About The Five Fishermen Restaurant & Grill
Hauntings
The Argyle street building enjoyed many other uses over the years, including a warehouse, but more
recently it has been refurbished and restored and in 1975, opened its doors as the Five Fishermen,
operating since that time as a fine seafood restaurant, known for it’s great seafood, friendly, courteous
staff and its rich history, It is because of this history that the building – they say – exhibits some odd
signatures, some albeit of a nether worldly sort. Ask anyone who has worked there and they’re sure to
have a story or two.
Many of the staff of the Five Fishermen Restaurant are so used to odd occurrences that they wouldn’t
even bat an eye when a glass flies off a shelf with no one near, or when cutlery on a table shifts then
falls to the floor by itself. There are many sinks in this building, and with so many sinks come many
taps… taps that like to turn themselves on and off with no human assistance. One server related a story
about being there late at night and he was sure he was the only one left in the dining room. As he was
checking the lights near the salad bar, he heard someone go through the swinging doors leading down
into the kitchen. He turned quickly enough to see the doors swing shut, but on further inspection, he
could find no other human presence.
Another waitress tells of being there late at night. As she nears the grand stairwell that leads down to
the Maitre’d stand, she sees a gray apparition, a fog-like mass moving down the staircase… she chose
not to linger.
Many staff members can relate to you the feeling of passing through cold air pockets on the warmest of
nights, or the sensation of what it feel like to have a spirit move through you. Nor is it uncommon to
hear voices, especially your name being whispered or even called out when there’s no one else around.
In the middle of one busy night, a server was using the credit card machine when he felt a tap on his
shoulder, trying to finish what he was doing before turning to respond he felt a second tap… “Whaaat!”
he turned, impatiently, to find no one there.
In behind the salad bar, the Five Fishermen has a private room (The Captains Quarters), commonly
referred to as the P.R. by the staff who work there. One night, after all the customers had left, a waiter
passed the PR and heard two people arguing, the voices of a man and a woman he says. When he went
to investigate the commotion, the voices stopped – the Captain’s Quarters was empty. On another
occasion a server, the last in the building, was locking the doors and turning out the lights. When she
approached the PR, she noticed someone enter it. Relieved that she had not locked the sole remaining
customer into the building for the night, she entered the Captain’s Quarters and checked it thoroughly,
but found the room empty… how odd considering that the entrance is the only exit!
One day in the middle of the summer, on a sunny afternoon it fell to this certain young fellow the task
of setting up the salad bar. He would arrive at 3:00 in the afternoon. The salad bar items were brought
from the floor above o four large trays, through the swinging doors, around the bar to the salad bar
area. On one of his passes he heard a loud crash, but because his hands were full, he could do nothing
about it. Upon returning for the next load, he decided to investigate the noise he had heard. When he
looked around the corner of the bar, he found several pieces of an ashtray on the floor. He bent down to
retrieve the pieces and when he stood up he was looking directly into a mirror, and in the mirror he
could see the reflection of an old man, walking away from him down the aisle.
He was tall with long gray hair and was wearing a long black coat that seemed to be from another time.
Startled, for he was sure he was the only person in the restaurant, he turned to see who this could be
but there was no one there. When he turned back to the mirror, the image had disappeared. Thinking
his eyes were playing tricks on him, the brave young fellow shrugged and returned to his duties.
Several years later, the assistant manager was having a conversation with a customer on the phone at
the station across from the salad bar. Again it was 3:00 in the afternoon and he was the only one in the
dining room. At one point he saw an elderly man standing on the landing below. “Excuse me sir, I’ll be
right with you.” After he finished his conversation he went to see how he could help this gentleman
but couldn’t find him anywhere. He wasn’t on the landing, and he wasn’t in the foyer below. He
checked the doors, and they were locked so there was no way anyone could get in.
Later on that evening he described this odd experience to some of his fellow staff members, one of
whom was the same young fellow who was setting up the salad bar several years before. “Was he an
older gentleman with long gray hair, and was wearing a long black coat, like an outdated greatcoat?”
Apparently they had both encountered the same apparition!
It was late one night as another server was resetting her section, looking forward to going home. Suddenly
she heard a loud tapping coming from behind her. When she looked around she couldn’t establish
where it was coming from, so she returned to her work. Again she heard the tapping, this time she
surmised that it was coming from the window across the room. As the restaurant is high on the second
floor, she found this to be very odd and slightly disconcerting. She went to investigate, and as she
approached the window she could see a misty gray shadow hovering outside the window. She hesitated
but eventually gained the courage to continue forward. By the time she reached the glass pane, the
image was gone.
Most of these occurrences seem to happen before the restaurant opens or after it closes when there are
few people about, but not always. This final story took place in the middle of a busy night. A hostess
was in the process of showing a young couple to their table, when she stopped at the salad bar to
explain its offerings. Suddenly she felt a harsh brush against the side of her face, but when she glanced
around she could detect no cause for it. She finished sitting the couple and upon returning to the
hostess stand the Maitre’d asked, “What happened to your face?” There was a red handprint on her
cheek as if she had been slapped, though if you ask her it was nothing so violent. In fact, the antics that
have occurred at the Five Fishermen Restaurant seem to be just that, mischievous, maybe, unable to
ignore, but in the end harmless.
So the next time you’re at the Five Fishermen Restaurant enjoying a wonderful evening of dining and
you hear a crash, have no fear – no one will blame you…
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