ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY)-- A one-of-a-kind local restaurant serving up Caribbean cuisine has opened at 1208 Davis Street in Elmira.

The owners tell me they weren’t going to let a pandemic stop them from opening this restaurant. They wanted to give people the experience of island cuisine, so plans began at the start of the year.

"January of 2021 that's when we started the business plans and all that. We bonded together to make it happen," Owners said.

You no longer need to travel fifty-seven miles to Binghamton to get Caribbean cuisine.

       

R&J Jamaican Restaurant opened its doors to customers on Tuesday. Romario Brown and Jenna Balmer are the owners of the restaurant. The demand for their dishes has been so high--they had to close shop two hours early.

The response from the community has been overwhelming, their Jamaican dishes are flying out the door.

"We got way more customers than we expected it’s been like a blessing! We sold out, we opened at 11 am and sold out at 4 pm,” Brown said.

Brown says they prepare large quantities of food that should last for two days but customers are placing multiple types of dishes in one order causing them to sell out quickly.

"We have people ordering six plates on one ticket, really large orders so it goes,” Brown said!

He explains the most popular side dishes are white rice and peas. There's also a unique dish they serve that's not typically found locally.

"It's island pasta aka Rastapasta, It’s like a creamy pasta with vegetables,” Brown said.
 

Some of the Caribbean dishes you can expect to find the owner tells me that give a taste of the islands: oxtail, curry chicken curry goat, curry shrimp, escovitch fish, salads, and much more.
 

The owners explain the special ingredient they place in their dishes is love so when you come and purchase food you are getting a different experience when you have R&J Jamaican Cuisine.  

Customers like LaShawn Graham who is from Jamaica say he usually travels 4 hours to get Jamaican dishes. He is thrilled this restaurant has opened in his backyard.


"So happy usually I have to travel to Brooklyn New York to get Caribbean food," Graham said.