Uncle Willy’s

I came here with my family, the employees are very friendly. Uncle Will’s has nice service. It is a nice place for a family meal… chicken and salad are really delicious.

The quality of the food is subpar compared to buffets south of the border. There is a narrow selection of warm dishes and most of them are quite functional rather than delicious. It’s interesting to visit once or twice, but it’ll be a burden on your stomach.

Friendly service and people, visited while in the area. The food was average for a buffet. Plenty of options including Chinese food.

I always love coming to uncle willy’s. The fried chicken is scrumptious and it’s comforting to know that they have unlimited gravy.

Took my family here yesterday, we come every other week because my dad likes it, he’s a elderly man. The staff is very disrespectful the food is OLD! My roasted chicken was still bloody, chowmein was soo old from days ago at least! Anyways the guy that cuts the hAm and beef is really ignorant, he served my 6 yr old, I told my son to use his manner s and say thank you so he did, the guys looked away didn’t acknowledge him so my son said excuse me sir I said thank you! He said I know I heard! Omg very rude. We complained to the manager about our food how we thought it was all old and they shouldn’t feed to public, I told him we wanted out money back because we didn’t eat their food, he then threatened to call the cops. I waited for the guy to call the cops he was swearing in my face telling me to get the fuck out and shut the fk up! I was embarrassed because everyone was watching. I demanded my money back, some security guards were eating there and they intervened, they told me I can be arrested for raising my voice. I only wanted my money back and the Asian owner gave me my money and told me to go back to where I came from! I’m a aboriginal female! I was born and raised here as well as my ancestors! Heart broken that such ignorance and racism had to be shown to my two young children

Salads are super, fried chicken fresh, and Tuesday night pork roast rocks. Comfort grub at a good price, no complaints here!

Came here with my family to reminisce the good old days when we used to come here as kids. It’s probably been a decade since our last visit so we were looking forward to re-​visiting this place. Price is decent at about $ 15/​adult. The décor is the same as I remembered… Like walking into a 1980’s diner, except it was a huge diner.
The food was good. I mean nothing to brag about but everything I did have was tasty enough. The chicken, rotisserie or fried, is really good. I would come here just for that. The ham was okay. The texture was really good but it was a bit salty for my liking. There are some decent selections. Nothing fancy by any means. You have curries, fries, soup, salad, mashed potatoes, corn, fish… and then some.
I don’t really eat dessert due to tummy issues, but I did have a bite of my boyfriend’s brownie topped with vanilla soft served ice cream. My God. It was good. It was the perfect end to my meal.
There’s nothing fancy about this place but I really had a good time with my family and it really brought me back to the days when we were young. I’d come back again.

I went there with my mom and two boys I babysit cause I remember the food use to be good however when I went there this time the place has gone right down hill I’m sorry buy the food tasted like slop I couldn’t make it through one plate of food hell couldn’t even get a couple of bites before gagging and pushing the food away the boys I brought with me could barely eat my mom was gagging but managed to force herself to eat her moneys worth but is also now feeling sick from it and so are the boys I sat and waited for my mom and the boys to finish eating my fault before I went and asked for my refund since I didn’t eat and got told they have a 5 min policy and should of told them sooner so basically rush grab food and wolf down to see if you like it or no money back which is BS however I was able to get a refund but not with out dealing with hostility and rudeness from the Asian staff I felt bad for the white girl cashier she was getting beratted by the other staff and went off cowering because she couldn’t deal with the fighting they also threatened to sue me if I posted a bad review for salander guess they don’t know what freedom of speech means do they ?? I am voicing my honest opinion I wouldn’t serve their food to my dogs hell I doubt my dogs would even eat that slop they would probably look at me and whine if I tried to serve it to them wondering what they did to be punished I’m sorry but that food is not that great at all

My wife and I used to go here about once a year. no special reason other than we enjoyed it… until yesterday. food was terrible! when i went to the beef carving station an got very little beef so I asked for more… the lady looked at me like I owed her money & gave me this tiny piece. the fried chicken is usually very good but all I saw were legs and after eating one, they had sat around for a while. the rotisserie chicken was almost non existent
My wife had salmon that was SO overcooked she didn’t finish and that amazing! she LOVES salmon.
drinks were VERY watered down…
not sure what happened here but sure has gone down hill. we won’t be back!

Never going back again. The place was dirty and the food was not nice. Won’t recommend anyone to go here. Maybe it was the day I wen but it was not clean at all.

Affordable place to satisfy hunger… average service… ham and chicken good… huge place can house hundred people… group/​family/​kids friendly… wash room needs constatnt house keeping… just ok for the amount you pay…

Basking in the pink glow of nostalgia is the bounty waiting to be devoured. You’ve got your staples like mash, fries, roast beef, ham, and… cabbage jello? It’s a strange combination of things but it just all feels very homey… kind of like a retirement home homey, but homey nevertheless! Then there’s everybody’s favourite… the CHICKEN! Personally I’ve found their fried ones to be amazingly crispy and juicy while the roast one, albeit tasty and well seasoned, usually ends up being dry. Desserts are pretty whatever though… with your choice between the rhubarb/​apple crumble, rice pudding, jello, or mystery goo (that yellow thing).
TIPS:
–Salad is filler (soup is okay though)
–Avoid the sushi… I’m pretty sure that shouldn’t be sitting for so long at room temperature
–If getting coffee, stay away from the cream… it’s very chunky
–Ice cream machine has been broken for awhile now
–BEWARE THE MYSTERY GOO

If you’ve never done Uncle Willy’s, it’s worth a try, even if it’s just to relate better to Vancouverites.
If you grew up here and you haven’t been in awhile, Uncle Willy’s is a lot busier these days… expect a bit of a dinner time rush (even line ups, remember those?), especially on the weekends.
Lots of the standard Uncle Willy’s fare and imitation soft drinks. No more Upper 10 (remember that?). The place could use a bit of a face lift and the furniture generally feels like it’s wearing down. Everything feels slightly sticky too.
However, for the price AYCE chicken (fried and rotisserie), fries, corn, and other items can’t be beat.

Better than I expected it would be. Be selective as some of the things aren’t bad. Food in better than the food court for about the same price.

Anyone who grew up in Vancouver will remember this (almost now defunct) chain for their soft serve I’ve cream machines.
I took my kids here to show them «what going out to dinner was like» when I was a kid, and they both loved it. I however, got violently ill, even avoiding most everything… They wouldn’t let me have just meat and veggies. Sigh.

So we decided to go to Uncle Willy’s on Monday afternoon for the lunch buffet, you pay the hostess, she gives you a slip and then you may enter. What a great experience! So many Vegan/​Vegetarian Options. I was impressed by the amount of vegan/​vegetarian fare! I immediately loaded my plate with garden salad, cheese n potato perogies with sour cream, macaroni n cheese, vegetarian chow mean, yummy fries that tasted just like triple Os, potato salad. The pop and coffee are included too, refillable pop is always a bonus. They had a huge selection of desserts: jello, granola, cake, apple cobbler and pineapple cake. My date decided to indulge on the meat lasagna, fried chicken, sweet corn, mashed potatoes, veal and roast beef. We had a great time, finished the meal with ice cream which we helped ourselves to from the soft serve ice cream machine and loaded it with caramel and chocolate sauce. Uncle Willy”s is a great place for those who appreciate decent food and enjoy the little things in life. We will be back!
What’s not to love about this place?

All presentation, no substance. The food was bland and a lot of it tasted artificial. Some of it even tasted as though it had been sitting there for two or three days (even though it was fresh). I’m glad I got the lunch price, or I would have felt completely robbed! Uncle Willy touched me inappropriately today, and it’s not going to happen again.

[Some things never change]
I had the brilliant idea of visiting Uncle Willy’s for old times sake. I still have fond memories of unlimited piles of greasy food and soft serve ice cream while basking in the tacky pink hue of the ambient neon lights. Upon entering the restaurant, I notice that things are exactly how I had remembered — only 20 years older. I don’t think a single thing has been updated or changed and it shows (I was possibly responsible for some of the food stains on the ceiling tiles). The guy at the counter was likely working since I was a kid. Went up and paid… dinner was now $ 16… $ 16?!? That’s daylight robbery! I came here hoping to relive my childhood memories and I wasn’t going to cheap out now.
I grabbed a plate and headed to the buffet. I loaded up on the usual fried chicken, french fries, mashed potatoes, and roast beef. These were all solid choices but nowhere as good as I remember — it’s likely I developed a thing called standards.
I grabbed a second plate of random items — sweet and sour pork, kung pow chicken, spring rolls, tacos, and some room temperature sushi. I had already accepted the fact I could be fatally ill the next day but I didn’t care. I also had a bottle of Peptol Bismol at home waiting. This second plate tasted as expected — like a dog’s breakfast. I actually used to feed my dog Costco-​brand canned food that was better than Plate #2.
I needed to wash this down with something sweet so I headed over to the soda machine. Gone are the days when they had half decent options. Now, there were just colored labels on the dispensers filled with no-​name brand pop. Dammit. I look in the adjacent refrigerated dessert case hoping for some ray of hope. There were maybe 10 small plates of either green Jello or what looks to be a mushy Apple pie which has likely been there since I was 8 years old. I pass on that and look to the soft serve Ice Cream machine. There’s only Vanilla now (no more chocolate) so I fill up a bowl. I look for the toppings and yet again, I shed another tear — there’s no sprinkles of any sort! GAHH! What kind of sick joke is this? The only thing they had was chocolate syrup. I was really looking forward to plastering my dessert with rainbow sprinkles and chocolate chips.
On the bright side, the busboys who came by were super friendly.
[Final Thoughts]
1) I would only come here for Nostalgic reasons. Once is enough
2) If you must, come during happy hour (before 5pm I believe). It’s a few bucks cheaper
3) LOL at the people who gave this 4-​Stars
4) Don’t use the bathrooms
5) Stay away from the sushi.

Anyone who grew up in Vancouver in the 1990s will have fond memories of this chain (read: ice cream machine) when it had several locations. Alas, all have closed except for this location. This place is seriously just like a time capsule. The owner mentioned there’s also a Kelowna location as well.
Parking here is quite crappy, as I’m not sure if you’re allowed to use the Metropolis lot. There are free spots along Nelson in the evening.
Seriously, this place is just as awesome/​ghetto as I remember it back in tha day. However, several things have changed.
1) There are now 3 types of chicken: Fried (original), grilled, and BBQ.
2) Soft drinks are now of the crappy 3^rd party variety.
3) There is now a «Chinese food» section, with fried noodles.
4) There is now mac and cheese. This has to be new.
5) Even the pricing hasn’t changed much. $ 16 taxes in for a buffet dinner. Oh yes.
The place obviously hasn’t been renovated for 20 years, and it shows. Beautiful.
Most importantly though, the self-​serve ice cream machine is still here! I thought I’d do a better job stacking my sundae as an adult, but nope, the machine really is that difficult to use well. Unfortunately this location got rid of the sprinkles. I was ready to cry.
This place seriously brings a tear to my eye.

I remember going to Uncle Willy’s as a kid. My favorite part back then was the dessert buffet. I recently visited Uncle Willy’s for the first time in 10+ years for nostalgia sake with my family, and the soft serve ice cream (topped with either chocolate or caramel sauce) was worth the trip alone.
I went to the lunch buffet. The food itself was good. There was a large variety of chicken (fried, roasted, and grilled). I enjoyed the fried chicken because it was crispy and juicy (a tad greasy, but that’s expected).
There were a few Asian inspired dishes, such as sweet/​sour pork, stirfried rice/​noodles with chicken, and stirfried veggies. There was a selection of a few soups, lasagna, seafood chowder, mixed salads, various side dishes (corn, mashed potatoes, carrots, macaroni salad, potato salad, pasta salad, roasted potatoes, stirfry veggies, etc). There was also a taco station with taco shells, ground beef, shredded lettuce, and cheese. There were several other dishes offered, definitely worth checking out for yourselves, since I can’t recall them alll.
Everything was worth trying. In particular, I enjoyed the fried chicken, stirfried rice, sweet/​sour pork, and of course the dessert (soft serve ice cream). I also liked their coffee. Probably, not the greatest brew out there, but a nice ending to a satisfying meal.
Since this is a buffet, it was self serve for the most part, that being said, the staff was very friendly. The busboys came to clear your dirty plates quickly. They were always assuring that the buffet station, tables, etc was clean. The servers made sure that the bins in the buffet station stayed full (there was never any shortage of food. There was always a steady flow of food, especially the fried chicken, which seems to be a favorite).
Overall, the food was filling (especially the classic comfort foods). The price is reasonable ($ 9.99 for a lunch buffet). The food is not glamorous, but since Uncle Willy’s isn’t a 5 Star, luxury restaurant, one shouldn’t be expecting cavier and lobster). This buffet provides a variety of food and the opportunity to endulge for a decent price too. So, there’s not much to complain about.
I went on a Saturday and the restaurant was busy. There was a steady influx of people and everyone seemed to be enjoying the experience. Give this place a try. It’s a blast from the past and still provides the same warm environment I remember from my childhood.