Singh’s Roti Shop

Singh’s Roti Shop & Bar sits at 131-14 Liberty Avenue in South Richmond Hill, a short walk from Sybil’s triangular bakery landmark on the same corridor. The house site dates the West Indian community kitchen to 1990; Robert Sietsema’s 2018 Eater NY review notes the larger Liberty Avenue room opening in 1999 after an earlier shop. The owner, known publicly as Mr. Singh, came from Trinidad and built a menu meant for diners from across the West Indies, not only one island. CBS later spoke with family member Seema about the thirty-plus-year family run and Richmond Hill as a West Indian shopping and eating center.

Where Sybil’s is the Guyanese bakery-restaurant case, Singh’s is the Trinidad roti-and-doubles engine with a full bar and occasional DJ energy. Sietsema described neon, a mirror ball, and weekend carryout lines to the door; attendants work the steam table one customer at a time, assembling doubles, stuffing rotis, and grabbing cutters. Pair it with Sybil’s on the same Liberty Avenue trip if you want both pastry and Trini wraps without a second subway day.

Sietsema called the doubles particularly spectacular: soft bara around chickpea curry, finished with tamarind and Scotch bonnet to taste (go easy on the pepper). He also steered toward goat roti with potato and chickpea curry folded in, plus vegetable add-ins like pumpkin or spinach, and explained buss up shut as the communal flaky flatbread torn for scooping. Time Out’s later write-up centers the same buss up shut with pumpkin talkari and curry mango. Cutters (small plates: roast pork, fried shrimp wontons, black pudding) work as bar snacks; bakes and steam-table chicken, oxtail, and pelau fill out longer visits.

Eater’s Little Guyana map still lists Singh’s as a Liberty Avenue beacon for doubles and live chutney soca nights in pre-pandemic years. Diners echo long weekend lines, early-morning breakfast roti options, generous portions, and heat that rewards asking for sauces on the side. Sietsema’s pastry tip still stands: for the bakery case, walk to Sybil’s; for doubles and roti theater, stay at Singh’s.