Kingston 12 Patty Shop
Kingston 12 Patty Shop is a bustling takeout joint for patties in Little Jamaica.
Housed in a small space decorated with the greens and yellows of the Jamaican flag, this grab-and-go restaurant specializes in freshly baked patties and soft, fluffy coco bread.
The shop itself is clean and utilitarian, with a plastic barrier separating the customers from the kitchen and a dry erase board displaying the menu items and their prices.
Co-owners Gordon Gennetho and Cecil Kerr opened the patty shop in late 2023 with their partner, George. Since then, the team has made it their mission to deliver quality patties to the community.
Kingston 12 currently offers eight types of patty, though Gordon, Cecil and George plan to add more flavours in the future. Each type is marked with a coloured dot, denoting its flavour.
Unlike many patty shops, which use these dots to distinguish spicy and mild variations, Kingston 12 only uses these markings to distinguish different fillings.
As far as spice levels go, these patties only have one setting: hot.
Classic beef patties ($2.50) are by far the shop's most popular dish. As a result, these patties are the only items without an identifying marker.
Chicken patties ($2.50) are stuffed with curried chicken and marked with a red dot.
Veggie patties ($2.50), which are labelled with a green dot, contain a mix of hearty vegetables, including potatoes, peas and cabbage.
Ackee and saltfish patties ($3.50) are among the most unusual patties on offer.
These patties, which are marked with two orange dots, take inspiration from Jamaica's national dish, which consists of salted codfish and fresh fruit.Cheesy beef patties ($3.50) are stamped with two blue dots. Though broadly similar to the classic beef patty, the addition of cheddar cheese brings out the spices in the meat and gives the dish a unique texture.
Veggie and cheese patties ($3.50), marked with a red dot and a green dot, have a subtle, savoury taste, almost like a vegetable pot pie.
Three blue dots signifies a mozzarella beef patty ($4.50). A variation on the cheesy beef, Gordon tells us that he and his partners have been working on this flavour for a while, in an effort to create the perfect cheese pull.
Chicken and cheese ($4.50) is one of Kingston 12's newest flavours and can be easily identified by the three red dots on its shell.
Coco bread can be added to any order for $1.50. This soft, milk-based bread is perfect for making patty sandwiches, bringing some sweetness to the otherwise spicy meal.
Kingston 12 also carries a wide array of soft drinks, from Caribbean classics like Solo to unusual variations on familiar sodas, such as pineapple and passionfruit flavoured Fanta.
Though most customers buy their patties in twos and threes, the shop also sells fresh and frozen patties by the dozen.
If you're looking to make a bulk order, be sure to do so in advance: everything in the shop is made from scratch and lines can get quite long during the lunch rush.
In case you haven't heard, this patty shop has been blowing up and already has a second location on Dundas West.
Kingston 12 Patty Shop is located at 1808 Eglinton Avenue West.
Fareen Karim