Half Way Tree Authentic Jamaican Cuisine

It’s such a shame that this place has closed! It had really unique food for the area that was also delicious. Being a Jamaican place, the jerk chicken is the plate of choice and is exquisitely spiced and flavored. The accompanying rice and vegetables are also nothing to scoff over and complements the meat really well and leaves you feeling plenty full. I always got take out but the servers I met were really nice and friendly. I hope they can find a new spot and people can continue to enjoy their great food!

Food is good but pretty basic. No one knows about this place in the area where I work. They don’t cultivate customers either. I was the only one in the joint and had to call the waitress over time and again. I didn’t want to sit at the bar.

I came here last week and was pleasantly surprised. I went there in the afternoon for a late lunch after reading a few reviews on Unilocal.I wanted my boyfriend to experience Jamaican food because he has never had anything like it before.
The place is set in a bar atmosphere which is totally fine by me. It was very clean and relatively quiet. Our waitress was very nice and told me to choose the oxtail over the curry goat. So I took her advice and I was very pleased. The flavor was very good and it was a very generous portion! I was definitely happy with my meal. My boyfriend ordered the jerk chicken wing dinner and the flavor was good but the wings were a bit cold. So that was a bit disappointing.
We also ordered the meat pies which I have to say had great seasoning and I loved that I could taste the scotch bonnet peppers in them. I could have eaten just the meat pies and been happy.
A lot of the specialty drinks they had on the menu they didn’t have available so that was a bit of a bummer but overall it was a good experience! I’ll be back to try the goat and coco bread for sure.

Having went to that other Jamaican restaurant on the HIll, and coming away thoroughly disappointed, we decided to seek out our friends advise, who told us we should have come to Half Way Tree in the first place. Connecting with them on Facebook and messaging, we decided to have our last meal of 2015 at this place. The Jamaican flag flies proudly out front, leaving no doubt you have come to the right spot. Music from the land is played through a system that has one swaying upon entry. We were welcomed immediately and told to sit anywhere, choosing a two seater table top. Didn’t even settle in before our server D, comes back out and says that we had reservations, thus a larger table was saved for us. Someone must have recognized my face from Facebook as I had not even mentioned our reservation. We came for the ox tail dinner, eaten just as it was served to us and am finishing the leftovers as I write this the next day. If you want authentic, Jamaican food, in an environment that if you close your eyes, you may think you are there… then go on down to Half Tree. You will be glad you did.

Real Jamaican cooking isn’t easy to find in New England, but I found it here. Great patties, amazing fish fritters, and the fried plantains are done perfectly. WILL BE BACK!

Nice little restaurant, but had a few flaws. They were out of multiple regular menu items we tried to order, but the food we did order was ok. The curry chicken was good but seemed as if it were prepared with dynamite. All the meet is served on the bone, which I’m told is consistent with Jamaican food however the bird was hacked up so bad there were dozens of bone fragments throughout the dish. Difficult to eat without biting into small pieces of bone or accidentally swallowing one. Also, didn’t seem flexible to alter any of the dishes either, which I’m sure can be a pain but considering most restaurants would accommodate, I’d figure it needed to be mentioned. It wasn’t the fastest service we have ever experienced, however the waitress was very nice.

Fat squirrel some nights, Half Way tree others. A little confusing. Meat pie was great but did take forever to come out (i was warned and it was worth the wait). Drinks were great, and my jerk chicken sandwich was pretty tasty too. Would definitely head back.

This place is the real deal, everything had that authentic Jamaican spice I was hoping for. Jerk chicken falls off the bone, oxtail was so juicy and flavorful. Beef and cheese party was out of this world. Rice and peas mixed with the cabbage and mixed with the juice from the oxtail meat may be the best ting I eva did have.

It’s a cool atmosphere food was okay. I ordered the oxtail with rice and peas and cabbage and sweet plantains. Rice and peas was good but the oxtail was over cooked and not much flavored. But i enjoyed playing pool and listening to good vibes.

Love that there is finally a legit Jamaican restaurant in the area. Best Jerk Chicken I have had outside of Jamaica.

I really wanted to like this place. I’ve been to Jamaica and enjoy the cuisine — jerk chicken, patties, curries, and fish. Unfortunately, this place did not fulfill my expectations, more because of the dirty, dark basement environment (only two other tables filled in this dark cavernous space) than because of the food which was fine, but nothing special.
This place is really a bar that apparently draws 200 or so people a night for their DJ and live music. They have dart boards and a pool table and an array of tropical drinks, though my rum punch had no recognizable rum taste and was more like watery Hawaiian punch.
Our party had cocktail-​size meat patties, which were tasty, oxtail, curried goat, and red snapper. My curried goat was pretty good and came with peas and rice, cabbage (a little runny), and tasty plantains. I heard that the oxtail was good but I didn’t try it. The snapper was tasty.
All in all, I would not recommend this place for dinner, but it might be fun for 20 somethings who enjoy reggae and reasonably-​priced Jamaican food. We left before the music started at 11pm, but you might want to stay and check it out.

Just went for the first time today and it was everything I wanted. The goat curry was perfectly cooked; my companion’s jerk chicken sauce was wonderfully spicy.
We are already planning to come back and bring others.

I got the lunch portion of jerk chicken with rice and plantain, and it was great! Reallllly tasty. Will be coming back soon.

What a pleasant surprise !!! Good Jamaican food in Providence, RI. The Jerk wings were amazing, the stewed brown chicken and the rum punch made me feel like I was on vacation !!! definitely returning the next time we visit providence. Can’t wait!!!

It took us a while to find this place since it was in the same space as the pub Fatt Squirrel. The interior was pretty nice and relaxed. The place was pretty quiet when we went on a weeknight evening. The service was ok, but we didn’t feel very welcomed when I presented my groupon. The food was tasty, but both the rice and the chicken were lukewarm and a little bit dry. Dinner platters are $ 10 – 15 with the main protein, rice & beans, cabbage, and a couple pieces of fried plantain – not bad but also didn’t feel like too great of a value. Although the brown chicken was on the dry side, I enjoyed the salted fish and cabbage.

This is definitely as good as it gets (with just a few suggestions for the restaurant listed at the bottom of the review).
I decided to explore this little unknown secret for a variety of reasons:
1) Never had real Jamaican food
2) It’s right next to my office
3) It was on Groupon
Boy, was I not disappointed. I had reserved a table for 7 at 7:45pm, when the chef called me himself and said that the kitchen closes early on weekedays, but they were able to keep it open a little bit later for me, just because they’re freaking awesome! The chef is from Jamaica himself and his love for his culture and food was definitely expressed in his dishes.
As a group, we got the jerked chicken, braised oxtail, curreid chicken, patties, plantains, akeefruit and salt fish, and the coconut dessert. This and a bunch of drinks for all of us, came out to less than $ 300, which was unheard of.
Drinks: We tried a little of everything, but my favorite was Sex on the beach. The Rum special was certainly very strong, but didn’t have much of a taste to it, aside from hard liquor. There was a sale for Long Island Ice Tea for $ 4, but I had work later that evening… so I’d played on the safe side.
Food: The jerked chicken was out of this world! The meat was tender, juicy, and with just enough spice to keep your tongue tingling but still wanting more. The special green hot sauce is strongly recommended, as it gave the chicken a different flavor profile and made it even hotter! The oxtail was the best I’ve ever had, simply said, you gotta try this dish, but I did wish it came out a little bit warmer, since it almost felt lukewarm (maybe is because we came to the restaurant too late). The akee fruit and salt fish was a bit disappointing, only because the fish tasted like scrambled eggs, but I think that’s just because I’ve never had it before and didn’t know what to expect, it was still very good. I heard the curried goat was also good, but they ran out, so I’d recommend trying it out.
Ambiance/​Service: everyone was so happy, friendly and helpful. They were all so excited to serve us food and give recommendations, even though we were the only reason why their kitchen was still open. As for the ambiance, it’s got a bar vibe, with pool tables and dart boards, but it’s still more of a restaurant feel. I think this would have been a great to place to chill and hang out after a big hearty dinner.
Overall, I think this was a great place, made even better with a Groupon. I strongly recommend revisiting this establishment!
Food: 5 stars
Staff: 5 stars
Ambiance: 3 – 4 stars
Price: 4 stars

Love the food and the service.
By far they are the BEST place to have authentic Jamaican cuisine in the city.

I don’t understand the other great reviews. Maybe we caught them on an off day? But we had a terrible experience. It took us 45 mins and $ 26 and we left hungry and disappointed. They have something called «Jus Nuf Chicken» which is supposed to be a lunch portion of their dinner items. At $ 7 it sounded like a great deal. But when it arrived, we decided they should change the name to «Nowhere NEAR Nuff Chicken». It was a small plate of rice and cabbage with 2 chicken wings. TWO WINGS. I’m angry, disappointed and still hungry.
Never again.

Awesome food! I’ve had Jamaican from another place around here, and Half Way Tree blew it out of the water. And this was bulk catering delivered to our office, I didn’t even get to eat it fresh out of the oven.
The Saltfish Fritters were incredible, like a Jamaican clam cake that I could eat a million of, and the Chicken Wings were awesome. Great Jerk spice, and tender juicy meat that falls off the bone. The Cocktail Beef Patties were good too — I can’t wait to go visit and try some more varieties.
Definitely give them a try. And the bar is good too lol.

I loved Half Way Tree in its old location, and I love it even more now in the new location. With the exception of decent parking (I’m afraid you’re stuck with street parking), the new location is an improvement. It’s much larger with a full, well-​stocked bar, a pool table, darts, etc. The décor is also much nicer than the plastic green and yellow tablecloths in the old space.
The food is exactly as good as before, although maybe even SLIGHTLY better, as in the past I had heard some complaints from my family members of the food being overly salted. I never really had an issue myself, but it’s definitely not the case now. I’m really thrilled to see Half Way Tree is open again, and I plan to return again soon for more authentic Jamaican cuisine!