airport road wendys

Toronto just lost its best spot for plane watching

The recent shuttering of a suburban fast food joint is not going to register on the radar of any Toronto foodie, but aviation geeks and others who enjoy watching planes take off and land at Pearson Airport are sure to take notice after the Airport Road Wendy's went deadpool in October.

This drive-thru Wendy's location at 6585 Airport Road in Mississauga was so much more than a place to wolf down square burgers and a Frosty chaser, as it was positioned directly across the road from Pearson Airport's runway 23, and directly below one of the primary flight paths for take-off and landing.

airport road wendys

The now-closed Wendy's location at 6585 Airport Road in Mississauga. Photo via JLL.

On any given weekend, you could find the parking lot surrounding the restaurant littered with cars packed with families, couples, and friends, many with a burger in one hand and a phone or camera in the other to take in the planes screeching above.

The fast food fare was not the main event for most, who primarily visited this Wendy's to make use of its parking lot and close-up view of large planes landing and taking off from runway 23.

The former Wendy's location sits on a 1.35-acre site — which includes an attached retail unit — that was recently put up for sale. But due to its proximity to a very low flight path, don't expect condos or any other type of high-rise in the works.

Fast food fans and aviation geeks alike will only have to go without a combined drive-thru and plane-watching spot for long, as a sales brochure for the site advertises "approved plans in place for a second drive-thru in the space currently occupied by Forest Hill Health."

And don't let the loss of the Wendy's stop your plane-watching plans in the meanwhile, as you can still have a somewhat similar experience by parking at Fresh Burger just next door.

Lead photo by

Jack Landau


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