Toronto's iconic Rasta Pasta is back in Kensington Market under a new name

A little over a month after the doors of Kensington Market Jamaican and Italian icon Rasta Pasta were unceremoniously shut due to non-payment of rent, the restaurant is back in business... sort of.

For over a decade, Rasta Pasta had stood as one of the neighbourhood's most identifiable restaurants: easily located thanks to the wafts of jerk chicken smoke and sounds of reggae drifting throughout the area's bustling streets.

Up untl the fall of 2025, that is.

On Oct. 30, a notice of termination was posted to the door of the restaurant's Kensington Market flagship (it also operates a location at Waterworks Food Hall), announcing that the Kensington Avenue space had been reentered due to rent non-payment.

At the risk of overstating the importance of pasta topped with jerk chicken, the loss of Rasta Pasta was a dark day for the neighbourhood. Nay, Toronto at large. And so too for Mary Neglia, one-half of the original co-founder team of Rasta Pasta, who sold her share in the restaurant back in 2023. 

When Neglia heard the news of the restaurant's closure, she tells blogTO, she immediately reached out to the building's landlords to inquire about regaining possession of the space. They agreed.

As of Dec. 6, under the new name Kensington Jerk and Pasta, Neglia is officially back in business, cooking up the same recipes (by the same chefs) as the city came to know and love at Rasta Pasta.

As Neglia's primary concern was getting the business open and its employees back at work, she's still waiting for a liquor license for the next-door bar space, formerly the Rasta Pasta Bar and Lounge, which will soon go under the name Kensington Rum Bar.

The most important part, though, is resolved: Italian-Jamaican fusion is back on the streets of Kensington Market.

As for Rasta Pasta itself, Magnus Patterson, Neglia's former business partner, tells blogTO that he will continue to operate its sole location at Waterworks Food Hall and look to the future.

Kensington Jerk and Pasta is located at 61 Kensington Ave.