When I was looking for suggestions this week’s locations, I had a few people mention this restaurant. The more I looked into it, the more intrigued I became by it. The amount of activity that happens here and the amount of spirits that seem to wander through easily explains why this restaurant is considered to be Utah’s most haunted restaurant. I also love the family history associated with the Leslie’s Family Tree Restaurant.
Located in Santaquin, Utah, Leslie’s Family Tree Restaurant was known locally for its giant 14 inch scones. The restaurant was one of the many victims of COVID during 2020. It closed it’s doors after being open for 36 years. The building was originally built by Wayne Smith in 1974. The basement of the building hosted gambling and legal boxing matches for a while. After his death, the building was converted into a restaurant by his children, Leslie and her brother. The restaurant was to give their mother a creative outlet. While most of the locals came for the giant scones and delicious food, Leslie also relied on the spirits to bring in another type of clientele that were hungry for the paranormal.
The land that the restaurant sets on is thought to be cursed by the Ute tribe. The tribe had a falling out with local settlers which led to the Black Hawk’s War. Between 1865 and 1872, there were 150 battles between the Mormon settlers and the Ute tribe. They were fighting over the land. Some of the research I came across said that Mormons were trying to settle down on Ute burial grounds. Some people think that the curse that was placed on the land is helping to trap spirits that die near the restaurant’s location to stay in the building.
Leslie Broadhead, the owner, knowing how popular her spirits were becoming set up public ghost hunts to encourage more people to come into the restaurant. She has also had psychics come in to tell more about the spirits that wonder through out the building. Many psychics claim that there are over 100 spirits in and around the building. They also claim that there is a portal in the basement allowing even more spirits to come and go as they please. In the main part of the diner two male spirits have been seen often. There has been a lady seen wearing a blue night gown wandering around the outside of the building. There is also a little boy with brown hair seen running through restaurant. The woman in the blue nightgown and the little boy are thought to be related. The little boy had drowned in the canal near the restaurant and the woman in the blue nightgown killed herself after her husband disappeared. There have also been reports of the ghost of the local town drunk being seen at the bar long after he died. A lady dressed in red is known to glare and growl are customers and staff alike.
People have reported experiencing different types of paranormal activity at Leslie’s Family Tree Restaurant. A clock hanging on the wall stopped working for a while. Then suddenly one day it started working again on its own but instead of working like a normal clock, the time was running backwards. Doors open and close by themselves. People hear footsteps when no one else is moving. Children’s voice and laughter has been heard throughout the building. People can hear different voices having conversations but can never make out what’s being said. Objects have been seen moving on their own. Leslie’s daughter, Cory, said that she a table move in the dining room by itself during one of their ghost hunts. Chairs will occasionally stack themselves on tables. High chairs get knocked over often. Ghost hunting equipment will either malfunction or the batteries will drain quickly. People claimed to feel anxiety and anger for known reasons in the basement.
With all the activity going on, the spirits seem to be fond of the family that works in the restaurant. The family claims that the spirits helped save the building from burning down. The wooden structure should have burned down quickly but was spared when a fire quickly became large by going out by itself. The family has also talked about how the spirits will alert them to thieves in the restaurant. This most haunted restaurant has been featured on both Ghost Adventures and Dead Files.
The building has been on realtor sites for over a year now. I’ve been keeping an eye on it to see who ends up buying it. It will be interesting how the spirits adjust to the new owners. Especially the town drunk. I wonder if he will still have a place to grab a drink with his new friends when the new owners take over. I’ll update you if the new business reports the same activity. Hopefully they will embrace the paranormal opportunities like Leslie did and allow investigators to come in. This seems like a great spot that could be used to train people who are interested in learning how to conduct paranormal investigations. If Jeremy and I were in a place where we could settle down for a long period of time, we would love to own a place like this where we could train those just getting in paranormal investigating or allowing experienced investigators to come in to see that evidence they are able to collect and see what technics they use during their investigations. But that is a far off dream for when he gets out of the military and we are able to make better long term goals that don’t need to be adjusted every 2-3 years. What do you think about us doing something like that? Let me know in the comments below.
Paranormal Housewife 