Monteleone’s Haunted Motel Themed Restaurant Really Haunted

If you watched Paranormal Witness, you may have seen the episode that featured El Paso’s Monteleone’s Ristorante. (Not to be confused with the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, which is also haunted.)

Specifically, the El Paso restaurant was on the “Dining with the Dead” episode from 2013. I tried to find it on discovery+, but since it’s a Syfy show, no go. However, you can watch it online at Syfy.com. (You need a TV provider though, which sadly I don’t have.)

In fact, once a month the restaurant used to host a Dining with the Dead experience that included dinner, paranormal stories, and a seance. Like it did with so many restaurants, the pandemic affected Monteleone’s Ristorante so this event has been altered a bit. For instance, they recently had a Dining with the Dead event in July, on two nights. Reservations were required and quickly filled up for a sell-out event both evenings.

Well, the restaurant owners, Gary and Laura Monteleone, have since bought a house that they’re converting into a new restaurant with a haunted motel theme. Oh, and like their original restaurant, they say the house is also haunted.

Let’s examine both their original restaurant and the new one they’re planning on opening.

The Haunted Hotel Monteleone

According to Kiss El Paso 93.1, the Monteleone’s Ristorante is “known as much for its authentic Italian food and Chicago gangster theme as it is for its haunted history.” The reasonably-priced, self-described, “casual, whimsical Italian restaurant with a speakeasy theme & a family-friendly atmosphere” has good reviews on Google reviews (4.4/5 stars), TripAdvisor (4/5 stars), and Yelp (also 4/5 stars).

Maybe that’s why the ghosts stick around?

Although, from what I’ve discerned of the activity experienced there, the ghosts aren’t well behaved and have even been accused of throwing boiling water on staff! (Which did result in an injury.) Not the kind of ghosts you actually want sticking around.

That’s why the owners called in help from Diana Calamia, a spiritualist minister and psychic, who discerned the 100-year-old building was a portal occupied by four guardians and one negative entity called Thomas.

The owners had her cleanse the restaurant of the negative entity but the location still remains a “portal” for lost spirits. As Calamia told El Paso’s CBS 4 News, during the Dining with the Dead seances they use the portal to help guide lost souls to the other side.

Monteleone’s Haunted Motel

Also per Kiss El Paso 93.1, Monteleone’s Haunted Motel restaurant will be “a horror-themed Italian steakhouse where you’ll dine in your own ‘motel room.'”

93.1 explained that Monteleone’s Ristorante shared on social media that they haven’t revealed an opening date for the new restaurant, but the Facebook post promised more info coming soon.

I went to hunt down that post but couldn’t find it. But Mike, the author of the 93.1 article, shared this:

Back in January, when they were first working on bringing the concept to reality, the plan shared with me was that “of an old forgotten motel” (the restaurant) where a bellhop (server) “would guide you to your own personal haunted dining quarter designed to resemble an aged establishment out of its time.” There was also talk of maybe making the attic available for overnight stays, but that may no longer be the plan.

You know if I hear more about this, I’ll share an update. I’ll be keeping an eye out because I definitely want to know what kind of paranormal activity they’ve experienced in the house they’re converting into the haunted motel restaurant.

If you want to keep apprised of their plans for Monteleone’s Haunted Motel restaurant, follow them on Facebook. They might get a website for the Haunted Motel restaurant, but they don’t have one for their original restaurant. They just use Facebook so that’s the best place to follow them.

Check-In

Have you ever been to a restaurant that required a password?

That’s among the fun things Monteleone’s Ristorante does. They post a new password on their Facebook page for diners to use. I wonder if you don’t know it, will they still let you in?

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.