7 Haunted Restaurants Around the World
You're out for an intimate dinner someplace new—a friend of a friend recommended it—enjoying your meal and the oddly quaint atmosphere, when suddenly a chill runs down your spine. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Is it from the ash-crusted venison with dried cherry reduction, or the ashen-faced waiter with the eerie demeanor? The Zinfandel seemed spookily ethereal, but was the sommelier just a little bit...transparent? Has the waiter been unusually reserved, or has no one else spoken? And wasn't this place, way out at the edge of town, nothing but a burned-out building just a few days ago? It's possible that you're not just seeing things, but the restaurant itself is.... [scary music] HAUNTED! If you're eating at one of these restaurants, that's certainly the case.
But be warned! Some hauntings are friendlier than others.
Courtesy One if by Land, Two if by Sea1/7One if by Land, Two if by Sea, NYC
New York's One if by Land, Two if by Sea is one of the city's most romantic restaurants. The dining room's giant chandelier, creaky wooden stairs, giant oil paintings, and exposed brick are also catnip for ghosts. According to Eater, employees have noted machinery suddenly starting up, and floating flatware. Occasionally waiters have even attempted to serve some of the ghosts, who sit at the tables, no doubt impatient for the poached dayboat cod. Because it's New York, of course, some of the ghosts are famous: One parapsychologist has asserted that of the upwards of 20 different apparitions haunting the restaurant, one is Aaron Burr, who once owned a carriage house there.
Trevor Justus, Melting Pot2/7The Melting Pot, Littleton, Colorado
In Littleton, Colorado, the former Carnegie Library has been turned into a nice little fondue joint called The Melting Pot. The upstairs tables are each set back in a little brick or stone enclave, allowing secluded diners to chat and dip things into melted cheese and chocolate. But the quaint old building was also, for some time, the town jail, and there are reports that at least one botched escape attempt led to the death of both a prisoner and jailer. According to Haunted Colorado, it's not unusual for employees to see unlit candles suddenly lighting up, heavy espresso machines moving around, and ,creepiest of all, plaintive voices from the sealed-up back staircase.
Flickr user Akzophoto3/7The Middleton Tavern, Annapolis, Maryland
The Middleton Tavern was established in 1750, and has played host to many of the Founding Fathers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Ben Franklin all counted themselves as fans of the cuisine, and both luminaries and locals liked to eat and spend time there. Apparently, a few still do. According to the website Ghost Eyes, run by a group of Central Virginia paranormal investigators, there's a Revolutionary War soldier who keeps the waitstaff on their toes by toppling tables and tossing about dishes if they sit too long. Another specter likes to turn the wall lamps upside down, and one old 18th-century sailor has been known to stand outside the building, staring disconsolately out to sea.
Joe King4/7The Steward House, County Cork, Ireland
Probably one of the most ill-fated ideas for a restaurant was launched in the mid-1990s, in the Steward's House, a meeting place for members of 18th-century politician William Conolly's Hell Fire Club. Renovations in the late 1960s and early 1970s uncovered a grave with a tiny skeleton (possibly a child or dwarf, and an alleged sacrifice victim) and workers kept reporting both a giant black cat with glowing red eyes and a pair of nuns who had taken part in "black masses" wandering the premises. The restaurant closed in 2001.
courtesy milanos.com.au5/7Milanos Bar and Tavern, Melbourne, Australia
One of the least friendly hauntings in a still-standing restaurant has to be at Milanos Tavern. The waterfront restaurant hardly seems the place for a haunting, what with its airy interior and fashionable, modern design. But according to both Shadowlands and The Paranormal Guide, the 170-year-old building has had a lot of dark history. The original owners of the building may or may not have raped and killed a young girl. A Mr. Charles Edward Broome may have committed suicide when the space was also a hotel. A fight may have resulted in the death of one of the participants. Nowadays, a ghost named Tilly assaults male employees, objects in the restaurant are inexplicably smashed, strange shadows and cries are sometimes heard when no one is around. If you go, keep an eye out for flying knives, and maybe take a psychic friend with you, to warn you of potential danger.
Courtesy Nottingham Road Hotel6/7Nottingham Road Hotel, Nottingham Road, South Africa
The Nottingham Road Hotel has been in operation since the 1800s, offering comfortable rooms and a solid, English-style breakfast in the restaurant and pub. It's also, as the hotel's own website explains, haunted. Charlotte the ghost is more helpful than many other spirits: she's been known to straighten things, move table arrangements around, and even, according to one newspaper, unpack people's clothes. Lucky diners and guests may find her appearing in the background of their photos, or shuffling silverware around at breakfast.
Courtesy Arnaud's7/7Arnaud's, New Orleans
One of the most haunted cities in the world, of course, is New Orleans, and one of the most haunted places in New Orleans is Arnaud's restaurant, in the French Quarter. According to the restaurant's website, it's a mostly friendly haunting by the restaurant's original owner, "Count" Arnaud Cazenave, whose painting still hangs on the wall and who can occasionally be seen in his turn-of-the-century tuxedo, keeping tabs on the dining room and ensuring the service remains up to snuff. Waiters have watched guests disappear through walls, and even the restaurant's accountant has experienced some late-night intimations of spectral activity: the temperature suddenly dropping in an empty room, which the restaurant attributes to the last vestiges of disappointed opium fiends forced to go elsewhere when the restaurant was established in 1918.
