Chuck’s Burger Bar
538 Yates St
Victoria, BC

Hours: Tues-Sun: 12–10PM
Phone: (250) 590-9866

While parts of the world are still in lockdown because of a pandemic, a few places remain as busy as ever. At Chuck’s Burger Bar, that overdue visit to see now they are doing more than a year later was a must. I’ve visited a few times prior, mostly for take out but not much has changed since.

Last month, I visited with other friends. We rented Quasars Arcade for some personal retro gaming time (it’s a great deal when split between friends and the machines are set to endless play). We were all experiencing cabin fever when wave two struck Victoria, BC. It was a week later when news about the UK variant hitting the island made me think twice…. For this blog, I’ll be expanding the content to include food product reviews, films about foodie culture and posts about my last adventure in Seattle’s food scene. I’m thankful I saved a few pieces for this eventuality.

For some, the holidays are a time to indulge. Whether that’s with take out, delivery or a reservation to celebrate, I can say this downtown operation ensures safety while at this diner. The servers wear transparent masks and I assume a separate hand sanitizing station is by the kitchen so they can bring out the food safely.

The bacon cheese balls my friends ordered and the onion rings I individually ordered were mouth wateringly crunchy. Two dips were offered, and I preferred the tangy aioli over the traditional. Their happy hour menu is certainly worth the value to feed groups, but I was waiting for my main to arrive. If the Smokey Blue Haze & Bacon Burger is meant to be served cold, it was certainly appropriate to keep me cool on this wintery night. There just wasn’t enough blue cheese crumbles to make this meal jump. The salad was a lot more tasty than the ½ lb of Angus staring at me. I wasn’t mad, as I was hungrier than Pac-man, but I wondered how long my meal was waiting to be brought over to me.

The night was very busy, even though there was a wind warning in effect and a “stay at home” order from up top. Young folks were out and about. Downtown Victoria was more active than usual, and that was observations from my buddies who lived close to the city core. I still wanted something warm to keep me going at night, but alas, there was nothing to be found as it was late. I ended up making a hot brew of coffee at home and playing even more video games. I hope Quasar’s has Missile Command fixed by now; this game was my favourite from way back when, and I’m determined to make it past wave 14+!

3 Blokes out of 5