El Paso Restaurant Makes 20 Most Haunted Places in Texas List

Yelp recently released its list of the 20 most haunted places in Texas, and an El Paso restaurant is one of the Lone Star State’s top 10 spookiest.

If you’ve ever looked to your right while driving west on I-10 just past Concordia Cemetery you no doubt noticed a building with the 18-wheeler facade and the huge grizzled looking mobster's face staring back at you. That building is home to Monteleone's Ristorante, known as much by for its authentic Italian food and Chicago gangster theme as it is for its reputation as one of El Paso’s most haunted.

The locally owned eatery is the lone El Paso entry on the crowd-sourced businesses reviews site. Yelp ranked it #7 most spookiest.

Only ONE El Paso Entry?

Given our area's long and rich history, it should come as no surprise our city is one of the most haunted in the state. There is no shortfall of spooky spots in this West Texas town of El Paso. So how come only Monteleone’s made Yelp’s list?

It has to do with the data used to make the determination.

Yelp compiled the list by first narrowing it down to businesses in the restaurant, food, travel, and arts categories with the greatest number of reviews mentioning keywords most strongly associated with the paranormal.

A lot of the allegedly haunted businesses and spooky spots in town don’t really call attention to their ghostly customers, but Monteleone’s flies the creep flag as high as it can go.

It doesn’t shy away from its haunted history, so Yelp’s supernatural-curious are more likely to use one of those keywords in a review.

Pasta with a Side of Fright

And Monteleone’s Ristorante is legit haunted.

Employees and patrons of the restaurant located at 3023 Gateway West have experienced supernatural activity for over ten years – more so after owners Gary and Laura Monteleone expanded into the adjacent building some years ago and found under the floorboards -- then moved -- a Virgin Mary figure and a 1922 charter for the Texas Spiritualist Association Church.

Dining with the Dead: The TV Episode

Although it has since been cleansed with the help of a psychic, and most of the activity has died down, Gary says things still happen from time to time. A ghost of a young lady still makes her presence known every now and than. If you order a beer and place the bottle cap on the table, the playful spirit will sometimes move it. Then there’s the one they call Albert. According to Gary, he's a bit of a prankster.

But at one point the activity going on at Monteleone’s were so terrifying the Syfy channel’s documentary-drama series “Paranormal Witness” featured the restaurant’s hauntings on its 2013 season in an episode titled “Dining with the Dead.”

Paranormal Witness: "Dining with the Dead" Sneak Peek | S3E4 | SYFY

Paranormal Witness: "Dining with the Dead" Sneak Peek | S3E4 | SYFY

Dining with the Dead: The Mike and Tricia Interviews

Mike and Tricia Mornings spoke with restaurant owner Gary, his mother-in-law, and the psychic who "cleansed" the restaurant in 2013 and oh what tales they told!

Mrs. B, Gary's mother-in-law, discusses the supernatural activities she and other employees have experienced while working in the restaurant:

Psychic Lady D talks about her involvement and the ghosts that she believes inhabit the restaurant:

Owner Gary Monteleone on when he first knew the place was haunted, and how one of the ghosts influenced the restaurant's decor:

Gary Monteleone talks about the contents that were found underneath the floorboard that amped up the haunting, and how the 'Paranormal Witness' episode came about: