Pat’s Homestyle Jamaican Restaurant

Purchased a small oxtail dinner and found that it was pretty average in terms of taste. I would rate it ³⁄₅ for taste but the cost and portion size relative to the price brings it down to ²⁄₅. The oxtail & rice were dry and was lacking in flavor. I was charged $ 12.20 for the meal, not quite sure how they got that figure as it lists $ 12 on the board, taxes included. As well, the small was served in those tiny styrofoam containers. There are better joints in the city with a better taste & value. This place gets a lot of love but I would not recommend.

They have started to manage their portions now:(They are becoming smaller and smaller. food is still incredible but it would be nice if an establishment stayed true.

Hands up and down! The BEST Jamaican food I’ve ever had and probably will ever have. The food is authentic and outstanding to put it mildly. The prices are fair and the portions are plenty. A few reviews have mentioned bad customer service but it’s all in the way you see the big picture really. If you happen to be on the snooty side and like wearing your shorts tighter than most other people do then don’t walk into Pat’s because he’ll set you straight. I’ve never been treated anything other than proper and same goes with anyone else who I’ve seen and heard come in and order. This pkace isn’t a fancy establishment and nor does it need to be because the food is all that matters in the end. If you’ve ever had any real dealings with true Jamaicans then you’d understand they don’t put up with pretentious individuals in the least. These guys are actually quite friendly and outgoing after they’ve seen you a few times but that’s not to say they don’t treat newcomers well. They just don’t go out of their way to falsely portray themselves as people they aren’t and they can sniff out the the pretentious, politically correct pretenders pretty fast. With that said if you really dig authentic Jamaican fare and don’t care about whether your legs are being massaged while you wait then Pat’s will definitely satisfy your cravings each and every time.

One thing I really miss already about moving out of the area is Pat’s. They were my go-​to for jerk chicken. I’ve tried a few other things in the menu but the jerk kept me coming back. Definitely some of the best jerk downtown.

Pat’s is mainly a take out joint. Few bar stools to stare at the wall while you eat, or the Queen St foot traffic.
Don’t mind those complaining ’bout the ‘service’. Someone putting your takeout container together acting a jerk, serving jerk. go figure.
Just order your food, pay and go. Skip the discussion if the chicken is grain fed; hold your tongue if you’re going to ask about their gluten free menu etcetera etcetera
Jerk chicken, oxtail and chicken stew is enough to fulfill your wants, cravings for food from JA.
Rather than quote the terminator, in my best Patois — Soon Commmme, Seeeeen.

Curry chicken is the bomb! The small is a generous serving and I had the rest of it for lunch the next day, it was moist, no bones or cartilage. The perfect amount of kick and flavour!

Other than the fact that the gentlemen who prepared my order is picking his nose while conversing with me, I don’t have any complaints. LOL Luckily, I do have a good sense of humor and I’ve work in a Chinese restaurant before so this isn’t as shocking to me. However, I do know that the majority of people do care about this type of behavior hence I thought I would mention it right out.
As for the jerk and all the goodness that come with it, it is quite good. One of the better tasting jerks I have had in recent memory with the exception of Raps of course (which I have crowned the champion of Jerk in the T Dot). The chicken is moist and flavourful, although I wish the skin wasn’t so limp but I’ve had much worst. The rice is soft with a slight chew — just right. The slaw is equally satisfying.
All in all, a great place to get some jerk if you are in the area. The portions are filling and just about on par with other jerk places.

My #1 jerk chicken & ox tail joint to go to when ever I fiend for real Jamaican food. Really great eating after a night filled with lots of alcohol. The jerk chicken tends to get spicier with every visit but still amazingly seasoned & great fall off the bone jerk chicken heaven :)
Oh and friendly tip for ppl who are looking for 5 star service. You ppl are in the wrong place and u are expecting too much from a fast food joint. The place was built to be an in-​and-​out, have a good meal place. If you get all complicated and start a pointless conversation with the owner or worker then they’re just gonna be in their head thinking please move along so that I can serve the next customer. So yeah the service isn’t the best but why be fussy about the 5 second interaction with the workers when the food is all you’re there for?

Ok, I’ve heard its the best but visiting Jamaica and know what authentic good homestyle Jamacian food is, i was utterly disappointed. My jerk chicken was ok, a tab bit bland, the beef dumpling stew was good, festival was very hard and so was my beef patty. The rice was ok and no cabbage came with the small or bread, i was disappointed.
Overall it was just ok, but the place is often packed so maybe i didnt drink the juice everyone else indulged in.

Rudest shop owner I have ever met. Never go this this dirty rat hole ever. Never ever give your hard earned money to such ignorant people. This was easily the worst Jamaican place I have ever been too, hands down. They will be out of business in a matter on weeks.

The man who took our order was rude and sullen. The man who gave us our food and cashed us out was rude and sullen. The chicken roti was good but not great — Ghandi a few doors east is a million times better. Won’t be back.

We were deciding on what to have for dinner and eventually settled on for Some Jamaican food. My god, this place was so hard to fine (at least for us non-​canadian) it took us like an hour or so. After driving for like 10 hours from VA and walking around in circles just looking for this place nearly killed us. Don’t really get the chance to have jamaican food where I live cause there’s not much option compared to Toronto. Anyways enough rambling let’s focus on the food. We ordered roti chicken and roti vege to go. Both were good. The chicken had some heat to it, (if you like spicy then good if not then too bad). Chicken was moist, had some gravy and potatoes with it. The vege on the other hand was milder (heat wise). The veges were carrots, green peas, cauliflower and lots of potatoes cooked in curry I believe. The rotis were kinda big, one roti could feed 2 people. Regarding the service, it was decent, there were two guys at the counter. The one who took our order had a straight face, no smile, nothing (din’t bother us) but the other guy (i think he had glasses on) was cool, he talked to us for a bit. Overall food is good, service so-​so. Will come again if ever in Toronto

I like it!
Not sure what the gripes about the service were — the guy serving us was practically a Maritimer in terms of friendly — we shared some debate on Diet Coke vs Coke Zero. He didn’t like either — he went for Diet Pepsi. That’s just gross, dude. #lostrespect
We got the small jerk chicken and goat curry. Though they looked small, unless you’re a big eater, it is plenty of food. Both were tasty, moist, and fricking good. The rice was. ricey — well done.
I also tried a spicy patty — normally when an ethnic restaurant with typically spicy diets says it’s spicy, it’s damn spicy. Like in an Indian restaurant, it lights my mouth (and, later, nether regions) ablaze. Likewise, suicide hot wings from a mainstream pub sometimes could use some habanero enhancement. So I expected some flames, but surprisingly it wasn’t actually that spicy. Tasted great though, so no complaints (someone should really create an easy way to characterize the spiciness of a dish that all restaurants could use. Hmm. restaurant-​grade Scoville meter? Business idea forming here.).
Oh and they threw in some coleslaw gratis as well — surprisingly, it was quite good! If you’ve ever read my other reviews, I tend to whine about coleslaw quality — this one was small but actually quite nice. On the KFC scale (where 0 is raw cabbage and 11 is KFC coleslaw, this one was about an 8).
The location is small and cozy, and I’ve learned not to eat anywhere with a smell, because I then leave the place smelling like that establishment. I made that mistake a few weeks ago with an Indian takeout place, and took 4 days for my coat to stop reeking of curry. Curry taste? Awesome. Curry smell on clothes? Vile. Opt for takeout.

Food is amazing. Portions are decent. I always get the oxtail. Jerk chicken is dope too. And beef patties are pretty damn good. I even like the coleslaw that the meals come with.
And it is opened til 1:00am most nights.

The delivery was prompt and the food was amazing. Had the jerk pork and curried goat with beans and rice. The rice was some of the best I’ve had and the goat — lets just say the next day my poop smelled delicious. Recommended.

Really excellent jerk chicken with beans n rice and oxtail gravy — and decent portions. I’m sorry to be glad those dudes who were running Alberts here are gone, they gave such ripoff SMALL portions and I’m not a little guy. What was their deal? No attitude or scrooge service now thank you.
Sayonara Alberts on Queen. Your location on St Clair Ave never let me down though, God bless.

The boneless chicken curry is delicious. Even big eaters don’t have to order large, the small is usually big enough for most circumstances. The coleslaw mixes so well with the chicken, potatoes and rice.
The food and the prices are capable of taking this place to a five star rating. But their stereo must have been found at the city dump and taken there. It cuts out every 30 seconds. Are they trying to drive their employees crazy? Have they ever thought how annoying that is to the customers? How much can a proper stereo, and better yet some Sirius satellite radio cost?

It was late and we were hungry. The large oxtail with rice was very tasty. The meat was nice and tender. The side of coleslaw was fine.
The part that threw me off was the service. Other reviewers said the same. The customers are made to feel as if we’re the inconvenience.
We asked for our food to go. However, we just wanted to just sit and eat a bit because we knew we would have leftovers and would have to ask for containers afterwards. Heck, I’m doing the restaurant a favour! If people outside see people inside, it sure as heck looks more inviting! But noooooooooo… We were most definitely not welcome and told to leave. Not asked in a pleasant way, more like shooed out. Seriously!!! It’s not like they were busy and needed the space either.
It’s really too bad. I liked the food.
Friendly service would make this place waaaaay more successful.

Okay — so I was drunk when I stumbled in here and had some kinda of a roti. I think it was okay. I don’t really remember.
But what’s memorable about this place is the décor (frankly surprised no one has mentioned this) — posters of Malcolm X, Muhammed Ali, etc… okay — makes me want to blare ‘Fight The Power’. Then I see there are posters of Michael Jordan, Gretzky, Usain Bolt and Kobe… okay, I’m still with you. Then, I see the posters of Obama — okay, did I walk into a barbershop? Then I see the huge poster of Mr. Pierre ‘Ultimate Badass’ Trudeau and now I’m back.
The random assortment of poster is quite badass. Surprised someone still has the MJ ‘Wings’ and ‘Space Jam’ posters kicking around — it’s like I’m back in high school.

I’m just so glad that I did not suggest going to Pat’s…(my friends would have hate me!)
I’m just so glad that the real Jamaican Homestyle’s cooking I had was 100% way way better…
I’m just so glad no one made me finished my food. because they were so bad…
Chicken Stew — Small ($ 8)
— Chicken was so dry, with no seasoning. in fact, it tasted sweet?
Chicken Roti ($ 10)
— Chicken was so dry, the sauce so bland…
Festival ($ 1.75)
— Microwaved awfulness… just solid hard and chewy… I almost broke my plastic knife trying to cut them into smaller pieces…
The only saving grace was the Ting I ordered, the only thing I enjoyed!
I am confused… I didn’t have any beers that night… You sure I ate at the Pat’s Homestyle Restaurant with all these ⁴⁄₅ reviews?