Marylisa Lichens pulls a pizza from the 630 degree oven at Fireflies. The restaurant began as a pizza place 13 years ago but the favorite “hands down” is currently the burger, enjoyed by President Obama a couple of years ago. Photo by Shirley Ruhe/Gazette Packet
Something's always happening at FireFlies on Mount Vernon. It might be Pick a Pasta Night on Tuesday, Build Your Own Omelet or Quiche Brunch on Sunday, live comedy on Monday Burger Night, local musicians on the weekend or children dancing on the stage when it's not otherwise occupied. Marylisa Lichens, owner with her husband Dan, says, "We wanted it to be a place where families could bring their children and have dinner a couple of times a week. We wanted it to become an extension of the neighborhood."
Lichens said they bought this restaurant 13 years ago. She had grown up in this area and her grandparents lived just down the street. At the time the neighborhood was missing pizza so they decided it needed a pizza place. It turned out to be true because the night they opened there was a line out the door and down the block. "It took over three hours to get a pizza, and I ran out of everything."
In the beginning she and her husband were their own cooks but as time went on they had to move more into the ownership role. Five years ago they moved to the Shenandoah Valley with their two children. They hired a general manager and learned to be absentee owners. She says that turned out to be a nearly fatal mistake. "I was coming in once a week but it was hard not being here to make sure things happened the way I wanted." She adds, "I started to see things not matching up." The prices went up; the menu changed, and the customers fell off. "I think the general manager tried but our vision wasn't concurrent. We got lost. Customers were asking, ‘Who is Fireflies’ and we were asking themselves ‘who is Fireflies?’"
Once the puzzle started to come together last year, she decided it was best not to have another general manager and that she would have to spend more time at the restaurant to restore it to the original vision. For a while she was driving the 1.5 hours from the Shenandoah Valley on Friday and going back home Monday. Since her parents still live nearby, she has a place to stay. Now she is at the restaurant Sunday-Tuesday.
She said they are starting to get back to where they want to be but they are still fighting last year's perception. "But we are making progress. I see the tides shifting." Lichens says she and her husband met in culinary school in Hyde Park, N.Y. But they didn't want to get into fine dining; they wanted a casual restaurant where people can kick back and have a good time. "We have never wanted this to be cutting edge; never got into the foaming craze."
Lichens says the most popular choice is the burger "hands down. It is simple, and it is the best burger around anywhere.” She points to a picture on the wall. "I wrote to the White House and invited President Obama to come and he did. I told him times were difficult, and it would be nice if he stopped by. One day in June 2014 with 15 minutes notice he surprised me and walked in." She said she couldn't believe it that she wasn't at the restaurant that day. But she talked to President Obama on the phone driving in on 66 as fast as she could to get there. Unfortunately she missed him but she did get a picture. Lichen said the President ordered an Executive burger but changed out the mayo for Dijon mustard, the American cheese for white cheddar and ordered no onion."
Her favorite is also the burger, but "I put our sloppy joe mixture on top and add pico gallo and sour cream. Maybe some day I'll add that to the menu."
Lichen jumps on the bar if needed to shake a mean martini or if they are short staffed she still cooks. "Sometimes I'm rolling silverware or drawing a PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) on tap for a customer. We have some dedicated followers and this is the only place in Alexandria with PBR on tap. I'm known as a person who gets things done." She says she now has a new bar manager, Daniel, who is her right hand man. "We make a good team. He has vision. I focus on the efforts day to day."
Currently she has a cool, diverse staff including an actor and a psychologist. "We have fun. We all tinker — things like getting the beer batter just right on the fish and chips. One of the employees wanted to try her donut recipe and it was really good."
Lichens say she gauges her success by talking to the regulars. This has been their watering hole for 13 years. "It's been rough and rocky but people are coming back."