Tucker's Marketplace, a 40-year-old Canadian buffet chain, served its last meal June 2020

Tucker's Marketplace was a Canadian buffet restaurant chain founded in 1979 in Burlington, Ontario. The chain grew to 21 locations by 1984, operating under various names including Tucker's Marketplace, Tucker's Steakhouse, and Tucker's Food & Drink. The concept was an all-you-can-eat buffet with carving stations, salad bars, and hot food counters.

By the 2010s, the buffet format was falling out of favour. Consumers shifted toward fast-casual dining and away from the all-you-can-eat model. Tucker's shrank steadily, closing locations in Brampton, Mississauga, Pickering, and other Ontario cities. By 2020, only a handful of locations remained in the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa.

The COVID-19 pandemic was fatal for a format built on shared serving stations and high customer throughput. On June 25, 2020, the company announced the permanent closure of all remaining locations. The statement said the pandemic had made the buffet format impossible to operate safely and that 'there is not a profitable path forward.'

The closure marked the end of a 41-year-old Canadian restaurant concept. The chain's assets were eventually liquidated. Unlike restaurant chains that pivoted to takeout or delivery, the buffet model had no viable adaptation — the entire experience was the shared food bar.