Eerie Eats: 100 Haunted Restaurants in the United States (Alabama – Idaho)
Do you like a side of ghosts with your evening meal? Here’s the first of a four-part series featuring 100 haunted restaurants from across the United States. We’ve got ghost hookers in Alaska, a heartbroken spirit in California, and the hotel that inspired Stephen King’s The Shining. Order up!
Alabama
The Victoria Restaurant, Anniston
A woman in white reportedly roams the upper landing of The Victoria Inn and Restaurant. Guests and staff report hearing unexplained footsteps, glasses clinking in the bar, and piano music in empty rooms.
1604 Quintard Avenue
Anniston, AL 36201
256-236-0503
Rawls Restaurant, Enterprise
Original owner Captain Japheth Rawls reportedly lurks around the cellar of the historic Rawls Restaurant, spooking waitresses with his sudden presence. Mischievous spirits in the kitchen steal utensils or bang on pots and pans. Guests and employees also report hearing children laughing and playing, even when children clearly aren’t around.
116 South Main Street
Enterprise, AL 36330
334-347-7612
Alaska
Red Onion Saloon, Skagway
Legend has it that the Red Onion Saloon, a former bordello, is home to a number of female spirits, including a former madam named Lydia. It seems Lydia likes to water plants and give male guests a slight push. Cold spots, disembodied voices, mysterious footsteps, and the lingering smell of perfume also plague the whore house turned restaurant and brothel museum.
205 Broadway
Skagway, AK 99840
907-983-2414
The Historic Silverbow Inn Bakery & Restaurant, Juneau
The historic Silverbow Inn is home to Alaska’s oldest, continuously operating bakery. If the stories are true, it’s also home to Austrian founder Gus Messerschmidt. Gus is said to be a friendly ghost who hangs around the bakery during early morning hours.
120 Second Street
Juneau, AK 99801
907-586-4146
Arizona
The Stockyards Restaurant , Phoenix
Eerie events at The Stockyards Restaurant in Phoenix include lights that turn on and off, chandeliers that shake, muffled voices in empty rooms, and shadowy figures in the dining area. A woman in a red dress also haunts the historic eatery, and some believe she comes from one of the restaurant’s hand painted murals.
5009 East Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85034
602-273-7378
Big Nose Kate’s Saloon, Tombstone
Big Nose Kate’s Saloon is said to harbor more than a few spirits with the most famous being an old miner named Swamper. Legend has it that Swamper hid silver somewhere in the building and wants to keep it secure. Other creepy tales involve tumbling mannequins, silverware that falls off tables, phantom signing, and hazy forms appearing in photos, among other things.
417 East Allen Street
Tombstone, AZ 85638
520-457-3107
Arkansas
1886 Steak House, Crescent Hotel & Spa, Eureka Springs
Located in Eureka Springs’ Crescent Hotel & Spa, the 1886 Steak House gets its share of ghostly visitors. One cook saw a little boy in old-fashioned clothing skip across the dining room. Another morning, the chef witnessed pots and pans flying off their hooks.
75 Prospect Avenue
Eureka Springs, AR 72632
877-342-9766
The Balcony Restaurant, Eureka Springs
The Balcony Restaurant is at the top of the 1905 Basin Park Hotel, a building reportedly haunted by a translucent young woman and an adorable girl with pig tails. The Basin Park Hotel and the Crescent Hotel share common ownership.
12 Spring Street
Eureka Springs, AR 72632
479-253-7837
California
Moss Beach Distillery, Moss Beach
A heartbroken woman known as The Blue Lady reportedly haunts the Moss Beach Distillery. According to local legend, the melancholy spirit steals women’s jewelry, levitates checkbooks, locks doors from the inside, and appears before children.
140 Beach Way
Moss Beach, CA 94038
650-728-5595
Barney’s Beanery, West Hollywood
The staff at Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood regularly sees a strange figure stroll by the restaurant’s roof top office. Other employees have felt something brush against them, and an unseen entity apparently tampers with the downstairs cooler.
8447 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
323-654-2287
Colorado
The Melting Pot, Littleton
The Melting Pot of Littleton is reportedly haunted by drowning victims and former inmates of the Littleton jail. Objects move by themselves, strange sounds echo throughout the building, and boot prints appear on kitchen appliances.
2707 West Main Street
Littleton, CO 80120
303-794-5666
Cascades, The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park
The Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King to write The Shining, and many swear the historic building is haunted. The Cascades restaurant is part of the 102-year-old hotel and diners may encounter the ghosts of F.O. or Flora Stanley. Lights turn and off without explanation, dishes tumble from shelves, and waiters sometime hear someone, or something, whispering in their ear.
333 Wonderview Avenue
Estes Park, CO 80517
970-577-4000
Connecticut
Abigail’s Grille and Wine Bar, Simsbury
Formerly Pettibone’s Tavern, Abigail’s Grille and Wine Bar is reportedly haunted by Abigail Pettibone, an unfaithful whaler’s wife who met a bloody end at the hands of her husband. Employees and guests have seen apparitions they attribute to Abigail, as well as strange things like candles that light themselves and furniture that moves on its own.
4 Hartford Road
Simsbury, CT 06089
860-264-1580
Bogey’s Restaurant & Pub, Yankee Pedlar Inn, Torrington
The historic Yankee Pedlar Inn, which includes Bogey’s Restaurant, is rumored to be haunted by founder Alice Conley. Though much of the paranormal activity centers on Room 353, where Alice reportedly died, guests and diners have felt tugs and pushes from unseen entities and witnessed doors opening and closing by themselves.
93 Main Street
Torrington, CT 06790
860-489-9226
Delaware
Deer Park Tavern, Newark
Established in 1851, Newark’s Deer Park Tavern is plagued by a number of eerie occurrences, including doors that open and close, unexplained noises in the stairwell, and stools that fly off the bar. Staff members also report a feeling of being watched as they close up for the night.
108 West Main Street
Newark, DE 19711
302-894-1200
Dead Presidents Restaurant & Pub, Wilmington
Employees of Wilmington’s Dead Presidents Pub complain about the restaurant’s dark, heavy feeling. Dramatic temperature drops, manic giggles, and mysteriously moving dominos all contribute to the business’s haunted reputation. Some say “Lemonade Mullery,” a man who reportedly died after slipping on a puddle of urine, is behind the paranormal activity.
618 North Union Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19805
302-652-7737
Florida
Ashley’s of Rockledge, Rockledge
In 1934, a young woman named Ethel was murdered near Ashley’s Rockledge Restaurant, which was then Jack’s Tavern. Ethel now reportedly haunts the old eatery, appearing in the bathroom mirror and lurking in bathroom stalls. Burglar alarms also go off without reason and staff and patrons complain of being pushed by an invisible entity.
1609 South US1
Rockledge, FL 32955
321-636-6430
Harry’s of St. Augustine, St. Augustine
Harry’s of St. Augustine is reportedly haunted by Catalina Depores, a woman who once lived at the historic property. Guests and staff see a woman in old fashioned clothing staring at them from the bathroom mirror, and objects reportedly move around the restaurant by themselves.
46 Avenida Menendez
St. Augustine, FL 32084
904-824-7765
Georgia
Olde Pink House, Savannah
Revolutionary war hero James Habersham Jr. originally owned the house at 23 Abercorn Street which now functions as a five-star restaurant. Habersham reportedly haunts the 241-year-old building, along with a few other mischievous spirits. Guests of the Olde Pink House complain of being locked in the bathroom, and an invisible entity hits bartenders with wine bottles and throws dice against the walls. Patrons and staff also see apparitions at the bar and hear a woman crying on the second floor.
23 Abercorn Street
Savannah, GA 31401
912-232-4286
Moon River Brewing Company, Savannah
Savannah’s Moon River Brewing Company has a reputation for being one of the most haunted buildings in a city. Employees have witnessed bottles flying off shelves, silverware sliding off dining room tables, and shadowy figures roaming through the building. All efforts to renovate the building have been thwarted by a hostile spirit who once pushed a foreman’s wife down a flight of stairs. Learn more…
21 West Bay Street
Savannah, GA 31401
912-447-0943
Hawaii
Saffron Organic Cuisine, Kamuela
The historic building now occupied by Saffron Organic Cuisine, formerly Daniel Thiebaut’s, has a ghostly reputation thanks to creepy tales about a haunted lanai.
65-1259 Kawaihae Road
Kamuela, HI 96743
808-881-8282
Kamaaina Terrace, Keauhou Beach Resort, Kailua-Kona
Legend has it that warriors from a long-ago skirmish between haunt the Keauhou Beach Resort. Unseen dogs howl at night, malfunctioning equipment plagues renovation efforts, and there’s one rock that just can’t seem to stay put. Though the Kamaaina Terrace isn’t the center of the haunting, who’s to say a stray ghost might not wander through?
78-6740 Alii Drive
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740
808-322-3441
Idaho
BJ’s Bayou, Roberts
A number of spirits reportedly haunt the Cajun and Creole restaurant known as BJ’s Bayou. Uniformed soldiers, a Chinese cook, and a woman in a long, flowing dress have all been known to pop in from time to time.
655 North 2880 East
Roberts, ID 83444
208-228-2331
The Plaza Grill, Owyhee Plaza Hotel, Boise
The 102-year-old Owyhee Plaza Hotel is plagued by full-body apparitions, particularly Room 136. A few staff members report that spirits in the hotel’s meeting rooms and restaurant, The Plaza Grill, are prone to run through them.
1109 Main Street
Boise, ID 83702
208-343-4611
I’m always interested in adding new haunts, so please let me know about any ghostly restaurants I’ve missed.
