ok, first, my review is based from nostalgia and also value.

this place is not expensive and so my expectations for their quality, variety and food style will also be in line with the price you pay which is only $11 for lunch and $15 for dinner.

this is a hearty buffet, with down to earth, non-pretentious cooking.

dont expect five star, fancy gourmet. the foods they push out are very basic, but they do it very well.

fried chickens, fries, king a la cart, etc - your basic comfort foods.

the quality is good, fresh but because of the ingredients sitting on the hot plates, it doesn't matter how fresh they start, eventually the heat will take its toll.

you go to uncle willy for the atmosphere and old-fashioned canadian / american cooking, you know the kind you see in family magazines back in the 80's - corn bread, pasta, stuff that's on the fresh prince and the cosby's.

roast beef, cakes, ice cream, salads, your usual food court fares, but just slightly better.

good place to try, but definitely not for the picky eaters.

i agree with some of the people defending the place...if you are willing to fork out the dough, sure this place can serve caviar even...but all of you complaining about BLEH food, re-examine how much you forked out for an AYCE. it's decent food, decent choices...what else do u want?

come on people, this place costs how much for rent? it's by metrotown....some of the money's going to rent alone.

There's things like food temp and sometimes lesser selection. Otherwise, you get very good fried chicken, number of stews and soups and Asian inspired dishes. The salad selection is always fresh and tastey. there is no way you'll get more for your money anywhere else.
The servers are awesome. Oh, and there's fountain drinks and coffee and dessert.
There is nothing wrong with this place unless you go in with a mind set of expecting a fine dining experience.

I went here for dinner last week. Didn't like it at all! The food wasn't great and it wasn't worth the money spent. I came to this restaurant because I read good reviews about it. I was very disappointed! I much rather go late night sushi. It's about the same price and the food tastes way better. You really pay for what you get.

When I started to come here for the first time in a decade, I found myself getting nostalgic for the times my mom would bring me and my sister in because it only cost $1.25 for us when we were 5. But now I'm back, and am I happy I was curious to come by again.

Yes, most people will complain about the food, but you're paying $15 for an unlimited amount of food and you get to eat whatever you want, not be tied down to one plate of food with no variety than what you picked on the menu.
This restaurant is one of my favorites to come to with my boyfriend and we always find ourselves getting stoked when we're on our way. It's got all the favorites you'd find at a family dinner like mashed potatoes, fried/grilled chicken, ham, perogies, salads, pastas, soups, and then some other stuff throw in like spring rolls, chow mein, seafood a la king, and even more. I'd say there is about 20 different options for hot food, and then a salad bar that is definitely not lacking in anything. Everyday, they switch up what's available, and on Friday's they even have sushi. Mediocre sushi, but sushi none the less. There's also a soft drink machine and another machine for hot coffee and tea too.
I always hit up the pasta whenever they have the vegetarian options, and I always take a portion of the things that look interesting. You can't help but go back again.. and maybe again and again. But I think one of the biggest problems for them is the chicken because I've heard several people complain of feeling sick after eating the fried chicken so maybe it's not Uncle Willy's forte and I kind of recommend maybe not trying it.
The cherry on top has to be the dessert bar that always has different slices of cakes, puddings, jell-o, cream puffs, and strawberry rhubarb crisp all kept in this little self-serve fridge. And then they have the soft serve ice cream machine, something to top your little slice of cake or brownie off with, and then maybe some hot fudge if that's what you like.

Since this is a buffet, yeah there's not much interaction with the staff, but when I've needed service or had a question about something, they're always kind and knowledgeable, and the busboys are very consistent with clearing away plates.

Amazingly satisfying after a big day at Metrotown or when you're just starving for some home-cooking.

I'm reading other posts about how disgusting the food is or how they use leftovers. Do you really think any restaurant you go to only serves fresh food and that they never microwave anything? Get your head out of the gutter. This is how you should rate Uncle Willy's, price and quality of food for the price just like any restaurant. Uncle Willy's is gem in this city. Their roasted chicken is definitely fresh cause you see them cooking in the rotisserie and it tastes good. Also, I do not think the food is disgusting. I think it's just the mindset some of you have about Uncle Willy's that makes you think the food is not good. Of course some things are questionable. I'm not saying this place has the best tasting food in the city but if you're saying it's gross than you're just spoiled or an aspiring anorexic.

But the dirt hole of the place just had to ruin it.

I'm serious when I say that after walking in to Uncle Willy's, you can see the air change colour.

The food is pretty darn good seeing as I'm an extremely unpicky eater.
The price is the cheapest you'll find from a low-grade buffet.
Service is suprisingly nice, taken the fact that it's a self serve resturaunt.

HOWEVER.
The feeling of eating there is just disgusting.
The utensils are dirty, I saw a few kids putting their dirty spoons into the "Pick up your Forks and Knives" bin, and the people eating their have no table manners whatsoever.

Ambiance killed it.

It's only $10 on weekday lunch..
i was thinking to go food court at Metro, but if I think about the cost I will spend there, it's almost the same+the portion there is pretty small. So I went UW, great variation like food court has, but it's unlimited! I really like buffet,I rather go UW than food court next time. The service was okay too, anyways VERY SATISFIED!!

I went there once and pretty much ate a bit from each servings they had. The best meat there is the chicken. I thought the chicken was really tender and good. They had a lot of choices for salads (I went on Sunday for dinner, so I think there are more choices on weekends), different kinds of pastas, and a lot of meat.

Their pop was not that good, they had their own produced pop I think (tasted like a watered down version of sprite/ice tea/coke). I think the best thing I had that night was the chicken, and their ice cream. The ice cream was really rich and you have two choices for toppings. Fudge and butterscotch.

The place is not very clean. Since it's a busy buffet place, it's very crowded, and the plates are usually still wet from just having washed. For dinner it's only ~$15 and lunch is $12-13. I would say it's pretty cheap for so much food offered.

Thanks to the positive reviews on Dinehere I convinced family to accompany me to this buffet.

This place is total comfort food. I think it's a step up from local chain's like ABC or Pantry. It's comparable to White Spot.

The food was nostalgic becuase it's been years since I've even been to a buffet like this. It reminded me of childhood buffet dinners where the highlight was the ice cream and how I was never yelled at for wasting tonnes of food.

Overall I was impressed with it because the servers and people working (lots of teenagers) there seemed more genuine and not fake nice wanting a tip but hating your guts and just working as a waiter while on their way to being a model or a star. The restaurant must have good management.

Overall for these price points, there was decent quality control for the food. It's comfort food, the roast beef, ham and roast chicken were all edible. I liked the ham the best. The fried chicken is delicious but I don't eat chicken skin and that's the best part of fried chicken. The salad items were basic but fresh. The corn bread was delicious. Yes, I did mix my mashed potato's with the corn and the gravy, just like I did when I was a kid. I skipped a lot of the buffet items, but there was a good variety of Western foods. The soup's here are pretty good as well, the split pea with ham was salty goodness.

One change is that the dessert section is larger then I remember with cream puffs and creme caramel as well as various squares.

The softserve ice cream machine was being filled with Island Farms 4% MF vanilla soft serve mix, so at least it's made with real milk.

The dessert I devised of warm cinnamon apple slices (from the apple crumble) with soft serve ice cream was a perfect finish.

And my reluctant dining companion? They had second helpings. For these price points, this place is a good value. Definately an once in a year experience, if only to get in touch with your inner child.