In the early 80's while I was in high school, I had a part-time job at a restaurant in the old part of town in
Brampton, Ontario. My first night in the dish-pit was a long one; learning
where everything goes, and, recovering from a heel wound made things slow-going.
I was pretty much the last person working, and the manager was doing his cash-out, upstairs.
Working away, I saw an older man in an old, worn brown jacket wander in to the back kitchen area, right by the
dish pit. He walked past, and turned the corner. I just figured it was some guy there to pick up his son/daughter
from work.
The second time he came by (there's an exit at the other end of the long, narrow kitchen, so, in essence, you could
do laps), I became suspicious that perhaps this was just a lost, drunken guest.
As he turned the corner, I put down what I was cleaning and stepped back the two steps to see down the kitchen to ask
the guy if I could help him. Gone.
This kitchen is a good 20-25 feet long to the other exit to
the broiler bar in the dining room.
Fast bugger, I thought.
The third time I saw him walk by, I got a better look at
him (through the dish racks), and he seemed to be in a foul
mood. Now, I was suspicious, and stepped back to talk to
him, just as he rounded the corner.
Gone.
There was no physical way that guy could have left my sight!
I wasn't scared. Just baffled.
That was the only time I saw the old man, although, many
more people talked about seeing him, and feeling creeped
out, or just plain frightened.
Over the next few shifts there, I started getting to know
the people and the place.
The staff started chiding me with stories about "George".
Seems that was the pet name given to the ghost in the
restaurant. Naturally, I thought they were having me on in
that "Initiation ceremony" kinda thang.
They described him as being about 6 feet tall, black hair,
moustache and sideburns, wearing an old-style 3-piece grey
suite, with a black derby.
Well, over the 3 years that I worked there, I saw that guy
no less than 35 times!
Often, he'd be seen standing in a corner by a table,
watching people.
There were 2 instances that I know of where guests
commented to their waiters about "the tall gentleman in the
old grey suit and derby".
Several times, while cleaning out the salad bar at the end
of the night, I'd hear someone walking by in the raised
dining area. Looking over, I saw George walk by, but, as he
passed by the waist high divider, he'd have no legs! Just
the top half of him that faded to nothing.
A few other times it was a different version: I'd hear
footsteps walking along, but see nothing. Then, as the
footsteps walk clear of the waist-high divider, there'd
only be his LEGS walking by!
The Legend behind the ghost (as repeated by staff) was
that, before the restaurant, there was a department store,
which was built on the burned foundations of a hotel that
used to be on that site.
The popular story was that 8 people had died in the fire
that destroyed the place.
Not content enough to accept the story at face value, I
went to the library and started hunting through the local
archives. I found a picture of the place burning, in a book of local
history, taken from old newspapers. However, there was no
mention about it. After a number of phone calls, I actually got hold of the
original hotel owner (surprisingly, still alive!), and
asked him about the fire. He reassured me that no one was
killed or harmed in the fire.
To this day, I kick myself for not asking about the other
legends of the ghosts' deaths.
The story was that "George" died in a gun duel in a dining
area referred to as the "Bedroom", and that the old man
died of a heart attack in one of the rooms.
So much stuff has happened there to so many people. Many
staff quit on the spot after experiences.
I once watched a dishwasher turn on by itself (you have to
hold the switch over for a count of "3" before it engages
in a cycle), while myself and another guy were telling the
new girl in dish pit about the ghost.
I watched a clothes dryer turn on, by itself, with a co-
worker with me.
After closing, there were 4 of us sitting at the "staff"
tables, waiting for the manager to finish up (he always
bought us drinks to make sure someone was with him while he
closed). We heard a great amount of thumping about, like
someone was kicking the chairs around, coming from a dining
area on the other side of the room.
Thinking that maybe we missed a drunk guest who was waking
up, we investigated, but found nothing out of place.
Returning to our card game, we were joking about George,
when, as we sat down, an ashtray at the corner of the table
broke in two and half of it spun into the centre of the
table.
We waited for the manager by the back door.
Especially among the day staff (prep, clean, office) people
would hear their names called out from empty areas ALL THE
TIME!
So often, people would pop their head either from the
kitchen to the dining area, or, from the dining area to the
kitchen, asking who wanted them.
No one would have called that person.
The last time I talked to someone with contact with the
restaurant (just over a year ago), I was told that people
are still reporting activity there.
Living in another province, I've not been there for a long
time.But, I'm always interested in what others have experienced.
I've grown up with this kind of stuff, all my life, and
have hours of stories, but, because this place is still
open, and still active, I chose this one to share with the
readers, in case anyone happens to want to visit it.
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