DINING
West Pensacola gets a new cafe for healthy eats, handcrafted coffee
Brittany MisencikPensacola News Journal
Aug. 27, 2026, 4:05 a.m. CT
- Firefly Café has opened in West Pensacola, replacing the former Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii
- The new café focuses on healthy options like wraps, salads, smoothies and protein crepes
- Owner Kat Hammac sources local coffee from De Luna Coffee Roasters and bakes many items in-house
- The café plans to host community events and eventually expand to offer evening hours with wine and mimosas
West Pensacola has a new cozy café for healthy eats, comfortable seating and hand-crafted coffee at Firefly Café at 10447 Sorrento Road
Firefly replaces the former Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii and now focuses on an “eat well, be well” approach. Pensacola’s other Bad Ass location, at 5
Firefly owner Kat Hammac set out to fill a dining gap on the West side near NAS Pensacola, not with another fast-food joint, but with a homey café serving healthy fare such as wraps, salads, smoothies, acai bowls and protein crepes
Word of mouth has brought in customers this summer who’ve already turned in to regulars often returning for their favorites, whether it’s a quick iced matcha or a sit-down chicken salad scooped onto a freshly baked croissant
“All the locals are starting to come in, so it’s really nice, and I just want them to have a good meal and feel good about it when they leave,” Hammac said
While Hammac’s team is small, she does a lot of the baking in-house, sourcing the highest, healthiest ingredients to help her customers feel good about what they’re eating. She also looked local when choosing the right roast for her coffee, finding the perfect fit with De Luna Coffee Roasters, which created a special blend for her shop. It’s good either as a freshly brewed cup or in a specialty drink such as a macchiato or a mocha
For the non-coffee drinkers, she uses fresh fruit to press juices and smoothies, such as their Green Goddess (cucumber, green apple and celery) or Sunshine in a Bottle (carrot, apple, ginger)
Long-time West Side coffee lovers may recognize Hammac from Mojo’s Coffee shop, which operated on Gulf Beach Highway from 2003 to 2017. She even used the wood left after Mojo’s was torn down to panel Firefly’s sitting area
She chose the name Firefly because of its significance to the area and its importance to the community
“We have a home in the country, and fireflies are an endangered species, and they’re becoming more and more rare and are a truly Southern insect,” she said. “They live in one place their whole life, they’re really sweet and they’re really good for the environment. They do so much good. So it’s a thing with that.”
She plans to host community events within her shop, including a Harry Potter theme night at the end of September, including Butterbeer and costumes
“We’re just trying to find stuff that you can do on this side of town that is fun,” she said
Since Firefly currently operates a daytime café from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, she also rents out the shop for evening events
Hammac would like to eventually expand to evening hours and is in the process of obtaining a permit to serve alcohol to offer wine and mimosas, especially paired with her freshly squeezed orange juice. She plans to eventually offer a monthly Sunday brunch option
While she is still expanding her menu, she hopes her customers can find something to satisfy, whether it be a morning breakfast biscuit or berry crepe, or an afternoon pick-me up of a southwest chicken wrap or summer salad
For real-time updates on events and specials, followFirefly Café on social media
Brittany Misencik is a veteran dining reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. If you have a news tip, send it to BMisencik@pnj.com. Stay up to date on the latest restaurant news by subscribing to our free Pensacola Eats newsletter, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign up for the newsletter at profile.pnj.com/newsletters/pensacola-eats/
