Tucci's Family Diner has been feeding Waterloo and the surrounding Finger Lakes community since 2005, and the sheer volume of FLX Finest awards tells you how deeply this place is woven into the local fabric. Gold for Best Diner in 2023 and 2024, Gold for Best Breakfast, Burger, and Plates in 2023, Silver for Best Diner and Pancakes in 2025, Silver for Best Lunch Spot in 2024 — that is a trophy case that covers nearly every category a diner can compete in.

The menu at 339 Waterloo Geneva Road spans breakfast through dinner, and the legendary Friday Haddock dinners have become an institution unto themselves. In a region where Friday fish fry is treated with near-religious devotion, earning that kind of reputation means the batter is right, the fish is fresh, and the portions are honest. The pancakes — Silver in 2025 — are the kind of thick, fluffy stacks that diner loyalists dream about, and the burgers earned Gold in a year when the competition included dedicated burger joints. This is a kitchen that does everything and somehow does all of it well.

What makes Tucci's work, beyond the food, is the family diner ethos executed with genuine care. The name is not marketing — this is a family-run operation where the consistency comes from people who treat every plate as a reflection of their name. In the stretch between Waterloo and Geneva, where Route 5 and 20 offers a string of dining options, Tucci's is the one the locals choose most often. Twenty years in, it shows no signs of slowing down.