Now at Waterworks Food Hall — 50 Brant St., Toronto | Book Catering for Your Next Event

The Original.

The One
and Only
Rasta Pasta!

Visit us at the Waterworks Food Hall – 50 Brant Street
where Jamaica meets Italy and community meets family.

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More than a restaurant.
A Toronto institution.

Since 2012, Rasta Pasta has been the place where bold Jamaican flavours and Italian comfort food found each other — and fell in love. Born at a backyard cookout, refined over a decade in Kensington Market, and now at home in Waterworks Food Hall.

Every dish carries the memory of Kingston, Jamaica. Every plate is an invitation. Every guest becomes family.

Pasta Lover

Jerk Chicken Favs

Traditional Jamaican

Catering & Events

01

Signature Pasta

Irie Fettuccine

This is where it began — the dish that made people stop on Augusta Avenue and ask “what is that smell?” Creamy Alfredo reimagined with Jamaican jerk seasoning and wood-fired chicken. Two worlds, one plate.
House Signature
Most Ordered

02

Jamaican Heritage

Dutch Pot Oxtail

Twelve hours, a cast-iron Dutch pot, and a blend of spices Magnus learned as a boy in Kingston. The oxtail falls from the bone. The gravy is deep and rich. This is Jamaican comfort food at its most honest.

Slow Cooked
Crowd Favourite

02

Jamaican Heritage

Dutch Pot Oxtail

Twelve hours, a cast-iron Dutch pot, and a blend of spices Magnus learned as a boy in Kingston. The oxtail falls from the bone. The gravy is deep and rich. This is Jamaican comfort food at its most honest.

Slow Cooked
Crowd Favourite

03

The Legend

Jamaican Mi Crazy Chicken

The dish people drive across the city for. Magnus’s signature jerk chicken — marinated for 24 hours, cooked over real fire — with rice and peas (or white rice), island coleslaw, and steamed vegetables. The one that started the lineups.

The OG
Fan Favourite

04

Street Classic

The Vatican

Jerk chicken. Fresh coco bread. Magnus’s homemade coleslaw. A sandwich that sounds simple until you taste it and understand. Named by the regulars at Kensington Market. Still unchanged. Still perfect.

A Kensington Classic

04

Street Classic

The Vatican

Jerk chicken. Fresh coco bread. Magnus’s homemade coleslaw. A sandwich that sounds simple until you taste it and understand. Named by the regulars at Kensington Market. Still unchanged. Still perfect.

A Kensington Classic

Interactive Experience

From Kingston
to Kensington
to Waterworks

Every dish is a chapter. This is the story behind them.

Kingston, Jamaica · 1972

The Pot. The Lessons. The Beginning.

Magnus Patterson, aged six, watching his mother (Barbara Patterson) cook. Fresh ingredients. Generational spices. The patient art of Caribbean cooking. She would sell those meals to hungry workers across Kingston — and Magnus would watch, absorb, understand. “My mother didn’t just teach me to cook. She taught me how to care for people.”

“Magnus, watch the pot.”
— Barbara Patterson

The Move to Canada

A New Country. The Same Kitchen.

Magnus arrives in Canada with his parents and seven siblings. His mother Barbara — known throughout the family for cooking that made rooms go quiet — brings the recipes, the techniques, and the love from Jamaica to a Toronto home. Food is how they keep the culture alive.

The Dream

From BBQs to Restaurant Dreams.

Whenever friends and family gathered, Magnus would find himself at the helm of the BBQ. Somehow, someone would always manage to “accidentally” burn the chicken just so they could call on Magnus to step in. “I never chased fame. I just wanted people to enjoy good food.”

Kensington Market – 2012

Rasta Pasta Is Born.

At a backyard cookout, Magnus serves jerk chicken over pasta to family and friends. The reaction is immediate…”you should start a restaurant.” And so he did. The Original. The one-and-only Rasta Pasta is born at a food court stall at El Gordo’s on Augusta Avenue. It quickly became Kensington Market’s most talked-about lunch destination and lineups formed before the doors open. “We earned every customer.”

Community over competition

Helping, Teaching, and Mentoring.

While building his own business, Magnus, supported new entrepreneurs, neighbouring businesses, by sharing his knowledge and experience. “I’ve always believed that there’s enough room for everyone.”

Waterworks Food Hall · Today

A New Home. The Same Soul.

Rasta Pasta now operates exclusively at Waterworks Food Hall, 50 Brant Street — one of Toronto’s finest food destinations. The location changed. The recipes, the hospitality, and the pride did not. There is only one Rasta Pasta. “My mother’s lessons are still in every plate we serve.”

“There is only one Rasta Pasta. Authentic. Original. Community-rooted.”