Firefly Cafe — Restaurant in New Bern

I placed a to go order today. The customer service is ON POINT! The staff treated the customers with respect and were very warm and welcoming. Onto the food!! I ordered: The italian spicy flatbread- good amount of spice and tasty sauce as well as a good portion size Hannahs cottage pie is a smaller portion and needed seasoning. Walking taco mack- mack'n cheese was really good- the ground sirloin tasted like normal ground beef and wasnt seasoned. I expected taco seasoning. The salsa was the peak of this dish, very tasty! Carolina mack'n was amazing. The pork bbq was moist and the collards were seasoned perfectly. We decided on side salad and pasta salad as our sides. The side salads were made with different types of lettuce, which is a great change from the normal iceberg from other restaurants. The dressing was a creamy italian. Make sure you ask for extra with the side salad. The pasta salad on the menu describes artichoke hearts, penne pasta, sun dried tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette. This was considered a premium side for extra cost. It was a very small container, 2-3 forkfuls and our portion did not have artichoke hearts and a couple sun dried tomatoes, it was mostly pasta. What we had was very good. Beignet- these were so delicious!! and the highlight of the meal! I will go back for these! They are pricey at 3 for $12 but a very tasty treat! Banana chocolate bread pudding with scoop of ice cream- they have to make their own ice cream. It was light and flavorful. I cant wait to go back and try their crepes and...

We stood in line for over 30 minutes just to place our order... that should have been our sign that it was going to be a long evening of waiting. When done ordering, we were given an oversized flimsy tray with heavy water glasses and nowhere to sit. We waited around on the couches, went outside and walked around a bit and after another 60 minutes we still had no food. With food service so slow, no table opened up for us the whole time we were waiting.

My husband asked one of the servers (who was an owner) when our order would be ready and she told him that we should expect at least a 1 hour wait for food because it's "homemade". The two appetizers arrived at 75 minutes - Brussels Sprouts and Peppers with only about 1 tablespoon of sauce for the entire order. We then asked for the rest of our order to go. The baked beans were tasteless, the chicken salad was nothing special -- and the crepe was decent. For the over $65+ we spent and the amount of time we waited, we'll just eat at...

Parking was a bit tight even though restaurant was not at all busy at 11:30. There is limited outdoor seating. The front staff who takes orders was welcoming. Do need to place order at front and then food is brought to the table. So my 4 on service is reflective of my preference to have more relaxed dining with ordering at the table. The atmosphere was comfortable and quaint. Easy to carry on conversation at our table of 4. The three others were happy with menu and choices available. And they enjoyed their lunches. As someone who does not eat anything that once had legs, I was more challenged. I settled on a hummus plate which was okay. But something I could whip up quickly at home. Pita was very good. Food came to table fairly quickly. So while not my favorite place due to limited options for me, I would return as a nice place for a quiet lunch...