This Historic New Jersey Restaurant Is Said To Be Haunted By Three Resident Ghosts

What is better than a good meal? A good ghost story to go with it.

That is exactly what you get at this historic New Jersey spot. The building has been standing since 1908 and has seen many lives.

It has been a general store, a hotel, and, during World War II, a brothel. The owner himself will tell you tales of the three resident ghosts who supposedly haunt the place.

One is his own Uncle Eddie, who likes to open and close doors. Another is a customer who still craves the snapper soup.

And then there is the lady of the evening who met a tragic end during the bordello days. The food is classic Jersey Shore comfort food.

The stories are even better. Come for the prime rib.

Stay for the spirits.

A Building Made From Storm-Tossed Wood

Old buildings usually hide their secrets, but this one wears them right out front. Constructed in 1908, the structure came together using wood salvaged from the bay after a storm rolled through.

Look up at the roofline and you might notice something odd about its curve. The shape is said to borrow from the design of a ship’s hull, which feels fitting for a place perched near the water.

Wood that has been soaked, dried, hammered, and lived in for more than a century tends to creak. Some folks call that settling.

Others have a different theory entirely.

What I love is how honest the place looks from the sidewalk. There is no glossy makeover, no attempt to hide its age behind fresh siding and neon.

Original windows still catch the afternoon light, and newer built-in features inside quietly reuse pieces of the original framework. History here was not preserved behind glass.

It was simply kept in use, year after year, which is arguably the better kind of preservation.

From Dry Goods Store To Shore Hotel

Before anyone ordered seafood here, people came in for buttons, flour, and fabric. The location started life as Piercy’s General Dry Goods Store, which is about as unglamorous a beginning as a haunted landmark can have.

By 1913, it had shifted into the Piercy Hotel. Later it went by the Hotel Boulevard, and come 1929 the sign out front read Davis Hotel.

Name changes like that tell you something about a shore town. Business ebbs and flows with the seasons, and buildings adapt or disappear.

This one adapted. Guests slept upstairs, travelers passed through, and the walls quietly collected decades of comings and goings.

There is also a less polished chapter in the record. At one point the building operated as a brothel, a detail that locals mention when the conversation turns toward who might still be lingering.

Knowing all that changes how the upstairs feels. Those rooms held strangers, regulars, and secrets long before the first dinner plate ever hit a table down below.

Uncle Eddie And The Door That Would Not Stay Shut

Of all the ghost stories attached to this address, the one about Uncle Eddie is the one people repeat most. He was a past member of the Gregory family, and his former room sits directly above the main gathering space downstairs.

The door to that room reportedly refused to behave. It would swing open and click shut without anyone touching it, over and over.

Eventually management got tired of the routine. The handle was removed entirely, a solution that is either wonderfully practical or slightly unsettling depending on your mood.

I find that detail more convincing than any dramatic tale would be. Nobody installs a ghost feature for attention.

They just wanted the noise to stop.

Stand near the bottom of the stairs and it is easy to imagine footsteps overhead. Old wood carries sound in strange ways.

Ask about Uncle Eddie and you will likely get a shrug and a smile. Around here, he is treated less like a haunting and more like family who never checked out.

Former Managers Who Give Orders Then Disappear

Second on the ghost roster are the former managers, and their reported behavior is oddly professional. Stories passed between staff and patrons describe familiar figures who appear, deliver an instruction, then vanish before anyone can respond.

No rattling chains. No cold gusts.

Just someone telling you to handle something and then being gone.

Honestly, that is the most restaurant ghost story I have ever heard. Even in the afterlife, the shift apparently needs covering.

Places that stay in one family for decades build habits into their walls. Certain people worked the same corners for years, walked the same route between the kitchen and the dining room, and knew every uneven floorboard.

It makes a strange kind of sense that those routines would echo.

Whether you take the accounts literally or file them under long-shift imagination, they say something warm about the culture here. The people who worked this building were remembered clearly enough that their presence still gets talked about, and that is its own kind of legacy.

The Ghost Who Wants Snapper Soup Served Hot

Now for my favorite of the three, because it involves soup. Local legend describes a spirit who shows up in a navy blue coat and grumbles for a bowl of snapper soup.

The request comes with a condition. The soup must be hot, and the ghost apparently reminds the server about that as they walk away.

A picky ghost is a very human ghost. That small detail is what makes the tale stick.

Snapper soup is an old regional favorite, thick and dark and traditionally served steaming. Anyone who has been handed a lukewarm bowl of anything understands the frustration.

What I like about this story is how gentle it is. There is nothing menacing about a figure who mostly wants a proper meal at the proper temperature.

It fits the mood of the room too, where the lighting stays low and the wood glows amber. Sit long enough near the fireplace and you start to understand why a spirit might choose to hang around for the food.

Five Generations Of One Family Running The Show

Continuity is rare in the restaurant world, which makes the history here stand out. Walter Gregory, known as Pop, purchased the Davis Hotel in 1946 and renamed it the Gregory Hotel.

The family has kept the place running ever since. Five generations have taken turns behind the scenes, which is a genuinely remarkable stretch.

In 1979, the next wave stepped in and oversaw a round of remodeling that updated the space without erasing its character.

You can feel that balance the second you settle in. Nothing looks staged for nostalgia, because the nostalgia is simply original equipment.

April 2026 marked the eightieth anniversary of the family era, a milestone most eateries never come close to reaching.

Longevity like that changes the atmosphere. Regulars greet each other across the room, and newcomers get folded in without ceremony.

It also explains why the ghost stories feel affectionate rather than spooky. When the same family has looked after a building for eight decades, even the resident spirits start to seem like relatives.

That Enormous Mahogany Horseshoe Centerpiece

Curved, glossy, and stretching roughly fifty feet, the Philippine mahogany horseshoe installed in 1950 is the visual anchor of the whole room. Wood that dark takes decades to develop its glow.

Run your hand along the edge and you can feel where thousands of elbows have smoothed it down.

Shapes matter in old rooms. A horseshoe layout means people face each other instead of a wall, which naturally makes conversation happen.

There is a second, smaller counter tucked into the dining room, and it has its own backstory. It came from the Bala Inn, a Somers Point spot now known as Pier 4.

Salvaging pieces from neighboring buildings feels very much in keeping with a structure originally framed from storm wood.

Nearby sits a stone fireplace topped with a trophy deer head, the kind of detail that would look like set dressing anywhere else. Here it just looks like something nobody ever had a reason to move, and I mean that as a compliment.

Seafood Pulled Straight From Shore Tradition

Ghost stories are fun, but the kitchen is the reason people keep coming back. Fresh seafood defines the menu, and a working lobster tank sits right there as proof of intent.

Crab cakes get mentioned constantly. So do lobster ravioli, stuffed shrimp, and seafood risotto.

Soft shell crabs turn up when the season allows, and they disappear fast on busy nights.

Landlubbers are covered too. French onion soup, sweet potato fries with a cinnamon-style dip, and a rotating lineup of American classics round things out.

Tuesdays and Thursdays bring tacos, which has become something of a signature routine around town.

My practical tip is to arrive early if there is a specific catch you have your heart set on. Fresh means limited, and limited means gone by mid-evening.

Portions lean generous, so plan accordingly or plan on leftovers. Sharing an appetizer before committing to a full entree is the smarter strategy here, especially if you want room for something rich afterward.

A Bay District Setting Worth Lingering In

Location does a lot of quiet work for this place. It sits inside the historic Bay District, with Great Egg Harbor Bay spreading out nearby.

Sunsets over that water are the kind that make people stop mid-sentence. Pinks and oranges stretch across the whole horizon.

Somers Point has a slower rhythm than the flashier shore towns up the road, and that suits the neighborhood well.

I would suggest arriving with time to wander before dinner. The bayfront is easy to explore on foot, and the light shifts beautifully as evening comes on.

Parking is straightforward around here, which is not something you can say about every coastal destination in this part of New Jersey.

Summer weekends bring crowds, so a weekday visit gives you more breathing room. Shoulder season is even better if you want the building mostly to yourself.

Come back after dark and the whole block softens. Windows glow, the water goes still, and the old wooden landmark on the corner looks exactly like a place where stories accumulate.

Live Music, Local Faces, And Knowing When To Go

Evenings can get lively once the room begins to fill, especially when live music is on the schedule. Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar, at 900 Shore Rd, Somers Point, NJ 08244, has the kind of long-established setting that draws both regulars and first-time visitors.

Weekends tend to move quickly, so an earlier table is a better choice for anyone hoping for a quieter meal. Doors open at 11:30 AM every day, making lunch another appealing time to visit before the evening energy builds.

During the daytime, the dining room feels more relaxed, and the natural light makes it easier to notice the building’s older architectural details and woodwork. Seasonal menus also bring changes throughout the year, giving repeat visits a slightly different feel.

Peak nights can be busy, so a little patience goes a long way when the kitchen and dining room are at their fullest.

With its historic surroundings, seafood-focused menu, and longstanding local presence, Gregory’s Restaurant & Bar remains a memorable Somers Point stop.