There's a Jamaican patty battle brewing inside a Toronto subway station

A Toronto subway station is home to two duelling Jamaican patty spots located mere feet apart.

Everybody's got an opinion when it comes to Jamaican patties in Toronto — like, for example, which subway station serves the best ones, whether Randy's or Kingston 12 is superior, or if spicy beef is, indeed, the only flavour worth getting. Some people don't like them at all. In my opinion, those people should move.

But nowhere in the city is the debate of Jamaican patty preferences playing out in such steep relief as at TMU (formerly Dundas) Station.

A central hub for TMU students, Eaton Centre shoppers and Sankofa Square visitors alike, that the station should have ample food options in and around it is non-negotiable, and while some opt to venture into the Eaton Centre food court or upstairs to Shake Shack, others prefer the time-honoured tradition of tucking into a subway station patty.

Lucky for those people, they've got two options for where they can pick one up... and they're located no more than 10 ft. apart.

At the entrance to the station's northbound platform, Jamaican chain Roywoods recently set up its first satellite patty kiosk, serving them up hot starting at $2.75. Specialty patties, like oxtail, jerk shrimp and ackee & saltfish, are also on offer, priced at a somewhat staggering $6.99, $5.99 and $5.95, respectively.

With the name recognition that comes with five high-traffic locations in the city, the Roywoods patty stand should be a license to print money — but it has some competition.

On the other side of the walkway, a newsstand (the type that's been around since time immemorial, selling everything from romance books to beef jerky) also advertises patties, in large block letters on a sandwich board, served "hot + fresh" and priced at $2.21.

The newsstand's patties cost $2.21, while those at Roywoods start at $2.75.

A difference of cents may seem nominal, but everybody's pinching pennies in Toronto these days, so it could quite possibly make all the difference.

As of now, it seems like both patty vendors are coexisting peacefully, even if the newsstand's sign, strategically positioned to face customers in the Roywoods line, may come across as somewhat pointed.

Will either of the vendors emerge victorious in this patty clash? If you ask me, when more patties are added to the mix, everyone's a winner.