Restaurant known for Toronto's best jerk chicken opens second location

A hidden gem Toronto Caribbean restaurant that's gained a reputation for serving the best jerk chicken in the city has finally expanded with a new location.

Leslieville's Gerrard Square Shopping Centre is one of those if-you-know-you-know places in Toronto that make the city so unique.

For my part, the mall always carried a sort of looming, ominous air. Probably because my parents used to joke that they'd leave me there whenever I behaved badly growing up, but I digress. The mall's inescapable 'Gerrard Scare' and 'Scary Square' nicknames just go to show that I'm not the only one.

More recently, though, the mall's been getting a renewed wave of respect — even popularity — as more and more people in the city flock to it for, more or less, one reason: the food.

The mall food court has seen several buzzworthy tenants come and go over the past few years, but its main claim to fame, in my opinion at least, has always been Tropical Joe's.

What began for the titular Joe (Boodhoo) as a flea market-based business nearly 20 years ago, after he moved to Toronto from Guyana, quickly became a sensation, expanding with locations across the city, including the one in Gerrard Square.

When Joe decided to retire, he began selling locations off, with his son, Chris, taking over the Gerrard Square location — the only one to remain in the family, which, for years, has been the only option for Tropical Joe's fans to get their fix.

As of May 1, though, that has officially changed, as Chris and co-owners Dan and Steve have opened up a second Tropical Joe's outpost in St. James Town.

"We've been hoping to expand for many years and had things in the works pre-COVID," a representative from Tropical Joe's tells me. "After that, it took us a while to build back up to be able to, but things kept popping up that held us back."

It wasn't until this new location, which was formerly home to Paul's Roti Shop, which the team already had a great relationship with, came up, that it looked like expansion was finally possible.

Upon acquiring the space, they also teamed up with Sumita Paul, the daughter of Paul's Roti owner Nadena Paul, who lent a helping hand in getting the shop ready. 

Now, they're open, and the representative tells me that more locations in the future aren't off the table.

"We definitely want to open more, but slow and steady," they say. "We want to do it right, and make sure the quality, vibe and community feel remains the same and don't sway or drop from what people have come to expect and love about our location in Gerrard Square."

You can visit the new Tropical Joe's location at 563 Sherbourne.