Soulard's most haunted bars and restaurants

The St. Louis neighborhood is rumored to have countless ghosts

A district famed for its corner taverns, Soulard is rumored to have countless ghosts, so we consulted with Soulard socialite, psychic medium and “Maven of Mardi Gras” Luann Denten to rank the neighborhood's most haunted establishments. We met at the corner of Ninth Street and Allen Avenue on a breezy evening as colored lights shone through weathered old shutters, reminding me of New Orleans. I couldn’t have asked for a better guide. “The Maven,” as many call Denten, seems to know everyone in the neighborhood, living and dead.

 

 

No. 6 // The Hi Hat

In 2023, when Patrick Webster bought and moved into the building where Soulard Mardi Gras began, he was often alone, but didn’t feel alone. “I kept thinking I heard someone breaking in, but nobody was there.” Cameras have picked up a shadowy figure, and the spirits reportedly turn on the lights and air conditioning after the bar closes. “I monitor the AC closely and never forget to turn it off, because my bill can be $4,000 a month,” Webster said. “But many times everything is on in the morning.” 

Webster allowed the Maven to descend into the basement, where she felt a different kind of energy. “This was a place for sneaking away for trysts,” she said. “This was a place for hijinx.” 

Some of the spiritual energy, according to the Maven, predates the building. “We’re adjacent to the site of a Civil War encampment, which included a hospital,” she said.

1017 Russell Blvd., St. Louis, 314.802.7517, thehihatstl.com

No. 5 // Stews Food & Liquor

“This is a small but powerful place,” the Maven began. “There’s only one bathroom, and it’s inhabited by a spirit that doesn’t like men. It has been reported over and over that patrons visiting that facility have felt a woman’s presence and have been scratched and had their leg hair pulled.” There have also been frequent accounts of hearing the sounds of hooves running down the adjacent alley. “Legend has it that a trader was robbed of his horses and goods in that alley. The panicked horses ran and their hooves echo still.” 

1862 S. 10th St., St. Louis, stewsstl.com

No. 4 // Hammerstone’s

“Those working here report tapping, knocking and thudding noises,” the Maven said. “There are cold spots, and bells that ring themselves. The stairway in the front emits its own dark history, known to be the scene of murder, tragedy and abuse. Bodies thudding down the treads. The kitchen is particularly active, full of orbs, objects moving on their own…”

2028 S. Ninth St., St. Louis, 314.773.5565, hammerstones.net

No. 3 // Tucker’s Place

“This is an establishment with a dark past, from the saddest of accidents to the violence of murder,” the Maven said. “Tucker’s Place remains haunted by a young girl who fell to her death from an upstairs window. This place was also the headquarters of a mobster and where he was murdered in his office. And if you look up to the right of the front door, you may see a little elderly woman who died there, in her favorite daily lunch spot.”

2117 S. 12th St., St. Louis, 314.772.5977, tuckersplace.com

No. 2 // 9th Street Deli at Howard’s

Born on Ninth Street, the 9th Street Deli moved to 13th Street to occupy the space that for many years was the gritty Hi-Way Bar. “The Hi-Way Bar was also part restaurant, apartments, music venue and flop house,” the Maven said. “When the developer renovated the old bar to become 9th Street Deli’s predecessor, Howard’s, the spirits of the longtime owners presented themselves to me.”

Howard’s had yet to open when the Maven was visiting with the owner there late one night. She saw a woman at the other end of the bar, as clear as a living person. “She appeared in full form, with dyed red hair and a cigarette flopping out of her lipsticked mouth, and stared right back at me and said, ‘What the fuck are you looking at?’ She’s an aggressive spirit still protecting her place. Frozen in time.”

2732 S. 13th St., St. Louis, 314.664.3354, ninthstreetdeli.net

No. 1 // Big Daddy’s

“The last vestige of the Green Tree Brewery, this building pulses with psychic energy,” the Maven began. “Active presences occupy every level of this busy gathering place, from the little girl in the nightgown looking for her family, to the bearded laborer lurking in the hallway, to the security footage of flying orbs and chairs tumbling over.”

According to the Maven, the factors contributing to the haunting run as deep as the Sidney Street Cave beneath the structure, where she said indigenous people took refuge, as did gangs of homeless boys during the Great Depression. “As one of the owners was helping his young daughter, he heard his other daughter conversing with someone. ‘Who are you talking to,’ he asked. ‘The little girl in the nightgown,’ she answered. As the hair on the back of his neck hackled, he asked, ‘What did she say?’ His daughter eerily replied, ‘She said it’s time for you to go now.’”

1000 Sidney St., St. Louis, 314.858.8321, bigdaddyssoulardbar.com

A Spirited Debate 

Of course, hauntings aren’t easy to rank, especially in a neighborhood as old and storied as Soulard. One active site didn’t make the cut because it’s currently vacant: 1031 Lynch St., formerly occupied by Boo Coo, Sage, Lynch Street Tavern and Mama Gustos 314, is said to be filled with ghosts, most who had lived in the four homes combined to create the space.

“This site is full of assertive, testy entities,” the Maven said. “When a previous bar owner scoffed at the idea of ghosts, he was told he better stop mocking the idea or he would be hit upside the head. The following day, he was struck by a falling roof tile.” She said ghosts include a workman known as Kenny, who died due to an industrial accident, but doesn’t fully realize he’s dead, and continues to work.

Over at Bastille, the lively gay bar at Russell Boulevard and Menard Street, bartender Mark Rumback said that when keno numbers appear that were known to be played by deceased patrons or employees, he’ll make an announcement about the deceased being in the house. 

Soulardians are deeply connected to their neighborhood haunts, so much so that it seems many have lingered well past their own last call.