Many area residents are still licking their fingers with delight as they recall from yesteryear a busy fleet of VW Beetles that shuttled steaming barbequed chicken to mouth-watering households.

The popular Pickin’ Chicken BBQ restaurant opened in 1953 and had developed quite a poulet-loving following in its 17-years of operation in a time before take-out food would become as widespread as it is today with Uber Eats, DoorDash and other apps.

The company, aside its chicken, is best remembered for its fleet of colourful Volkswagen Beetles that delivered thousands of chicken legs and breasts dinners and assortments to awaiting Etobicoke and Toronto residents.

The cars were painted in bright colours with the Pickin’ Chicken name, phone number and address.

The beloved restaurant, which would later be copied by eateries as Swiss Chalet and others, stood at the site of Marina del Ray Condominiums, at 2261 Lake Shore Blvd. W., in Mimico.

The business was owned by Saul and Jerry Goldberg, who copied the success and soon opened two other thriving locations on Queen Street W., at Roncesvalles, and on Kingston Road.

Before long there were seven takeout franchise locations and Pickin’ Chicken was one of the favourite order-in meals at the time.

Hungry residents could have their choice of barbecued chicken as eat in, takeout, or delivered to their front door while the meal was still steaming hot.

Many in the community still remember licking their fingers after ordering Pickin’ Chicken on a Friday night.

“It was a great place,” agrees one long-time resident. “The chicken was always good and it was well-ahead of its time.”

But like many fast food outlets over the years, the business went bankrupt in 1970.

The property was sold to a developer who was planning to build a large world class hotel, but due to political pressure those plans were dropped. The property would change ownership more than once before it was finally purchased by corporation.

The 46-floor Palace Pier North Tower was completed in 1978 and the South Tower was finished in 1991. They were at one time the tallest, and one of the most expensive, residential complexes in Canada.