22 of the spookiest haunted bars and restaurants in America

Kate Morgan visited the Hotel del Coronado in 1892 to meet her lover. For five days, the 24-year-old waited. Then they found her dead on the hotel steps. Suicide, the cops say, but plenty have speculated it was murder. Dun dun duuun. No matter how she died, guests of the hotel’s fine dining restaurant Serẽa have reported seeing Kate gazing out to sea, perhaps waiting for her man to show up finally. Or perhaps she’s biding the moment—waiting to enact her revenge. Anywho, there are few better places to catch a Pacific sunset, even if your only company is heartbroken Kate Morgan.

It’s a given to include this hotel (which has four restaurants on-site, including a whiskey bar and lounge with 1,200 kinds of whiskey) since a nightmare in Room 217 inspired Stephen King to dream up a terrifying little tale called The Shining. Here, you could be touched by an unseen spirit—including one that may riffle your hair or crawl into bed with you —or hear a creepy disembodied voice talking. There are also possibly haunted tunnels under the hotel and a pet cemetery with the spirit of a golden retriever, which we can all agree is the most adorable-sounding ghost.

In 1814, having lost his home in a poker game, Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan headed to the second floor of this Jackson Square restaurant. It's there that he took his own life—and started a new one, they say, as Muriel's phantom, banging on walls and tossing glasses from behind the bar. Muriel’s remains a popular spot for jazz brunch and Creole cuisine nightly. Those who aren’t afraid of Pierre should head upstairs for the appropriately named Seance Room, where the ghost is said to be still ducking his gambling debts.

This 1771 historic inn with a restaurant, tavern and bakery is everything you’d hope for in terms of haunted ambiance—there’s even an old burial ground steps away. Its ballroom is reportedly haunted by founder Ebenezer Crafts, who may appear for you in his colonial garb upstairs in Room 40, the bridal suite (congratulations, newlyweds!). They say Crafts can cause a commotion so severe that multiple people have changed rooms because of it. Mysterious images also pop up in mirrors, and, best of all, a specter appears reading a book, a bonus for those of us who want our spirits to be well-read.

Pirate Jean Lafitte might have encountered Andrew Jackson at this Bourbon Street dive amid an absinthe-swirled meeting at this 1798 landmark. The building is said to see spectral carousing of those two, plus voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau and a creepy woman in a long white dress. Sit at the bar for the “world’s best gin and tonic” and look out for bottles and chairs reputed to move on their own.

Zoe St. Armand rose from bed one night in a desperate search for her sister. Grief had overtaken her, and she had forgotten that her sis was long dead. A tumble down the stairs would send her to the same fate, although she rose again, they say, as the home’s ghost. Now she frightens guests of the restaurant that occupies Poogan's Porch, famous for its Lowcountry cuisine of she-crab soup and fried chicken. The local po-po reportedly gets so many calls about her vestige appearing in the windows of the restaurant that they know not to send anyone to investigate, even if that she-crab soup is something special.

Built in 1864 by German immigrants, this one-time brewery, boardinghouse and brothel reportedly offers a barside conversation with disembodied voices, including that of one regular, Al Capone. Your experience may vary, but visions that have been said to appear include an elderly man, an elderly woman and a saloon dancer. While no longer a hotel, the inn now serves as a Thursday-Sunday watering hole with an appropriately named Ghost Bomb shooter. There are also tours and occasional ghost-hunt events. People report photos showing up on their phones that they never took, perhaps proof that spirits still care about their social media accounts.

While the saloon and hotel once served the likes of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, it’s now visited by a far less famous vision nicknamed The Swamper. The legend goes that he once served as the saloon’s handyman, who also spent his free time digging a tunnel under the building looking for silver. Visitors to the hotel can now take a gander at the hole dug in The Swamper’s basement bedroom. They may also hear him still shoveling dirt, perhaps proof that even in the afterlife we’ve got to pay bills.

Stiff drinks and juicy steaks abound here where once “soiled doves” plied their trade upstairs in this Gold Rush town. With a brothel museum and a hidden speakeasy, the saloon’s ghosts almost seem like an afterthought. But they’re reportedly terrifying, including a wraith in a white ball gown who likes to mess with kids. Oh, also, the saloon once had connections to Juan Corona, a serial killer who murdered 25 migrant workers in 1971.

This 1915 hotel, restored in 2010 for $46 million, has hosted famous guests including presidents Barack Obama, Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon. But not all of its famous guests are said to have left. Cary Grant suffered a stroke in his eighth-floor room, and some say they’ve seen him at the hotel to this day. There’s also a woman in a vintage-style evening gown who spends her post-death years wandering the halls—let’s be honest, we’ve all forgotten which room we’re in. These days, you can dine at the hotel’s Bix Bistro or check out the lounge-slash-bowling alley, where you can concoct your best seance magic to invite Carey Grant to be your bowling partner.

British comfort food and craft ales will calm you down after apparitions try to ruin your night. You’ll shiver when spirits lower the temperature and cringe when they throw pans in the kitchen. Your pint may actually fall off the bar when ghosts swipe at it. Perhaps this activity can be chalked up to drunkenness. Still, it’s better to blame the nearby Revolutionary War mass grave, where rumor says not everyone was dead before being buried.

This charming yellow landmark inn right on Goose Rocks Beach has been in operation since 1900 and hosted Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was also a proponent of spiritualism (communicating with the dead). Original owner Emma Foss is said to haunt Room 25 and mess with men she doesn’t like, to which, we say, good for her. Luckily you can dine on Bangs Island mussels and bacon-wrapped scallops while trying to ignore the opinionated, deceased hotelier.

Some say drowned souls that perished in the hurricane that leveled Galveston in 1900 took up refuge when this sprawling hotel rose in 1911. Child ghosts bounce balls and laugh, they say, while candles blow out on their own. Audra haunts Room 501: she heard that her sailor fiancé went down with his ship and hanged herself; he showed up healthy and alive days later. Enjoy casual seafood at Galvez Bar & Grill while mulling over these haunting narratives.

Just a few steps from the Twins’ ballpark is a restaurant so concerned about its ghost that it mentions her on the menu. A notice invites you to “toast the ghost”—her name is Betsy, and she supposedly likes to give hugs. Or move the ketchup on the table. Or turn off the lights. She sounds fun. She probably wishes she could order off the beer list or get a plate of “totchos,” which are tater tots treated like nachos.

This beleaguered 1875 inn has been burned down three times—and fire victim Laura never left the premises, according to paranormal investigations. The unfortunate 12-year-old girl is said to haunt the upstairs hotel rooms and the downstairs Onions Pub and Restaurant. Other famous visitors to the nine themed hotel rooms? Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. Setting aside the chilling history, the restaurant serves British and Bermudian dishes.

Nestled on Highway 395 near the Sierra mountains, this 1877 Victorian Inn has seen a lot of action over the years. Today you can dine, sit at the bar for a drink and even stay overnight in an antique bed—just beware of Room 16, which is haunted by the “White Lady” who hanged herself in her wedding gown when her fiancé died right before their wedding. Bonus: you’re only a half-hour from the famous ghost town of Bodie.

“The World Famous Ghost Burger” is on the menu of this legit mining town saloon, so that’s promising (there’s also a “haunt dog”...groan). The breakfast burrito is named for Clark Gable, who drank himself into torpor while awaiting word of his wife Carole Lombard’s death; her phantom is supposedly still there trying to comfort him. You’ll also get a gentle prospector ghost and the apparition of a man who was shot here in 1915 after cheating at cards (there are three bullet holes in the wall).

This popular Italian restaurant has been serving customers for 65 years, and with that kind of longevity, there are bound to be a few stories. Once, a woman saw a Native American woman holding a bleeding baby and tried to talk with her; others saw her addressing thin air. This structure was once a home where a woman in 1673 was stabbed and burned. Her ghost is said to have testified against her son, who was indeed hanged for her murder. The cherry on this macabre sundae? He was an ancestor to Lizzie Borden, who was also found guilty of killing her father and stepmother.

Established in the 1860s, this is Montana’s self-proclaimed “oldest watering hole” and got its name from the livery stable that once stood next door. With live music and microbrews, this place is haunted enough to offer ghost tours. The western “Little Big Man” was filmed here with Dustin Hoffman and Faye Dunaway. Enjoy the tin ceiling and mounted moosehead, then drop a quarter in the player piano to get a rollicking dancehall girl specter to shake a leg for you.

Located in the city known for its infamous witchcraft craze, Rockafellas is a casual restaurant serving steaks, seafood and gourmet pizza. The building was once a jewelry store responsible for the 1891 collectible “witch spoon.” Today there are reportedly spectral orbs and full-on apparitions such as a dark-dressed minister and a screaming Victorian woman. And wouldn’t you know it—tunnels sit underneath the restaurant. If you want a haunted venue, dig tunnels; the undead always takes it from there.

They say tradesmen ghosts like to steal hammers at this hilltop hamburger joint with spectacular valley views. They’ve also slammed doors in people’s faces, thrown cans off of shelves, turned on the hot water in the middle of the night—and even emitted nasty smells in the stairwell which could undoubtedly never be chalked up to any human presence. A ghostly woman tends to appear in photographs. On a more hungry note, we love the $8 build-your-own quesadilla special on Mondays. That’s worth dodging a hammer.

Most people might be coming to the Timberline Lodge for the multiple dining areas and bars that offer incredible views. But skiers and climbers who died on the mountain are also said to haunt the first aid room, a draw for those who like a little macabre with their winter recreation. One visitor said that when looking in a mirror in a second-floor restroom a disfigured woman stood behind her and stuck out her tongue, moving it back and forth while smirking. Could we get some holy water, stat?