Rasta Pasta’s Kensington Market location has closed its doors, at least for now.
This week, the small Jamaican-Italian restaurant was found shuttered, with a notice from the landlord dated October 30 terminating the lease due to unpaid rent. Another sign posted by the restaurant calls the closure temporary and directs customers to Rasta Pasta’s other location inside the Waterworks Food Hall on Brant Street.
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Rasta Pasta first opened in 2012, when Magnus and Mary Patterson turned a former Kensington takeout counter into one of Toronto’s most distinctive spots — part Jamaican jerk shack, part Italian pasta joint. The mix of flavours, and Magnus’s familiar presence at the oil-drum grill outside, made the restaurant a neighbourhood fixture for more than a decade.
The news spread quickly online this week, with a Reddit post showing the locked storefront drawing hundreds of comments from long-time customers. Many recalled the $5 lunch specials that once made it a student favourite. Others said it was one of the few places that still felt like the old Kensington — affordable, unpolished and super local.
Not everyone was surprised. Some commenters pointed to the rising costs that have pushed out other independent businesses from the area, while others mentioned ongoing struggles within the restaurant industry since the pandemic. Rasta Pasta faced its own challenges during COVID-19 but remained open thanks to community support and loyal customers.
It’s unclear whether the original Baldwin Street location will reopen. For now, Rasta Pasta continues to operate from its Waterworks stall, serving the same jerk chicken, Dreadlock pasta and panini that earned it a loyal following for over a decade.
Even if this marks the end of its Kensington chapter, Rasta Pasta’s influence on Toronto’s food scene — and on the Market’s mix of cultures and flavours — is already part of the city’s history.
