HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Two 1902 Fort Myers homes joined into a fine dining restaurant, where staff report an apparition on the staircase and wine lists that fly off tables on their own
2122 Second St, Fort Myers, FL 33901
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Fine dining restaurant; dinner entrees in the higher price range. Bar available from 4:00 PM.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic building with interior staircase between joined houses; main floor level access available
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1902 · Fort Myers Founding Family Legacy · Turn-of-Century Residential Architecture · Fort Myers Restaurant Heritage
Manuel Gonzalez built two turn-of-the-century homes on Second Street in 1902. The Gonzalez family was among the early settlers of Fort Myers — a city that incorporated in 1885 and grew rapidly after Henry Ford and Thomas Edison established their winter estates on the Caloosahatchee River. The houses stood in Fort Myers' residential core through the early twentieth century.
At some point in the late 1960s, the two structures were physically connected and converted into a restaurant. The Veranda opened in its modern form in 1978 and built a reputation over the following decades as one of Southwest Florida's consistently recognized fine-dining establishments, known for Southern regional cuisine and an interior courtyard with a botanical garden and Koi pond.
The building retains the character of its domestic origins: a working staircase between the two joined houses, historic trim, and multiple dining rooms spread across what were once separate family spaces. The Gonzalez family connection to the property gave rise to a persistent piece of local ghost-tour lore involving the original Gonzalez matriarch.
Sources
The paranormal lore attached to The Veranda centers on the building's original owners. The apparition of the Gonzalez family matriarch — the wife or female head of the household during the 1902 construction era — has been reported on the staircase between the two joined houses and in the upstairs windows. Employees, rather than diners, account for the majority of these sightings; the reports describe a figure moving down the stairs or standing near the upper windows before vanishing.
A separate phenomenon is reported in the dining rooms themselves: wine lists flying off tables when no one is nearby. One account describes an employee hearing disembodied footsteps on the staircase immediately before leaving the building. The two sets of activity — the figure on the stairs and the moving objects in the dining rooms — are treated in the local ghost-tour literature as connected, both attributed to the Gonzalez matriarch.
The Veranda is a stop on the US Ghost Adventures Fort Myers tour, which covers the riverfront corridor and its concentration of early-twentieth-century buildings. The restaurant's paranormal reputation is older than its appearance on structured tours and is documented in multiple Southwest Florida news features from the past decade.
Notable Entities
Dine in the historic 1902 joined houses of the Gonzalez family, one of Fort Myers' founding families. The staircase connecting the two buildings is where staff report seeing the apparition of the Gonzalez matriarch. Tables in the dining rooms have reportedly had wine lists fly off them with no apparent cause. The restaurant has been a Fort Myers institution since 1978.
The Veranda is a featured stop on the US Ghost Adventures Fort Myers walking tour, which covers paranormal history along the Caloosahatchee River. Book through the tour operator; the restaurant stop is exterior/brief interior only.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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