WORLD OF SYSCO
Owner Niall Campbell
Local Lime Salsas
All American Burger
CUSTOMER PROFILE
Firefly Grill
Effingham, Illinois
In a small town in Central Illinois, Firefly Grill has become a destination for food lovers from far and wide. We caught up with chef/ owner Niall Campbell to learn more about his hospitality and farm-fresh cooking.
6
SYSCOFOODIE.com
If you had to describe Firefly Grill in just a few words, what would they be?
Eclectic, high-end, global comfort food. How did the restaurant get started?
I’ve worked in restaurants since I was 15, starting as a dishwasher. I worked all over— I’d be in the Caribbean in winter and spend summers in Maine. I was helping friends open a restaurant in Vieques, Puerto Rico, when I met my wife, Kristie. Kristie’s dad is from this little town in Illinois called Effingham. We met some developers from there who were interested in opening a nice restaurant in the town, which at the time had mostly chains. When we got the offer to open in Effingham, we thought we would do it for a short time and then move on. But we fell in love with living here. It’s a great town, and we have a 300-square-foot restaurant with an