COVID-19 CLOSURE - Tuckers Marketplace - Burlington (Western)

UPDATE 2020-June-27: It has been reported in BlogTO that all Tucker's locations have been permanently closed due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tucker's not only famously gave free birthday dinners, but also was known for hiring students from culinary/hospitality schools to give them their start in life. Such benevolence is likely never to be repeated. There will be many losses to come in the near future, but this is just about the worst of them.

Tucker's Marketplace in Burlington is located at 3110 South Service Road just off of the QEW at Guelph Line. Mishy and I had planned on going to the Etobicoke Tucker's for her birthday dinner, so as we passed by Tucker's Burlington anyways, we couldn't pass up the chance for another writeup!

The interior is similar to the Etobicoke Tucker's with plenty of early 20th century nostalgia. As it was a Saturday night and a favorite with the younger crowd, it was also one of the noisiest, albeit the happiest, ACYEs we've ever enjoyed. Make sure to make a reservation, as had to wait for almost an hour for a table; they really need a take-a-number system as the current one consisted of people's names being called out and lost in the din causing them to miss their tables.

Since it was Mishy's birthday I treated her to a couple of Copper Kettle lagers on tap; this beer is made for Tucker's so is found nowhere else and it's quite good. There is also fountain Coke Zero, great for designated drivers as I was, and pop refills are free.

I tried to sample as many of the entrees as I could... chicken cacciatore was excellent, beef stew good, roast chicken was amazing, bow tie pasta in sauce good. Cucumber dill salad was a little bland, Mishy detested the curried wheatberry salad although I didn't mind it, chick pea salad was good. Black sesame salad was very good with a unique flavour. Roast beef was very tender but I thought could have been a bit more flavourful. Ratatouille, as with the Etobicoke location, is excellent and I have never seen this dish at any another AYCE (it's good for vegetarians/vegans.) Chicken vindaloo was tasty and was pleasantly surprised it wasn't overheated as I expected with vindaloo. Chicken shrimp rice was good but needed a bit more zest. Sweet and sour fish was good, kung pao stir-fried tofu was excellent. Chili con carne was quite tasty with just the right amount of heat but was a bit salty and needs a bit more tomato bite. Beef barley soup was excellent.
Tucker's has an excellent dessert selection.  I especially liked the apple fritters made-to-order from a fritter wagon, and I had the idea of running them under the dark and white chocolate fountains (the latter is also unique to Tucker's) which made them from merely delicious to heavenly.


Mishy loved the apple crumble and do-it-yourself cheesecake where you can select your own toppings.

In summary, Tucker's minor shortcomings are more than made up for by its uniqueness and gusto to present well offerings unheard of elsewhere in the AYCE world. Even the service was excellent and the waitress very responsive and personable, especially considering how busy it was. Where other AYCEs that claim to offer a birthday dinner only give a modest discount or require a inordinate amount of other diners paying full prices at the same table, Tucker's continues to offer free dinner if there is only one paying diner at the same table. For such good food this is an amazing deal, and since price is strongly factored into my ratings this can't be overlooked. At least twice a year, Tucker's will remain one of my all-time favourites.

Rating: 10/10.