Six Haunted Restaurants You Need to Try Near Boston
The spirits aren't just behind the bar.
The Warren Tavern in the Charlestown, photographed in September 1972. / Photo by Paul Connell/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
At some Boston-area restaurants and bars, the spirits aren’t just behind the bar—at least, not if you believe the spooky tales that abound in historic eateries in and around the city. Now that we’re well into New England’s spookiest season, make your next dinner reservation at one of these restaurants where (fingers crossed!) your server may not be the only figure paying a table-side visit.
Updated October 13, 2023.
Port Vida a Mexican Cantina
Rumor has it that—back in ye olde New England-maritime days, when lonely seafarers quested for companionship in each harbor—the Newburyport building that now houses the Mexican restaurant Port Vida was a brothel. “Lucinda” is the name given to one of the bustle-skirt-swishing professionals who plied her trade there and, if lore is to be believed, met an untimely death due to a fall down a staircase. Before Port Vida opened here in 2023, the restaurant Brick & Ash operated in the same space, which was built in 1800, and according to Brick & Ash’s employees (as well as the Food Network, which dubbed the place the most haunted restaurant in Massachusetts), Lucinda continues to make herself known by blinking the lights, opening and closing doors, toppling glasses by the bar, and other general acts of harmless tomfoolery. An apparition of a sea captain has also been sighted in the building; one of Lucinda’s former paramours, perhaps? Regardless, it’s worth taking an October day-trip to Newburyport’s quaint downtown, where you can refuel here and ask the if anyone’s seen Lucinda lately.
10 Center St., Newburyport, 978-225-7773, portvidaamexicancantina.com.
See also: The Best Restaurants in Newburyport
Rockafellas
On a typical October weekend, Rockafellas feels like the Halloween party out of Hocus Pocus: Revelers surround the decorated bar, tossing back pumpkin beers while a live band is probably playing “Thriller” or “Monster Mash.” But all year long, a different kind of spirited energy remains in the historic building, which had previous lives as a church meetinghouse, pioneering department store, and bank. The most frequently cited specters are a grumpy, black-suited minister and the “Blue Lady”—so named for the color of her dress—who was either murdered in smuggler tunnels beneath the building or died unexpectedly inside the bank’s vault, depending on which story you believe. (Today there’s a single table for two inside said vault.) We can at least confirm the presence of a spacious patio and wide-ranging eats, from burgers to steaks to pastas to seafood fare like fried haddock and chips. And there are copious cocktails, including the Helltini—a drink that’s more of a challenge than a treat, made with vodka, Jägermeister, Boston Harbor Demon Seed whiskey, ginger ale and “our secret Hell Sauce”—and the Lady in Blue, a combo of rum, blue curacao, and pineapple juice.
231 Essex St., Salem, 978-745-2411, rockafellasofsalem.com.
See also: The Best Places to Eat and Drink in Salem
The Sun Tavern
This lovely little upscale-casual restaurant inside a New England country home, which recently added outdoor seating in its garden, does not shy away from its haunted reputation. In fact, it’s alluded to right on the website, and its various owners have spoken publicly about their spectral encounters, from sightings of shadowy figures to sensations of touch by unseen hands (including, perhaps, one helpful ghost who may or may not have performed the Heimlich on a guest). The Sun Tavern even displays the framed death certificate of Lysander Walker, the home’s former hermit-owner who shot himself in the living room in 1928; it’s said that his spirit is joined by those of two little girls who subsequently died of scarlet fever on the property. The paranormal activity is so great, mysteriously activated alarms have wound up calling police to the place—you, however, need only swing by for the top chops (like lamb with grain mustard cream, or steak with a blue-cheese potato cake); fine seafood, such as pistachio-crusted salmon; or other excellent entrees, including crispy and confit duck with blueberry compote.
500 Congress St., Duxbury, 781-837-1027, suntavernrestaurant.com.
Turner’s Seafood
Regardless of whether you’re intrigued by haunted happenings, Turner’s Seafood warrants a visit as one of the best restaurants in Salem. That said, it’s even better if you like a side of spooky stuff with your baked stuffed shrimp or lobster roll—because historic Lyceum Hall, which houses the restaurant, is supposedly constructed on the former site of Bridget Bishop’s apple orchard. Bishop, for those who fail to recall their Salem Witch Trials history, was the first accused person to be hanged in 1692. Now, “they” say, besides all the expected mysterious footfalls and things that go bump in the night, whiffs of apple can be detected in the dining room whenever Bishop is lingering nearby (hence the apple whiskey-based cocktail that bears her name). Of course, there’s no shortage of other prominent figures who have walked the Lyceum’s hallowed halls over the years, including Frederick Douglass, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Alexander Graham Bell, who made the first public demonstration of the telephone here. So who knows who else might be responsible for activity strong enough to bait investigators from the hit Syfy network show Ghost Hunters.
43 Church St., Salem, 978-745-7665, turners-seafood.com.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
The Wayside Inn
Sorry, Chris Evans: Jerusha Howe might actually be the most famous (infamous?) native of Sudbury, Mass. After all, long before Captain America came out, locals have passed down the story of Howe, the “belle of Sudbury” who died in 1842 in the centuries-old inn her family operated; she died of a broken heart, it is said, after her beloved never returned from a journey at sea. Although the Wayside Inn is best known as the setting of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Tales of a Wayside Inn, Howe’s purported haunting also precedes the reputation of the place—her forlorn piano-playing can supposedly still be heard throughout the inn (especially room 9, her former bedroom) and its restaurant, which serves up classic Yankee fare like: lobster casserole with sherry and cracker-crumb stuffing; Bison meatloaf with onions, peppers and a spicy tomato sauce; and prime rib au jus.
72 Wayside Inn Rd., Sudbury, 978-443-1776, wayside.org.
The Warren Tavern in 1972. / Photo by Paul Connell/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Warren Tavern
Unsurprisingly, one of the country’s oldest taverns is supposedly home to some of the nation’s oldest spirits. Named for Dr. Joseph Warren, who was killed in the nearby Battle of Bunker Hill, this colonial-feeling watering hole was a popular meetup for revolutionaries—including Paul Revere, who received his midnight-ride instructions from Warren. Powdered-wig wearers have been spotted in spectral form, as has a woman in Victorian garb (maybe one of the mourners from George Washington’s funeral speech, which was given here). Today, you’ll find fine pub grub like burnt end brisket grilled cheese, a Plymouth Plantation sandwich (turkey, herb stuffing, cranberry, mayo, turkey gravy), short rib shepherd’s pie, onion soup, and more.
2 Pleasant St., Charlestown, 617-241-8142, warrentavern.com.
