HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
A downtown Mystic seafood bar where staff blame a former regular for glasses that slide off the shelf and a bar stool left in his old spot.
21 West Main Street, Mystic, CT 06355
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Seafood restaurant and bar; standard menu pricing, no admission fee.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level restaurant in downtown Mystic, steps from the Bascule drawbridge.
Equipment
Photos OK
Long-running downtown Mystic seafood restaurant and bar · Located steps from the Mystic River Bascule drawbridge
The Mariner occupies a storefront on West Main Street in the heart of downtown Mystic, within sight of the Bascule drawbridge that carries traffic over the Mystic River. For years the restaurant operated under the name the Ancient Mariner, and it still trades on that identity through its social media presence.
The restaurant is a seafood and American kitchen, known for oysters pulled from the Mystic River and for its lobster roll, with a full bar that anchors the room. Its setting in the compact downtown district, surrounded by shops and other restaurants near the river, makes it part of the foot-traffic flow of one of Connecticut's busiest waterfront towns.
The building's specific construction history is not well documented in available sources; what is consistent across coverage is its long run as a downtown Mystic dining institution and its place on the local ghost-tour circuit, which treats the bar as the focus of its haunting.
Sources
The ghost story at the Mariner is a barroom story. According to US Ghost Adventures, which features the restaurant in its haunted-Mystic material, staff attribute the activity to a former regular who has not given up his seat. The most repeated report is of glasses sliding or falling off the bar shelves with no one near them, often enough that the staff have stopped being surprised by it.
Staff also describe lights that flicker on their own, and in some tellings appear to move, around the bar area. The single most cited incident is from a morning opening, when employees came in to find that one bar stool had been taken off the bar and placed on the floor, positioned at the spot the regular is said to have favored when he was alive.
The reports are drawn from ghost-tour tradition and staff anecdote rather than documented investigation, and the regular has not been identified by name in the available sources. This entry is held in needs-review pending a second independent account.
Notable Entities
Lunch or dinner at a downtown Mystic seafood bar known for oysters from the Mystic River and a lobster roll. The location sits a few steps from the drawbridge; the resident ghost story centers on the bar itself, where staff describe glasses falling and a stool returned to a former regular's spot.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Mystic, CT
Captain Daniel Packer bought the land bordering Water Street in Mystic in 1754 and finished building his house in 1756. Packer ran a rope ferry across the Mystic River and entertained travelers between New York and Boston who stopped for the night. The house stayed with Packer's family and their descendants, the Keelers, until the late 1970s, when new owners restored it as a restaurant and pub.
Somers, CT
Joanna's Cafe & Banquet Hall occupies a 19th-century building on Main Street in Somers, a historic Connecticut town. The structure is located in the Somers Historic District, an area characterized by Federal and Greek Revival architecture from the early 1800s.
Sault Ste. Marie, MI
The Antlers Restaurant occupies a building in use since 1902, when it operated as a saloon under the name Bucket of Blood. During Prohibition, the establishment disguised its liquor operation as an ice cream parlor while continuing to serve alcohol and operating a brothel in the building. The Sault Ste. Marie CVB and 99wfmk both document the venue's history, making it one of the city's longest-continuously-operated commercial addresses on Portage Avenue.