Stacy’s Island Flavor Restaurant and Caterers — Restaurant in Toronto

A cozy authentic Carribbean restaurant that I found through Instagram. Order: Stuffed oxtail patty sandwich and Jerk chicken lunch special.

Location 3/5. Easy to miss, free parking and on big street (lawrence). I would definitely drive past this place if I wasn't looking for it.

Atmosphere: 3/5. Average looking take out restaurant like many of such places I've been to. It has a small dining area but it's perfect for the food it serves.

Service: 5/5. Exceptional. The lady at the counter is really nice. She even rushed the back to ensure I get my order promptly and accurately.

Value: 5/5. $8.75 jerk chicken lunch special...you got to be kidding me. If I was in the area more I'd eat here more often. The portion is huge and even at regular price it's a steal. I got two meals for under $20. I can eat here everyday for every meal and not feel any dents in my wallet. Especially in times of inflation this place is awesome.

Taste: 5/5. I came here through IG for the oxtail stuffed patty. It did not disappoint. Oxtail was succulent and tender. Packed with flavor. Flaky patty. Sweet and crispy fresh coleslaw. Soft coco bread. Just perfect sandwich. It is huge and messy though so bring gloves or be prepared for a delicious mess.

Jerk chicken with rice and peas and coleslaw. Ox tail is my fave dish but I could not resist the jerk chicken lunch special. It was too good of a deal to pass up. I did try it fresh and I ate the rest later for dinner (still amazing). One of the most flavorful jerk chickens I've had. I traveled to Jamaica before but this is still one of the best. Deep layers of complex flavors blended well together with the moist fall of the bone tender chicken. Incredible spice married with a wonderful charred taste. The rice and peas was not bland compared to other versions I have experienced. It had a mild kick with very sophisticated aroma and I could not stop eating. Usually rice and peas are an after thought to me. Not this one. Almost stole the show. Surprisingly outstanding. The coleslaw is sweet but complements the meal with a cooling effect.

Overall: 5/5. This will become one of my regular go to places in the area. I've tried a lot of Jamaican and Caribbean restaurants in the area. This place is very memorable for me and probably my...

50-90min wait time to get your food is diabolical for a takeout joint. I came here Saturday March 15th around 6:00pm. The cashier estimated 30min but we got ours in 50min whereas some Uber driver was there for 1.5hrs... I ordered two stuffed patties (one curry goat and one jerk chicken) and plantain. Curry goat stuffed patty was great. Jerk chicken stuffed patty was god awful. I have no idea why the chicken was boiled without seasoning??? The fried plantain did not taste fresh and was cold. Overall I would never come back here due to the insane wait time and inconsistency in food quality. I would also not recommend my family and friends going here as I wouldn't want anyone else experiencing the same frustrations. I get that this place went viral, but how can a TAKE OUT joint have a longer waiting period than a sit down dining establishment for food? Also please tell your cashier to give accurate wait times or slap a sign on the door that says "Food may take 1.5hrs to be ready"

Suggestions to the restaurant: Add a signage on the front of the restaurant to warn patrons that wait times may take 30min to 1.5hrs for walk-in orders Add a signage on the front of the restaurant or blast it through social media that pre-orders are preferred due to high volumes of orders The jerk chicken in the stuffed patties was too high moisture/boiled and contained no crispy skin. Wait for chicken to settle slightly after cooking and include cuts of skin for flavour. Or if the skin is not included, season the chicken more? Fry the plantain fresh or if pre-cooked, keep in warming tray to ensure customers receive warm meals Prep food for peak hour services 2x in order to accommodate the increase of traffic flow Train staff to move in a faster way... not to be rude but through the service window, all the customers in the waiting area could see that the lady cutting the food was extremely slow moving without care that there were 20 patrons waiting inside the establishment

EDIT: Changed the review to state the day & time I visited the establishment, and also changed my targeted recommendations for my own circle of family/friends to not visit. Also added suggestions since that was asked by the restaurant in...

With the rise in popularity from social media, I really wanted to give this place a chance. Travelling from an hour away, I pre-ordered my meal on DoorDash to avoid the Caribbean restaurant stereotypes (we nuh have dat!)

The restaurant confirmed my order shortly after 5pm, and I didn’t arrive until 6:40. I walked in to a massive crowd of customers waiting to place their order, along with a backlog of uber drivers awaiting pickup.

At 7:30, I was still in the restaurant waiting for an order that was confirmed at 5PM!!! There was no organization between in-person orders and Uber/Doordash orders, resulting in walk-ins receiving their orders before mine. With the restaurant closing at 8, It no longer became worth the wait, and we had to cancel.

Waiting until I arrive at the pickup time to inform me that my order hasn’t even been started and that the ingredients are finished is a whole new level of negligence and disregard to the customer’s time and money. If they ran out of food, they should’ve informed me through DoorDash like other restaurants do, so that I could make a decision and not travel 1 hour east.

To be clear: The lady at the front was trying her absolute best, and so was the kitchen. I’ll never undermine the labour and effort It takes to work in the kitchen during a rush like that - but why continue to take orders despite being massively backlogged in-store and on uber/doordash?

I’m happy to see small businesses like these thrive - however, It was clear that the restaurant couldn’t handle the demand. My girlfriend was waiting in the car and counted numerous customers turning themselves away at the sight of the crowd; every walk-in order was a minimum hour wait due to them running out of everything and being so behind.

I would’ve loved to try the food, but not worth the wait. Will give it another try when the social media hype dies, they hire more staff and create a better system to...