Nibbles: The Tree House
By Francesca Sacco
When Steve and Alexandra Broomhead opened The Tree House in Belle Vernon almost three years ago, their goal was to create a place where community members could gather and engage.
“The community is what is important,” Alexandra said. “We want to be more than just a restaurant. We want to be something for the community.”
The couple has always dreamed of opening their own restaurant. Over the years, they created business plans and looked at potential locations, but they could never make their dream a reality. That is until they learned about a vacant place nestled inside the Belle Vernon American Legion.
“Steve has always been a chef. He was the executive chef at Heinz Hall and executive chef at Common Plea Catering. Working in Pittsburgh was so time consuming. The long days. The traffic. Our girls were little at the time,” Alexandra said. “We always wanted to open a restaurant, and the opportunity presented itself without a lot of overhead.”
The couple worked quickly – they had just two weeks – to unveil their restaurant to the community in time for the Lenten season.
“Lent is big in our community, and when we found out about the available space, it only gave us a two-week window to get ready,” Alexandra said. We didn’t have a lot of capital, so we just worked with what we had. We’ve still got mismatched forks and butter knives, but it doesn’t matter. The food speaks for itself.”
The establishment gets its name from a giant treehouse situated in the middle of the dining room that Alexandra built. Their menu features lunch, dinner and dessert options at varying prices. Although they are inside the American Legion, the restaurant is separate. Alcohol and pop sales support the legion, and patrons of the restaurant do not need to be members of the legion to enter.
“We really try to accommodate everyone,” Steve said. “The menu is feature driven and southern inspired.”
Running The Tree House has become a family affair, and it’s not unusual to find the couple’s daughters, Leila, 13, and Lillian, 8, working or spending time with the customers.
“The girls are our mascots. Customers come in to eat dinner with them,” Alexandra said.
“They are a part of The Tree House with us.”
Favorites include their fish sandwich, homemade pierogis and ravioli and their New York strip steak. The desserts are homemade by Alexandra, who enjoys coming up with crazy creations. Favorites include her pumpkin roll and buckeye cake.
“My grandma was a baker, so baking reminds me so much of her,” she said. “I remember watching her bust her butt. She is a big driving force behind me baking, running a business and helping the community.”
But what really sets The Tree House apart is its themed dinners.
“For Valentine’s Day, we offered an upscale menu. We did ‘dining in the dark,’ where the staff dressed up in Halloween costumes and we turned out all the lights. We’ve also had lunch with the Grinch,” Steve said. “People like the food and we get good ratings, but this is about the relationships we make and the community. That’s what I enjoy about the whole thing.”
In June, the restaurant hosted a drive-in movie car hop complete with hot dogs, Cracker Jacks and the Sandlot. The ticketed event sold out.
“People were looking for something to do with their families,” Alexandra said. “It was a nice community event.”
The dining room, which can hold 70 people comfortably, is available for private events (booked in advance). Alexandra said they’ve “become the place to go” for wakes, luncheons and even rehearsal dinners.
To further solidify their relationship with the community and to fulfill what they have identified as a need, The Tree House has been offering free spaghetti dinners every Sunday since the fall while supplies last. Reservations are required.
“It does not matter who you are or how many dinners you need,” Alexandra said. “There’s a lot of people who rely on these dinners.”
More recently, patrons have been dropping off nonperishable food items at the restaurant so that they can be passed out on Sundays to those in need.
“If you give us a hint, we’ll distribute the items with your meal and no one will be the wiser,” Alexandra said.
Without the support of the community and their staff, Alexandra said they wouldn’t be able to continue “trying to do God’s work through the restaurant.”
“As long as we can do things like the free spaghetti dinners and food distribution, we will,” she said.
While their themed dinners and events are on hold with the pandemic, both Steve and Alexandra are looking forward to the future.
“There’s a lot of planning going on for the future,” Alexandra said. “We definitely want to do more events and we want to continue to help the community.”
The Tree House’s current hours are Fridays from noon to 8 p.m., Saturdays from 3-9 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 8 p.m. Reservations for the free spaghetti dinner and daily dining can be made by calling the restaurant at 724-929-2788.