Barb’s Roti Shop

Been around a long time… The challenge is showing up and them being open, closures and peculiar hours. Serving quality roti before most others in the city.

I miss Barb! This is amazing food. I’m telling you! The jerk chicken and curry chicken roti is killer. The guy working is super friendly and the food is quick. A gem indeed BUT be aware before you drive here if you don’t live in the area — Barb is not well and it has not been open in about a year. Get well soon.

Great Roti. Odd hours, yet I can no longer overlook the insane ⁹⁄₁₁ radical propaganda. I will not support radical, scary and offensive religious/​political agendas even if the food is great.

I love their Soy Roti. Being a vegetarian, having the soymeat option is a huge plus. Rotis are packed full of flavour, fresh and filling! My only complaint is that they seem to always be closed, especially lately. I am not sure if that means they are closed for good or not at this point.

I used to really like Barb’s because of their fresh roti and taste. They have been very inconsistent lately and I have been getting stale bland roti. Too bad! I will try again maybe in a few months… if their open.

It’s tricky to review a place that you’ve been meaning to try for along time, have gone to on 3 – 4 different occasions only to find out they were closed, and FINALLY try it out.
Please note: TAKE-​OUT ONLY! There is neither any seating nor do I think anyone would want to stare at all the random decorations.
The tchotchkes are the first thing that you’ll notice and they’re like EVERYWHERE. So décor-​wise, it is eclectic and quirky. Please see photos.
Guy who greeted me was friendly. Food came out quickly, so no problems with customer service. Btw, NO ONE picks up the phone. There’s only a recording with hours of operation.
Prices are slightly higher than other places in Cooksville, like ~$ 1. Roti came in a rectangular styro container, one similar to what a sausage/​hot dog would come in. Based on the fact that I was able to finish 1 roti in a sitting, their rotisserie are smaller than other places that I’ve been to.
I got the Chicken Curry and it was white meat, boneless. I believe all their meats are boneless as per their menu.
Shell was dhalpuri and it was on the salty side. (I find most Indian/​West Indian food heavy on the salt.) Shell was also fluffy, crêpe-​like texture. Curry was nicely flavoured, you get your choice of spice level which is nice. Gravy was on the sour (vinegar/​lemon juice?) side, so it was a good contrast from the roti itself. You can tell that the food was freshly prepared. Overall, roti was «lighter», not greasy whatsoever than other places.
I would consider going back ONLY if I was in the immediate area. Not somewhere that I’d drive out of the way for!
Note: If you are planning to visit, check with their store hours. I know that they’re closed on Mondays for sure.

This place is a nice little hidden gem.
Both the exterior and interior don’t appear to be anything special, but don’t let that deter you from the quality of the food itself. I was brought here by a friend who convinced me that it was amazing, and after giving it a try I’d probably have to agree. I ordered a spicy jerk chicken roti, which was around $ 10 after tax, a bit on the pricy side for something quick like this but not too insane by any means. The service was pretty speedy, only taking about 5 minutes for the food to actually be prepared and served to us, which was great since I was starving at that point.
This place doesnt actually have any tables or seating inside, so you just have to pick up your food and go eat elsewhere which might be a tad disappointing for some but not really a big deal to me. The actual roti itself was great. The dough was the perfect texture and freshness, the chicken was tender and the vegetables all tasted great. The roti wasn’t too spicy but that might just be because I have a high tolerance for spicy food. It was big enough to be filling without needing any side dish or anything like that.
Not much else to say really, overall it was very satisfying and worth a try even if you’re not a huge fan of Caribbean foods.

The best island food on lakeshore. It’s outstanding. Never bad. I’m always satisfied.
The décor of the place is insane, and cluttered, with odd political messages on the wall. The décor is awful but who cares. The staff are friendly enough (it’s just the family that owns the place). All of this however is unimportant.
The reason why none of that matters is because the Roti is so good. Standard potato, jerk chicken, shrimp, you can’t go wrong. My personal favorite is the jerk chicken. It’s delicious. I’d probably kill a man for one of these Roti if I were hungry enough.
Don’t be deterred by the exterior appearance, really excellent food inside. Give it a try especially if you love Caribbean/​island food.

Used to go here years ago, was only roti shop around and food was good. Recently went there. Shrimp roti mostly potato. Service still sucks here, owners are not friendly. That ‘s why I stopped going there before. Won’t go back.

The roti here is very tasty, but the size seems to be smaller than many other roti places. As well, the chicken roti seemed to be a lot more potato and a lot less chicken than I’d like. I went here again the other day after some time away.
Service was quick enough.
No credit or debit. Cash only.

the roti is okay. it’s a lot saucier than other places. it really depends on personal preference. good variety of roti. Why i gave it a 2 star is their weird hours and poor customer management. If you see 2 – 3 customers in line why would you take the first person’s order and not even acknowledge or look up at the next customers to see what they plan to order? Instead she walks to the back and starts making the first person’s order. the rest of us waited 12 minutes before she decided to come back out and see why we were there! seriously? they open late and close early. executive hours. personally, jerk and roti are late night food to me. I’ll go to Granny’s if i want roti or jerk late night and i’ll get crappy service for free.

This place serves the best roti I’ve ever had (and I say this as a woman who sought out lots of obscure places around the city). It’s a take out only place (although they sell jar of jerk spice and the like), it’s located in a dilapidated strip mall, and there is no bathroom. It’s run by Barb and her husband Patrick who are from Guyana. There son helps out at the shop as well.
There homemade bread is soft and spectacular. I especially love the no-​bone goat and jerk chicken rotis. You can wash it down with some Ting.
Beware, the owners have mixed feelings about how popular they are amongst self-​described foodies. They close at 7 pm, are not open Sundays or Mondays, and close down for about a month each year around January/​February. As well, there are a lot of signs on the walls saying things like 911 was a conspiracy. Indeed, this offended a very right wing Bay St. tax lawyer I once dated who upon arrival just as quickly walked out. I thought he’d seen a rat or bug or such. No. He just disagreed with their politics.
So if you’re on the QEW passing Cawthra or Dixie, you might want to check it out. There is usually a 5 – 10 minute wait to get your food after you order.

this spot has a good variety of roti on the menu. it’s one of the few where i’ve seen jerk chicken roti as an option and the portions are good for what you’re paying for it. the guys that runs the place always has a good story to tell ya. just ask him about chemtrails! :)

I’m relatively new to roti, and as someone who has had it from a small handful of places, I really enjoy this roti! You get a LOT so make sure you’re hungry. They also know the meaning of ‘hot’. I’m not quite sure exactly what a ‘double’ is either, but give one a try, they’re super tasty.

Haven’t been in awhile, but this place is awesome for roti’s!!! I usually get the curried goat roti, or jumbo shrimp. Good quality meat, no bones or stringy stuff. They are good size, and taste fantastic. I would eat one for breakfast easily if I could.