Union Oyster House

The house

The Union Oyster House has been open since 1826, in a building older than that, and claims the title of America’s oldest restaurant still in continuous service. Daniel Webster ate oysters here by the dozen. The haunting is quieter than the branding: a woman in colonial clothing on the upper floor, seen by staff who have no interest in adding a ghost to a room that already has a line out the door. She stands at the top of a narrow stair or in a stall that the chart says is empty. Downstairs is butter, oyster liquor, and a wooden bar worn into a trough. Upstairs is where the house remembers it was not always a restaurant.

Stand at the oyster bar. Do not sit if you can help it. A dozen, extra hot sauce, then the upstairs dining room if you want a word with the other regular.

The Ghostly Gourmet