Brooklyn Firefly to open this weekend in Bay Ridge

The Brooklyn Firefly – a hip new restaurant that will specialize in pizza, beer, music and art, and open in place of the now-shuttered Yellow Hook Grille – will start serving pies and pouring pints this weekend.

“We’re like two school kids super excited for prom night,” said Bay Ridge native and founder of ’90s punk-rap fusion group the Lordz of Brooklyn, Michael “Mr. Kaves” McLeer, who teamed up with fellow Brooklyn restaurateur and beer connoisseur Ray Medina, co-owner of the Brooklyn Tap House, to open up the Brooklyn Firefly.

Since news of the coming eatery hit the streets earlier this summer, McLeer and Medina have transformed the 3,500-square-foot space at 7003 Third Avenue – a cornerstone that once also housed Yellow Hook’s well-loved predecessor, Lento’s – into a pizza lover’s paradise, while also creating an ambiance that is just as much about the historied neighborhood as it is about the food.

Photo courtesy of mrkaves.com
Photo courtesy of mrkaves.com

“We’ve just had our heads down scrubbing with toothbrushes trying to get the place ready,” said McLeer, who’s been doing business in the Ridge as far back as 2009 when he founded Brooklyn Made Tattoo. “We want to be competitive with our pizza, and also tip our hats to Lento’s and the nostalgia of it all.

“They can also expect to make some new memories,” he went on. “They can expect to time travel a little bit, while celebrating with some hometown guys just trying to serve their community.”

Opening night holds extra special meaning to McLeer, who will also be celebrating a birthday.

“We’re just so excited,” he said, noting that, earlier this month, he received an e-mail from a local resident hoping to celebrate her and her husband’s 20th anniversary at the reincarnation, as the couple had their first date at Lento’s. “That, to me, is what makes this all worthwhile.”

The Brooklyn Firefly will open for business on Saturday, November 12, McLeer confirmed, with a special rhythm and blues performance from New York native Tito Deler, a.k.a. The Original Harlem Slim.

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Helen Klein
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Helen Klein

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