HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
A 1963 Odessa steakhouse whose bar occupies a genuine 19th-century train depot relocated from Pecos — complete with a permanent table setting for 'Billy,' the ghost said to have been shot dead inside it.
2140 Andrews Hwy, Odessa, TX 79762
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Full-service steakhouse; entree prices in moderate range. Bar accessible separately.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Ground-floor restaurant and bar in a converted historic building; level entry
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1963 · Odessa dining institution operating since 1963 · Houses authentic 19th-century Pecos TX train depot, relocated 1950
The Barn Door Steakhouse opened on Andrews Highway in Odessa in 1963, during the city's postwar oil-boom growth. It established itself as the West Texas steakhouse standard over the following decades, outlasting competitors and becoming a recognizable fixture on the Permian Basin restaurant landscape.
The bar area's centerpiece is the Pecos Depot — a genuine 19th-century wooden train station that originally stood in Pecos, Texas, about 80 miles southwest of Odessa. The depot was physically relocated to Odessa in 1950, and in 1972 the Barn Door acquired the structure and incorporated it into the restaurant as its bar. The building retains its original exterior cladding and interior layout, making it one of the few surviving examples of a small West Texas railroad depot.
The depot's relocation history gave rise to the 'Billy' legend. According to accounts documented by the restaurant and reported by local media, a man identified only as Billy was shot and killed inside the depot while it was still operating as a train station in Pecos — before the 1950 move. The Barn Door honors the story with a permanent table setting placed in Billy's name, a practice the restaurant has maintained for years and uses as a recognized part of its identity.
NewsWest 9, the dominant Odessa-Midland television news outlet, produced a dedicated special report on the Barn Door haunting, interviewing employees who described unexplained sounds, objects moved overnight, and an uncomfortable sense of presence inside the depot bar section after closing.
Sources
The Barn Door's ghost story is specific in origin and unusually well-documented for a restaurant haunting. 'Billy' is identified as a man shot and killed inside the Pecos Depot while it still operated as a working train station in Pecos, TX — prior to the building's 1950 relocation. The exact date and circumstances of the killing have not been independently confirmed in surviving newspaper archives, but the restaurant's own documented history and the local reporting treat it as established local knowledge.
The Barn Door has leaned into the legend by maintaining a permanent table setting in the bar with a place reserved for Billy — a gesture that has become part of the restaurant's identity and is referenced on its own website. Local employees interviewed for a NewsWest 9 television special described recurring unexplained activity in the depot bar: sounds consistent with footsteps or movement after the restaurant closes, items found displaced from their positions overnight, and a reliable sense of being watched in the older wooden sections of the building.
Mix 97.9 FM, the Midland-Odessa radio news outlet, also reported on Billy with video documentation of employee accounts, giving the story two independent local media sources. The ghost is treated not as a threat but as a fixture — a long-term tenant who came with the building.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Dine inside the Barn Door Steakhouse, which has served Odessa since 1963, and visit the adjacent Pecos Depot Bar — a 19th-century wooden train station transported from Pecos, TX, in 1950 and incorporated into the restaurant in 1972. The depot retains its original structure and houses the permanent table setting kept for 'Billy.' Local TV news crews have filmed employee accounts of the ghost on multiple occasions.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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