Lemp Mansion Restaurant & Inn

The house

The Lemps built a beer empire and then dismantled themselves in this Italianate mansion. William J. Lemp Sr. shot himself in 1904 after his son’s death. Elsa followed. William Jr. followed. Charles, the last, wrote a note, shot the dog, and then himself in 1949. The house became a boarding house, then a restaurant and inn. Investigators rank it among the most haunted houses in the country. Diners still report a man on the staircase, a woman in Victorian black, and a bar that rearranges itself after close. You can eat fried chicken in the same rooms. That is a rare and public invitation.

Brunch in a cursed brewery mansion is a very specific pleasure. Order the chicken. If you take a room, you are no longer just a diner — you are a guest of the family.

The Ghostly Gourmet