HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Hidden underground Minot bar that Food Network named North Dakota's most haunted restaurant, where staff credit moving glassware and knocking kegs to former clothier Saul Shark.
23 Main Street South, Minot, ND 58701
Research updated June 2026
Age
21+
Cost
$$
Cocktail bar; moderate drink and small-plate pricing. Entry requires texting 701-401-2105 for directions and a riddle whose answer is the password.
Access
Limited Access
Underground basement bar reached by stairs; no street-level signage.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 2018 · Opened September 2018 as a tribute to clothier Saul Shark · Occupies the building of the former Shark's Men's Store (1940s-1970s) · Named most haunted restaurant in North Dakota by Food Network (2019) · Operates as a hidden, password-entry speakeasy with no street signage
Saul's Speakeasy opened in September 2018 in downtown Minot as a deliberate recreation of a Prohibition-era hidden bar. There is no exterior sign and the room cannot be seen from the street. To get in, would-be patrons text 701-401-2105 and receive directions plus a riddle; the answer to the riddle is the password given at the door.
The bar takes its name and theme from Saul Shark, a clothier who ran Shark's Men's Store in the same downtown building from the 1940s into the 1970s. According to KFYR-TV, Shark's was a well-regarded shop that drew Minot's doctors and businessmen, and the speakeasy was built downstairs as an homage to him. KFYR noted in 2019 that no photograph of Saul Shark could be located among staff, neighboring businesses, or the wider community, and the station asked anyone holding an image of him to come forward.
The bar sits in Minot's old downtown, a district sometimes tied in local accounts to the city's early-twentieth-century 'Little Chicago' reputation for bootlegging and vice. Owner Jon Lakoduk built the space with low lighting and an intimate 1920s feel.
In 2019 the Food Network named Saul's the most haunted restaurant in North Dakota, a designation that local stations KFYR and KX News both covered and that the bar has carried since.
Sources
The haunt accounts at Saul's are gentle and consistent across the local coverage. Staff attribute the activity to Saul Shark himself, describing him as a friendly presence who, in the bar's telling, enjoys the place that now carries his name. KX News, KFYR-TV, and OnlyInYourState all report the same core set of phenomena: glasses and chairs that shift position on their own, cold spots and sudden chills, kegs that knock when no one is near them, and noises with no obvious source.
Because the bar is underground, windowless, and entered only by password, the setting itself reinforces the speakeasy mood that the haunt stories trade on. None of the published accounts describe anything aggressive; the framing throughout is of a former shopkeeper who never quite left the building.
The Food Network's designation of Saul's as the most haunted restaurant in North Dakota — reported by both KFYR and KX News in 2019 — is the headline credential the bar leans on, but the underlying claims remain staff and patron testimony rather than documented investigation findings. Visitors looking for the haunt should expect atmosphere and storytelling rather than a structured ghost-hunt program.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Find the unmarked basement bar by texting 701-401-2105 for directions and a riddle, then give the password at the door. The 1920s-style room has no windows or street signage. Staff routinely tell guests about glasses and chairs that move on their own and kegs that knock when the bar is otherwise empty, all attributed to former upstairs clothier Saul Shark.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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