our 18 rotating craft beer and cider taps, as well as a selection of wine, mead, and cocktails.

• We love local beer and wine! If you do too, then you’ll love what we have. We’re always open to suggestions, too.

• C’ville’s most cider-centric bar, with four or more local cider options at all times.

• We proudly serve all natural cane sugar sodas from Boylan rather than high fructose corn syrup sodas. We have kid-friendly mocktails, too!

• Weekday drink specials from 4-6pm

• We serve only filtered water.

The Space.

Located in the old Linen Building, FIREFLY’s industrial warehouse interior lends to our casual family-friendly environment.

• Want to camp out with your laptop or have a mid-day business meeting? Use our free Wi-Fi (high speed fiber optic internet from Ting!) and when it’s time for a work break play some pinball or Donkey Kong.

• Our patio is dog friendly, as long as you don’t mind us snapping cute pictures to add to our #puppiesonpatios photo collection.

• We strive to reduce our impact on the environment by conserving energy, water, paper goods, and generally making conscious decisions about our sourcing. We compost all food scraps by sending non-meat scraps to an animal sanctuary, and all meat + paper waste to Black Bear Composting.

• We have TVs for watching the guest’s choice of sports games, news, or shows.

• Don’t let the parking lot scare you, there’s parking in the back! Plus, street parking is available on E. Market Street and Carlton and Meade Avenues.

• We are bike-friendly! There’s bike parking available at the corner of Market & Meade, or you can use our front railing.

• We are a great spot for large groups – just give us a heads up before you come with a party of 10 or more so that we can plan accordingly.

• We are proud to be certified as a Safe Space by C-ville Pride as a welcoming space for all.