Haunted Restaurants in the Market

The Alibi Room

Mercedes Yaeger — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:00:37 +0000

The Alibi Room. Tucked underneath the Market in Post Alley, The Alibi Room has at least three ghosts that have been reported by staff and customers. On the top level, the restaurant level, a man has been reported. In the kitchen, downstairs, an energy has been felt radiating from part of the room. Last year, a dapper elderly man who calls himself "Frank" was seen by several customers.

The Alibi Room serves dinner and drinks. The top floor is the restaurant. The downstairs area is beautiful. They often have DJ's and dancing in the downstairs bar.

The Alibi Room
In Post Alley next to the Market Theater
85 Pike St #410
206-623-3180

Pan Africa

Mercedes Yaeger — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:56:00 +0000

The back door to Pan Africa www.panafrica.com was once the entrance to a jewlery and loan shop. The doorway is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a former manager who was killed there. He had a compulsion for making sure the door to the loan shop was locked and would return three times each night to relock the door. It was this obsessive nature that cost him his life. On a Saturday night, returning for the third round of locking, his murderer waited for him and killed him in the doorway. The murderer then robbed the store and left. It is said today that businesses in this part of the Sanitary Market still feel his presence. When a store opens, neighbors advise the new owners not to check their locks several times as many new people to this area feel the urge to do.

Pan Africa serves some of the best African food in Seattle. Using the freshest ingredients, the owner has created a delicious menu with vegetables and meats from the Market. Their entrance is on 1st Avenue and they have outdoor seating. They also offer catering services. Highly recommended by the tour guides on this tour, Monica and I eat there often before our weekend tours.

Pan Africa
Sanitary Market, entrance on 1st
1521 1st Ave, Seattle
206-652-2461

Alibi Room Gets a Pizza Oven

Mercedes Yaeger — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:30:35 +0000

The haunted Alibi Room now has a wood fire pizza oven. When I was a young girl, Bugsy's occupied the same space and you could get a great piece of pizza in Post Alley. The new oven will offer the only pizza in the Market aside from the day window at Delaurentis. The Alibi Room not only has a great selection of spirits at the bar but in the restaurant as well.

The Alibi Room
In Post Alley next to the Market Theater
85 Pike St #410
206-623-3180

Mr. D's Greek Deli

Mercedes Yaeger — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:40:56 +0000

Mr. D's Greek Delicacies It's down in the basement that Mr. D keeps his sculptures. You see, he is an artist and his medium is meat. He has sculpted busts of Marilyn Monroe, Bill Clinton, George W., and others. Bill Clinton came through the Market on his first election campaign and Mr. D had a carved bust prominently on display, turning round and round on his gyro skewer. During the Lewinsky scandal, he made another bust in gyro meat, one side had the face of Clinton, the other side, the face of Monica Lewinsky. After they are displayed, they are placed in his basement in large refrigerators. He says that these busts have caused all sorts of commotion in his basement. The spirits of the building don't know what to make of them. Mr. D says that they are at war with the sculptures and often make a mess of things downstairs.

Mr. D serves gyros and other Greek foods. His counter is open during the day at the front on the Sanitary Market on Pike Place.

Mr. D's Greek Deli
Triangle Market
1518 Pike Place
206-622-4881

Kells Irish Pub

Mercedes Yaeger — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:41:41 +0000

Kell's Irish Pub On the North end of Post Alley, Kells Irish Pub occupies part of the old mortuary. While this side of the mortuary does not have the volume of hauntings that the 1st Avenue side does, it is not without strange occurences. Napkins and candles spontaneously lighting on fire, things moving on their own. The ghost of a young girl has been spotted frequently inside the bar. She is described as about 8 years old with red or blonde hair (both have been reported). One young woman on a job interview brought her daughter with her. Her daughter remained occupied in one part of Kells' while the interview went on. At the end of the interview the mother gathered her daughter to leave and the girl said, "Mom, I am not done playing with her" and she pointed in front of her where there seemed to be no one at all. A mirror in the bar supposedly has a man's face in it, that looks back at you when you look at the mirror. His name, given by staff at Kells, is "Sammy."

Kells is open for lunch and dinner. They also offer a space for private functions above the main restaurant. At night, in the bar patrons are often treated to excellent music. Kells is a very popular Seattle bar especially on St. Patricks Day. Lines on that day can stretch all the way down Post Alley to Stewart St.

Kells Irish Pub
Post Alley between Stewart and Virginia
1916 Post Alley
206-728-1916

The Can-Can

Mercedes Yaeger — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 23:43:01 +0000

The Can-Can restaurant www.thecancan.com is one of the newest additions to the Market, but it seems there are some old souls still hanging around from when it was Patty Summers, or even earlier. Their bar is located underneath 1st Avenue. Sitting there, you can look up at the skylights that were used to illuminate early Underground Seattle. The Underground was not only in Pioneer Square, all of 1st Avenue has been lifted 8 ft starting around 1903. The Can-Can offers entertainment that harkens back to those early years as well; the can-can dancers, trapeze artists, and music all have the feeling of vaudeville. Their menu is excellent. Served as generous tapas plates (definetly generous!), it's a great place to take a group of people. Bar is stocked with international liquors. My friend was able to order a drink he recalls from his time in Peru. As for the ghosts, several workers swear that there are other kinds of spirits there as well.

The Can-Can
94 Pike St
Corner Market Building
206-652-0832

Chez Shea

Mercedes Yaeger — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 23:42:33 +0000

Chez Shea www.chezshea.com is located at the top of the Corner Market. For years the restaurant dressed a special table every New Year's Eve for a routine patron. This was no ordinary guest, the male patron, is a ghost. He has been seen by customers and staff alike. Although most recently he seems to have moved on. Charlie developed a fondness for a former bartender and left Chez Shea when he did. He hasn't been seen since. Chez Shea is a gorgeous restaurant. Serving fresh food that is French with a bit of Northwest flair to it. The main restaurant is a fixed price menu with several courses. The lounge and bar have a seperate more modest menu but you can order from the main menu as well. It has been voted many times over as the best place in Seattle to propose and on the TV show, Frazier, the characters are always trying to get in to Chez Shea. You can make a reservation in advance or eat at the lounge. (It does not take weeks to get in as Frazier and his brother found). Excellent food, stunning view of the Sound and a wine list that is impressive.

Chez Shea
Corner Market building, top floor
94 Pike Street #34
206-467-9990

Il Bistro

Mercedes Yaeger — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 23:42:26 +0000

At Il Bistro www.ilbistro.net, in the back of the restaurant there is a table where customers have witnessed an odd event, a woman that walks past a certain table and then into the wall.

Il Bistro serves Italian food and is a great restaurant for an intimate night. There is an elegance about the surroundings. It feels cavernous inside, especially in the bar and creates a fanastic location to have a great discussion amongst friends, some scotch and a long evening.

December 2007 update: There has been recent activity reported in the women's bathroom.

May 2009 update: Definite activity in the bathroom, which Mercedes experienced recently. The door on the woman's stall slammed shut with no one there. Very loud, very startling.

Il Bistro
In Post Alley under the Public Market Center sign
93 Pike St # A
(206) 682-3049

1921 1st Avenue - Butterworth Mortuary

Mercedes Yaeger — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 23:42:02 +0000

photo by Jay LindbergNo restaurant occupys the space currently. It has been in the past; Cafe Sophie, Avenue One, Fire and Ice and most recently, Starlite Lounge.

Over the years, other restaurants have tried to open in the 1921 space. Fire and Ice stayed open only seven months. Starlite Lounge recently closed after almost two years.

Activity in 1921 1st Ave is erratic. Customers and employees have experienced hauntings, sightings and unexplained activity. Some consider 1921 1st to be the most haunted structure in Washington State. Ghost hunters have not been able to prove the activity. A shaman, though, has counted 19 spirits in the space.

Update, January 2008: The windows are currently covered by paper and work has resumed inside the space. Rumor has it that a new restaurant will open in April.

Update, May 2009: The windows are still covered, although it looks as though some movement towards re-opening is happening, evident only by peeking in through a hole in the brown paper covering the windows.