Canter’s Restaurant

Canter’s Restaurant was founded as early as 1906, emerging from a previous restaurant called Wolfson & Canter. Canter’s Restaurant was initially located in the Fifth Avenue wholesaling district. It occupied 1314 Fifth Avenue from 1906-1910 as the White Front Restaurant and Cafe and 1229 Fifth Avenue from 1911 through 1921 as Canter’s.^[1]White Front Restaurant and Cafe advertisement, Jewish Criterion, March 13, 1908 (online). Throughout the 1920s, the restaurant was located at 624 Penn Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, next to the new Penn Theater.^[2]Canter’s Restaurant advertisement, Pittsburgh Press, September 4, 1927 (online—Newspapers.com). It relocated in the 1930s to Atwood Street in Oakland, where it remained until it closed in the early 1970s. It expanded several times, eventually occupying 209-213 Atwood Street.

Following its move to Oakland. Canter’s Restaurant touted the Jewish nature of its menu, but the restaurant gradually expanded its offerings to include other cuisines. A review from 1971 listed traditional Jewish and Eastern European dishes including kishke, potato kugel, gefilte fish with horseradish, and multiple varieties of herring, as well as American bar-and-grill cuisine such as broiled steak and cheesecake, and non-kosher items like lobster tail.^[3]Tomb, Geoffrey. “On Dining Out: Meet Me Around the Corner,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 5, 1971 (online—Newspapers.com). Canter’s hired Alex and Ethel Stark of the Little Hungarian Restaurant in 1956 to run its kitchen.^[4]Canter’s Restaurant advertisement, Jewish Criterion, February 24, 1956 (online). ^[5]Canter’s Restaurant advertisement, Jewish Criterion, February 1, 1957 (online).

Canter’s Restaurant was founded by Sam Canter (d.1937). In addition to running the restaurant, Canter was a leading promoter of Jewish theater in Pittsburgh, bringing many leading Yiddish performers to the city. He was responsible for a production of Sholem Asch’s “God of Vengeance” with Rudolph Schildkraut at the Schenley Theater in 1920, three years before the infamous run of the production in New York City that lead to an obscenity trial. After the death of Sam Canter, his son Jack E. Canter (c1915-1972) took over the Oakland location of the restaurant. Jack Canter died in 1972, and the restaurant closed in 1974 or 1975.^[6]“Oakland Restaurant Site Sold,” Pittsburgh Press, Oct. 12, 1975 (online—Newspapers.com).

Bibliography

• 1200 block Fifth Avenue photograph—July 20, 1911 [715.112080.CP], Pittsburgh City Photograph Collection (online—Historic Pittsburgh).

Exhibit History

• Author: Eric Lidji
• Created: January 12, 2023
• Current: January 12, 2023