A devastating flood last summer almost led to the end of Halfway Tree Jamaican Restaurant in Harrisburg.
On a late June afternoon owners, Julian Clarke and Roselyn Torres, filled food orders as water from a thunderstorm gushed into the kitchen. Hours earlier, they said, for some unknown reason, the landlord had removed the building’s roof.
“It was a flood of water. There was hail and everything,” Roselyn said.
The couple had purchased the restaurant along Market Street from Clarke’s mother, Hazel Clarke, one year earlier and were building a loyal following for authentic Jamaican and Puerto Rican foods.
Looking back, Roselyn said the flooding, which permanently closed the restaurant, happened for a reason.
In early September, they relocated Halfway Tree, named for a neighborhood in Kingston, Jamaica, at 145 S. Cameron St. to the former Monte Carlo Pizza shop. Torres’s sister, Gracelyn Torres, joined them with “Grace Your Health” juice bar, selling fresh juice blends.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” Gracelyn said.
The former pizza shop is rough around the edges. Monte Carlo’s sign remains and remnants of the shop’s murals still cover an exterior concrete wall.
But the family is thankful to be working under one roof.
Growing up, the sisters said food was an integral part of their lives and they recall watching their mother cook whole pigs and chickens. They both worked in local restaurants. Grace bartended at the former Rock Bass Grill in Wormleysburg for 15 years.
Halfway Tree Jamaican restaurant is located at 145 S. Cameron St. in Harrisburg. November 16, 2021. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com
Her mixology skills inspired the juice bar, with a menu of fresh juices, specialty drinks, root teas and smoothies. She said she wanted to do something to encourage people to take better care of themselves.
A Glowing Grace drink is made from orange juice with lemon rind, beet juice, turmeric, ginger and agave, an Island Vita C with strawberry and pineapple juices with kale and Amazon Jungle with dandelion greens, celery, green apple, watercress, cucumber and ginger.
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The sisters say regular diners are grateful for Halfway Tree’s return and made-to-order foods, including beef patties, curry, fried fish and oxtail. Clarke, who grew up in Jamaica, mans the kitchen creating traditional dishes such as jerk chicken and rasta pastas, a flavorful, creamy pasta with Caribbean seasonings.
His mother, Hazel, ran Halfway Tree for two decades and occasionally helps by making sorrel and ginger tea. They’ve put their own spin on some of the dishes such as a jerk lobster, seafood mac n’ cheese and rasta pastas with chicken, shrimp or steak.
Prices start at $3 for some a la carte items while sandwiches are priced $8-$10, pastas $18-$30 and seafood $12 and up. Curry, fried and jerk chicken are $13-$15.
The restaurant is open 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Monday-Saturday. Closed Sunday. It also offers catering. Phone is 717-238-2805.
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Jamaican restaurant in Harrisburg resurfaces with rasta pastas, jerk chicken and juice bar - pennlive.com
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