Dine with the Dead at Haunted Central El Paso Italian Restaurant

Would you dine at a restaurant that was once a spiritualist church whose members, it’s said, opened a portal allowing entities to enter our world? How about a restaurant where supernatural activity has been going on for decades?

There’s such an establishment here in El Paso. It's Monteleone's Ristorante in Central El Paso where on an active night the brave, hungry, and curious can have their pasta with a side of fright.

Monteleone’s Haunted History

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 for its authentic Italian food and Chicago gangster theme as it is for its reputation as one of the most haunted restaurants in the city.

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

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: