The Most Haunted Bars And Restaurants In America By State

Jodi Smith
Updated December 12, 2022 50 items

Everyone has different criteria for planning vacations to the various states in America. Some like to visit state parks, while others enjoy roadside curiosities the most. Then there are the people who love to learn about ghosts and their ghoulish tales while they relax.

Luckily, every state (save for one) has an infamously haunted bar or restaurant to gather 'round all the ghoul-seekers.

These are the spots in which travelers and locals alike can hope for a creepy spectral sighting while enjoying dinner or drinks - or after hours while the staff is cleaning up.


  • Alabama - Gaines Ridge Dinner Club

    Gaines Ridge Dinner Club in Camden, AL, was originally a family home for an owner who built it in the 1820s. This antebellum property served as the home for Reverend Ebeneezer Hearn, one of the earliest known owners, before the family of current owner Betty Gaines Kennedy purchased it in 1898.

    In 1985, Kennedy and her sister reopened their family home as the Gaines Ridge Dinner Club. Visitors say the food is delicious, the house is a gorgeous historical marvel, and some ghosts may just haunt the property. Kennedy agrees and shared her own alleged ghost encounter in an interview with Alabama's Ghost Trail.

    Kennedy and a cook named Maggie Dale were prepping for a party taking place the following day. The Dinner Club was closed to the public, and Kennedy left Dale behind in the kitchen as she traveled upstairs to retrieve a pot. Suddenly, Kennedy heard Dale yelling out for help. She ran back to the kitchen, only to find the cook calmly chopping vegetables.

    Dale swore she hadn't called out to Kennedy - though she had heard the screams, too. The women searched the house and looked for any cars in the driveway that shouldn't be there but found no one. After the pair went back upstairs to turn off the light, they decided to go home and finish preparations in the morning.

    Other reported spectral events include smelling pipe smoke in the non-smoking building and hearing a woman's screams. There are also reported sightings of a ghostly woman floating past windows, and some people report the sound of babies crying.

  • Alaska - The Red Onion Saloon

    The Red Onion Saloon is located on Broadway in Skagway, AK. It was built as a brothel in 1898 that featured a saloon on the first floor. The saloon still stands, and one of the working girls is said to remain in her old “office” from the building's time as a brothel. Called Lydia, this spirit allegedly haunts the second floor, where she saw her clients in life.

    As a brothel, the Red Onion Saloon called the rooms the ladies occupied “cribs,” and clients would choose from “dolls” when requesting services. Lydia reportedly walks the 10 small “cribs” on the second floor, leaving only cold spots and the distinctive scent of her perfume behind.

    One night, police were called to the saloon to investigate noises and saw a woman run from one of the rooms to the room once occupied by the brothel's madame. Inspection of the room yielded no intruder and nowhere for a person to escape or hide.

  • Arizona - Big Nose Kate’s Saloon

    Tombstone, AZ, is best known for the Shootout at OK Corral involving Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and an outlaw group known as the cowboys. It should then come as no surprise that the most reportedly haunted spot in town is connected to the infamous event.

    Big Nose Kate was the nickname of Mary Katherine Harmony, a woman who had an affair with Doc Holliday. Reports vary on whether or not she owned the establishment, with many sending those on the lookout for Kate's spirit to the Crystal Palace, where she actually stayed during her life.

    The entity allegedly haunting the saloon is not one of the big names of gunslinging, but instead a presence known as the Swamper. The man was either a miner who entered Big Nose Kate's and never left, or the saloon's handyman, depending on who tells the story. Either way, the Swamper supposedly hit silver in the saloon and stays around to protect it. Legend says the Swamper used tunnels dug out from his room at the saloon to enter underground areas to collect his treasures.

    The Swamper is known for pushing female staff members off the last step of the stairs and even attempting to wrap his fingers around another woman's neck. Some photos have allegedly caught the Swamper as he floated by, and people who searched his old tunnels returned to the Swamper's room to hear him seemingly groaning and stomping around.

    Other spirits are cowboys who knock over beers in the basement and stand around the bar. Silverware likes to launch itself into the air, and some people hear the faint sounds of merrymaking from the saloon long ago.

  • Arkansas - Four Quarter Bar

    The Four Quarter Bar opened in 2016 in Little Rock, AR, occupying a building that has been around since it was a brothel in the early 1900s. Named the Dirt Bar, the brothel wasn't the most savory establishment, and when a patron and one of the working girls fell in love, things went badly. Dirt Bar's owner opted to slit his employee's throat and throw her from the balcony rather than lose her to the patron.

    Years later, the same fate befell the bar's owner, and people believe he and his former employee still haunt the location. Supposedly, the owner and the working girl chase each other around the bar, sometimes even moving things around the place.

  • California - The Moss Beach Distillery

    The Moss Beach Distillery is a historical site on California's San Mateo coast, opening as Frank's Place in 1927 and remaining operational today. Frank Torres built the speakeasy and welcomed visitors like silent film stars, politicians, and writers. The speakeasy's location on the cliffs of Moss Beach was perfect for running alcohol from Canada into Los Angeles under the cover of the water and fog.

    After Prohibition was repealed, Torres retained his successful business, and it was eventually renamed Moss Beach Distillery. While there, patrons may see “the Blue Lady,” who was a frequent customer at Frank's Place when it was still a speakeasy. According to legend, this Blue Lady met a man who played piano at Frank's Place, and they became lovers. Although she was married, the pair continued meeting at the speakeasy, until one night when someone attacked the Blue Lady - likely wearing her trademark color - and her lover on the beach. While he escaped with injuries, she lost her life.

    Witnesses believe the Blue Lady still searches for her lover at the bar, playing tricks on the employees and patrons. She reportedly makes checkbooks float, steals earrings and returns them to different places, messes with the dates on the restaurant's computers, and makes herself known to children.

  • Colorado - Buffalo Rose

    The Buffalo Rose in Colorado is actually a collection of several properties in the town of Golden. The Buffalo Rose is located on Washington Street and was first built in 1859 as the International Bowling Saloon, making it the oldest bar in Colorado.

    According to the current owner, Kenny Lee, a spectral little girl wanders the Saloon, her echoing footsteps heard by patrons and employees alike. Lee enjoys the ghost, comparing her to a dog who just likes following people around the house. His cleaning man, Seth Barry, however, does not feel the same way.

    Barry claims he can feel her presence the most at the swimming pool on the property, rumored to be the girl's final resting place.