Firefly at White Sands

We came for dinner with another couple last Sunday evening. The food was excellent, our server was spot on with everything including an accurate description of all the items on the brand new fall menu. I had a sous vide fried chicken with IPA cheddar sauce that was incredible. I also had the crab apple biscuit which is a lump crab cake on a horseradish biscuit with scallion applesauce. It was out of this world. Chef Eric is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and has honed his skills in many well known eateries and a true master of culinary art in my opinion.
My wife loved her French Pumpkin Soup with cranberry orange chutney and melted cheese crostini. I have never been here for breakfast as I live locally and do not go out fro breakfast but I can say that they switch to an ala carte menu in September from the buffet.
Everyone in our party agreed with me on the 5 stars. This was my first time here but I am a very savvy diner who has dined in fine restaurants for over 40 years including Le Cirque, Four Seasons, Spago and many more. I know the difference and I am not a ringer. Read my other reviews. It takes more than good food to make a great dining experience. It is the service, the timing the ambiance as well. Firefly excelled in all those areas. When I make a rare steak on the grill the outside in supposed to be charred just to address one reviewer. I would recommend this place to my boss if I had one.

Where do I start. Went there as a group of ten people. They couldn’t serve food correctly at all. Served the kids. Then waited 45 minutes for the adult apps. Then waited another 50 minutes for adult entrees. Filliet mingion was suppose to be served rare… So why was the outside litterally charbroiled to a crisp??? This was first time i ever got that messed up anywhere. Amazingly terrible chef !! The tuna tartare was «sushi spicy tuna» in a pile on the plate… Wow that was another first !!! Prices were on line for upscale restaurant with wonderful water view but however view was great atmosphere was great food was on scale of McDonald’s … I do not recommend eating her at all but just going for a few drinks … Waiti it’s byob! So don’t go at all…

Sticker shock. My son had 2 waffles for breakfast. Nothing else. With tax and tips $ 22. Obscene price for just that. Could have had a real meal for $ 8.95.
Too bad they didn’t care the price was out of line with reality. It’s summer at the NJ shore… gimme your money! Lol
A little customer consideration goes a long way to make people come back. That is if you care.

Went there for breakfast expecting a menu as shown online but was told it was a buffet for $ 12 a person. Fine. I had two hungry kids with me so we went in. Except the pancakes were stuck, legitimately stuck to the bottom of the chafing dish and hard. I got coffee because I can’t eat most food and the server never once came back to ask if I wanted a refill or ask how things were. I finally flagged a server down and asked for fresh pancakes which we were given. I would not recommend this place at all.

Amazingly bad– yet so consistent– we tried breakfast lunch and dinner– but the food was worse than picking up day old McDonalds. We thought, wow it can’t be that bad, so tried again and yes, it was that bad. Breakfast salty and bland, lunch could not finish as tasted spoiled, dinner had the driest and saltiest sea bass in my life with a can of cambles chicken noodle soup on it. This is no exaggeration/​the food is that bad.

My husband and I got married about a mile away from the White Sands and had over 60 people staying at the hotel. We contacted the bar, which is owned by firefly, about being open after our wedding and were told that they were open until 10pm on Sundays, so it was no problem. We checked in two months before the wedding and the new bartender there made a note for the bar manager. We never got a call from them. We called, spoke to someone else, who «put us on the calendar.» We called a month before the wedding and were told, we were not on the calendar. Someone FINALLY called me back and said that the bar would be open and they would even have someone extra on staff since we would have so many guests. Well, sure enough the night of my wedding, the first shuttle of my guests arrived to a CLOSED bar! I was so upset and embarrassed. The hotel staff got the manager of firefly on the phone and we were told they had no idea, and that they closed early that night due to inactivity in the bar. First of all, how do you close BEFORE your posted hours?! Second, how many times should I have had to make arrangements before someone got it right?! The hotel staff asked the manager if she would allow them to open their catering room for us to use with our own liquor and the firefly manager said no. They lost out on so much money and lost several potential customers for life. No one who attended our wedding will EVER go to Firefly.

Was here for Valentine’s dinner dance and while the band the Funktion was superb, the food quality was poor and service was a disaster. I cannot agree more than the other recent post about how confusing and frustrating getting drinks was and cannot understand how an event can be planned so poorly. With so much competition in the restaurant business, I guess the owners of Firefly must have thrown in the towel and surrendered.

Why? I don’t understand anyone who opens a business that have the inability to run it! Our first clue should have been attempting to contact them for their Valentines «special». Left 4 voicemails & 1 email. Upon arrival we check in, advising them of our entrée choices (and asked again 3 times thereafter). Ok back to arrival time, bar states three choices of payment cash, card, tab, we chose tab. The bartender was great but she was told by the waitress no tabs allowed, we can only order through her (our server). Upon waiting for the server 20 min. And then 30 min to get our drinks which were incorrect I advised said waitress that we were very confused how they are running things she replied «so are we»! REALLY!?! I said maybe it would help had they removed the sign stating the other payment options her response was «what sign». Mind you that was ONLY the drinks part!
As stated above My husband and I were asked 3 times what our order was SMH. The food took forever to come, those who are literal it took over an hour and a half to get appetizers.
Let’s get to the summary… The food was tasty (on a positive note), however COLD. The serving size was lack there of. My spouse and others in our party had the Prime Rib which looked like steak Umm’s! Very unorganized from beginning to end. I try VERY hard to look at any positive but I have had way too much of a negative experience with this pre-​paid dinner «party»! Very disappointed.

My wife and I had never been to Firefly when it was in Manasquan and decided to try their new location in Point. I was not sure what to expect on a cold Saturday night in February but we were both pleasantly surprised and enjoyed our meal. It is BYOB but we did not bring anything and just had the ice tea. The appetizer we had was a Dr Pepper sauced Filet tips with onion rings. Its was very good, cooked perfectly, nice tang to the sauce and the onion rings were awesome. Our entrée selections were the grilled chicken and the Pork Chop. The flavor and portion size were very good. Mark the Chef brought out our dishes and spoke with us later. Very nice guy and proud of his restaurant. We weren’t able to stay for dessert so i do not have any reviews for that portion of the dinner. I would say if you are looking for a romantic, comfortable ambiance and you want to eat some good food this could be your place. Service was also very good as Andrea was the hostess and the waitress and did a great job running between 7 tables.

I cannot recommend them to anyone for their wedding. Food was ok, but that’s about it. Lori and Alex are unresponsive unless you leave many many messages for them. I feel that they did very little to help with my wedding and were more in the way than anything. I have yet to get back my decorations and cake toppers and never respond to emails I send them. I think they are very money hungry and don’t really care about people once they have your money. They also moved my wedding to the big room and never told me that they were moving it back to the small room after Lori made such a big sell that she only does one party per day! There was a high school reunion in the big room. OH! The balcony was a complete mess! No one even bothered to sweep it up for my guests to use to smoke on. Somehow due to my bridal party being stubborn and positive everything worked out, but for a bride who is already stressed out to the max no do not recommend.

Not a good experience-​my wife and I had been to Firefly when it was in Manasquan and our experience in this new location did not compare to say the least. The view is stunning, but the décor is drab and not very clean. Music was playing that was reminiscent of a lame classic rock radio station and the staff seemed rather young and immature. I was definitely left thinking that this place needs some adult (professional) management! Above all else, the food was generic and uninspiring. My wife’s salmon was so underdone that it was not edible. Both of our salads consisted of little more than minimally dressed greens. On top of everything, the staff continuously left the doors to the outside open with a very cool wind billowing in, this happened in spite of me shutting it twice myself and complaining to the hostess and waitress. I would not go back!

4 strikes you’re out! I used to love this restaurant when it was in Manasquan and still love that location (Now Blend on Main with the original Firefly Chef) but I cannot say the same since it has moved to Point Pleasant:
Strike 1: We went for Valentines day and was extremely disappointed in service and food. We were not alone as people to the right and left had the same complaints. The manager came over and apologized saying they had not expected such a turn out but to me that’s no excuse and he did nothing to compensate.
Strike 2: When I saw that they opened the Oceanside restaurant we decided to try it for breakfast. I was on the beach with my husband, sister-​in-​law and her 3 year old granddaughter. We walked over at 10:55 and were told they stopped serving breakfast at 11 and lunch service did not begin til 12. There was no transition whereby maybe you couldn’t order breakfast items but you could still sit down and order lunch. I’m a local but to me to stop serving anything at 11 when people are largely here on vacation and often sleeping in is just bad business, particularly when there aren’t many alternatives in walking distance. I should also note that I twice contacted the Oceanside location inquiring re. an upcoming baby shower I am planning for my daughter-​in-​law (prior to the breakfast fiasco but no one gave me the courtesy of a call back (see Strike 4!)
Strike 3: I must be a glutton for punishment but we decided to give Firefly Oceanside one more chance for dinner this Friday and I called Wednesday to make a reservation. I was asked whether I preferred in inside or outside seating implying that I had a choice. I said outside. When we arrived Friday evening, we were told that the inside and outside oceanfront decking had been reserved for a private party (they should have known this Wednesday) and that we either had to sit on the decking facing the hotel/​pool area or on the ground poolside. Knowing that on a Friday night in July wed never get in anywhere else, we agreed to poolside. While the sushi was very good and the waiter (Chris) outstanding (although he should have been exhausted from the triathlon nature of his duties back and forth) it was not what we had requested or reserved. We were initially told that we had to drink our wine out of plastic cups as we were poolside and glass was not permitted; however, when my husband pointed out that the wine bottle itself was glass, as were the centerpieces, they acquiesced and we were brought glasses but our meals were still served on «hefty» plates.
Strike 4: Upon leaving we stopped a female manager to rave about Chris and inquired as to why we were not told about the private party. She simply shrugged and said it was the mistake of whoever answered the phone and took our reservation but I believe its more like poor business and poor employee training. Then I asked why I never received a return call about my baby shower inquiry for the Oceanside location and she said shed take my info but that I should know that if I wanted Oceanside it was 30 person minimum and, on top of that, I had to pay $ 5,000 to have it at that location. Are you kidding me!!! Please!
Like I said, if you want the old Firefly experience, go to Blend on Main in Manasquan!
P. S. I believe that Prime 13 (Point Pleasant steak house off of Arnold Avenue) is also related to Firefly somehow but Prime 13 is fabulous and has never disappointed!

Amazing food and service. Reuben Egg Rolls were crisp on outside and juicy on inside. Duck Sausage with Lentils was remarkably flavorful with a perfect amount of spice. Prices are reasonable. The draft beer menu at the lounge downstairs has a few beers that I cannot find anywhere at the shore. Top notch all around!

Wow… finally a craft beer bar with an eccentric menu. I have been praying for something like this to come to Point Beach and now its here. I have eaten here three times, two of which were in the bar and once in the dining room, and everytime my experience was wonderful. The menu has a worldly flair crossing cuisines effortlessly, with the highest quality of ingredients. As a craft beer lover I enjoy the 12 taps, some of which include Lagunitas Sucks, Founders Breakfast Stout, Stone Enjoy by, and Saison Dupont. And now to step it up a notch they introduced a cask station to allow the beer lover to reminisce the olden days… the night I was there they had Kane’s Port Omna, a delicious stout brewed with local coffee from Rook. Enough about the beer, I found the the food to be creative, elegant and down right tasty. Some of the highlights in the bar were the Lamb Burger on Brioche, bursting with tons of flavor and the buttermilk chicken which couldn’t have been anymore succulent. In the dining room I loved the crab cakes, which had so little filler… basically nothing but blue claw. Can’t wait to go back and see what is new as they seem to always be evolving in the right direction… Enjoy!

We were long time customers of Firefly when they were located in Manasquan. They were among our favorite restaurants. We decided to go for Valentines day at their new location in Point Pleasant. Was surprised we could not BYOB and had to order wine from a choice of 5 wines. Even more surprised to see that they had no specials, and only one fish dish on the menu. In manasquan they made the best Tuna dish and appetizer. Not on this menu. I ordered the Salmon rare, my wife ordered the beef dish medium. Her dish came out fine. The Salmon was overcooked. Thankfully I was able to catch the waiter he returned my plate and they cooked another one which was rare as requested. It was OK. Not the firefly we’ve been to 2 dozen times. For dessert they didn’t have their version of ring dings on the menu which we loved. Unfortunately they have moved into a humongous space that lacked the intimacy and warmth of their previous restaurant. Sad to say they are obviously looking for a different crowd. We won’t be returning. Hopefully a good restaurant will open in their prior space.

What we thought would be a Valentine’s Day to remember, surely was, but not in the way you think.
Hearing that a nice restaurant moved from Manasquan to Pt. Pleasant, and now has a liquor license, was the reason we decided to go. We frequent restaurants in the area often, so we were looking forward to trying something ‘new’. Understanding the restaurant is in Ocean Sands Motel sounded ‘different’ to me, but interesting.
When we got there, we were told because of Valentine’s Day, we would be eating in the ‘Ballroom’ instead of the actual restaurant. We did not know this beforehand. Walking into the well-​lighted, large room (dance floor in the center) immediately gave me the sense that I was attending a KofC wedding (no offence to KofC, as I am a member). This was just the start of how the night would go. The waitress came; we ordered drinks, in which they could not make my ‘RustyNail’, as the bar did not carry Drambuie… hmmm. As we went for a piece of bread, we notice there were only 3 pieces in the basket for our table of four. Another waitress then came and asked if we wanted drinks, as there was confusion over who ‘owned’ our table. We finally ordered dinner off of the limited menu, and waited. As we talked and listened to the background music, I could not lose the feeling of being at a wedding back in the 70’s when I was a kid.
Anyway, our appetizers came, with some confusion over which salad was which. Granted, understanding which salad had ‘light dressing’ is always difficult, and we go through this very often with this couple. The salads were supposed to have Goat cheese in it. Well, when I say it was hard to find, I really mean it. It was a bit larger than the size of a bead of toothpaste you put on your brush in the morning. Other than that, the salads, as well as a ravioli small plate, were tasty. a positive note. Out of the four dinners, three of us had Filet Mignon, two medium, one medium rare. When the server (third different server to come to our table) came with the entrée’s, he said, ‘two med-​rare’? We corrected him, and he said, ‘oh, yea, that’s what I meant, two medium’. Instead of being one nice round piece of meat, mine was separated, looking as though the Chef? had to cut it open to check, as any amateur backyard barbequer would do, no? We ate the luke warm meals, which were just, ‘ok’. As I was waiting for my plate to be taken, I looked over at another table and saw a woman eating Lobster Tails! I definitely did not see that on the menu! When I asked the waitress about it, she said, didn’t the ‘other’ waitress tell you about our specials? What specials?!? We were never told! We then wondered what other entrée’s we missed out on!
Since the drinks were one of the best parts of the dinner, and when we finally flagged down our waitress, we ordered two more Cosmo’s. These came in different, significantly smaller, glasses! We did make a comment, and the waitress apologized, and just said, ‘yes, I know’.
Even though the ‘old’ Firefly was known for their deserts (Chef was on TV or something?), we just wanted to get the check and leave. When the waitress handed us our bill, yes, handed us the piece of paper (not in any nice leather jacket which eases the feel a bit) she stated she did complement us on the second round.
All in all, definitely a night we will never forget, and not in the good way! This will be one of those nights you remember and say, ‘Remember that one Valentine’s Day at the FireFly, ???

Went for Valentine’s Day dinner, spent $ 170 for 2 adults & 1child, & left hungry.
We were not told about any specials for the night & ordered off of the regular menu. The PEI mussels for an appetizer were a nice start. They were delicious. The entrees were salmon, filet mignon, & crab cakes. The portions for all three were small & all three were about $ 30 each. The salmon & filet were tasty but not plentiful.
The «crab cakes» were served on a plantain. More than half of the crab cake was this tasteless plantain & the top layer was crab meat. I scraped the crab meat off the plantain but it wasn’t even enough crab meat to make an appetizer and for $ 34. Two giant chips came with the meal. They were wafer thin & tasteless, too.
The waitress finally came around to ask how the food was & I told her how hungry & disappointed that I was with it. She assured me that she would let any future hungry customers know not to order the crab cakes.
We went to Hoffman’s for dessert. Never again will we return to Firefly. This was an audition for us for a wedding reception, Needless to say they failed miserably.