Morrison downtown home to new sandwich shop

MORRISON – A new downtown business is a family affair for Paul and Jamie Harmon and their three children.

The family opened Peanut Butter & Deli last weekend at 119 E. Main St., Morrison. Starting out with hours from Friday through Sunday, the restaurant opened for business Dec. 8.

The menu includes breakfast sandwiches, paninis, sandwiches, salads, sides and smoothies.

Jamie, who grew up in Morrison, is the art teacher at Morrison Junior High and a coach for the Morrison Seahorse Swim Club. She said the couple purchased the building in August 2021, deciding that they would renovate the top floor of the two-story building and turn it into an apartment.

Faced with what to do with the first floor, they decided that opening a restaurant there would be a good choice. Jamie said owning a downtown business had always been on her radar: Her parents owned a clothing store – the Clothes Depot – in downtown Morrison from 1986 to 2003, and she wanted to someday have her own business, too.

“I enjoyed the experience of my parents owning a shop in downtown Morrison when I was young,” she said. “I decided I wanted that experience for my own kids.”

The couple gutted the entire first floor and installed new flooring and a new kitchen. The menu was kept simple, with menu suggestions also coming in from Jamie’s students.

And just as she did when she was young, her children also will be working at the restaurant – daughter Gracen will graduate from Northern Illinois University in the spring, daughter Landri is a student at Sauk Valley Community College, and son Cort is a fifth grader.

The business is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.