That time Toronto had restaurants where you could dine in a TTC streetcar

In the 1960s and 1970s, Toronto's transit landscape underwent significant changes with the introduction of the Yonge, University, and Bloor-Danforth subway lines that led to the closure of several surface routes, leaving the TTC with a surplus of roughly 200 "Red Rocket" Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars.

Although many of the decommissioned vehicles were sold to cities worldwide — including 140 to Alexandria in Egypt and nine to Tampico, Mexico — some of the cars found new life in unexpected places.

One of the most notable transformations of the nostalgic streetcars happened at the now-shuttered La Pentola Restaurant, which was formerly located at 1671 Eglinton Ave. E. Near Bermondsey Road.

A poster advertising the La Pentola Restaurant in 1978. Photo: Toronto Public Library Archives.

The business purchased one of the old TTC streetcars in the 1960s and repurposed the retired streetcar into a unique dining experience. Onboard the "Streetcar Named Desire" lounge, guests could dine on Canadian and Italian cuisine behind velvet curtains for privacy. The operator's area of the vehicle was also transformed into a cocktail bar.

Promotional poster in 1978. Photo: Toronto Public Library Archives.

A promotional poster highlights the innovative concept and showcases the streetcar's interior converted into a cozy and romantic dining space.

While La Pentola's streetcar restaurant is perhaps the most well-known example, other former TTC streetcars were also repurposed around the world. In Springville, New York, streetcar #4434 was also converted into a cafe called "A Streetcar Named Dessert."

The business served coffee and espresso on a small wooden deck attached to the streetcar before officially shutting down in 2011.

Another repurposed streetcar stood until 2015 at Super Burger, a roadside restaurant at the corner of Highway 10 and Highway 89 near Shelburne, Ont. In 1990, owner James Nicolaou purchased a retired TTC streetcar, which was originally numbered 4341 and built in the 1940s, for just $1,000 at a TTC auction.

The interior of the Super Burger restaurant. Photo: blogTO.

The iconic restaurant continuously drew customers in to dine inside the antique vehicle, but in 2015, the streetcar was removed and sent to the scrapyard to make way for a new modern building.