Skip to main content
USA TODAY 10 Best
  • Follow 10Best
  • Like 10Best
USA TODAY 10 Best
  • Home
  • Readers' Choice
  • Interests
  • Food & Drink
  • Arts & Culture
  • Travel Guides
search
  • Follow
  • Like
close
Space Coast
Overview
Things to Do
Restaurants
Nightlife
Stay
Shopping
Regions
 
  • facebook share
  • twitter share
  • pinterest share
  • linkedin share
  • Flipboard
Advertisement
Advertisement
graphic

Expert Tips

  • Aimee Heckel
    Aimee Heckel: Space Coast Local Expert

    Add this to your bucket list: Watch a rocket launch from the sands of Cocoa Beach.

    More About Aimee
graphic

Explore Space Coast

city overview Overview

See & Do See & Do

Eat Eat

Party Party

Stay Stay

Shop Shop

Regions Regions

graphic

Neighborhood Spotlight

Cocoa/Cocoa Beach

Cocoa/Cocoa Beach

With its lengthy beach, surfable waves and exciting Cocoa Beach Pier lined with restaurants, shops, bars and live music, it's no wonder that Cocoa Beach, Fla., is one of...

More about Cocoa/Cocoa Beach >
graphic

Space Coast Airport Guide

  • Orlando International Airport
    Orlando International Airport

    Available Information: Map, Directions, Parking, WiFi, Tips, Cell Lot

    View the Guide

Presented by USA TODAY
Advertisement
 

— When you buy through a link on our site, 10Best may earn a commission. Our editors operate independently of affiliate relationships.

  • Space Coast Travel Guide
  • //
  • Tips

USA TODAY 10Best

Ashley's Restaurant: Dine with Ghosts in Rockledge

This Space Coast eatery boasts 80 years of haunting history
Aimee Heckel

September 1, 2014 // By Aimee Heckel

By Aimee Heckel
Travel Expert September 1, 2014

 

Order your prime rib with a side of ghosts, when you dine at Ashley’s Restaurant in Rockledge, a small town near Cocoa Beach.

Advertisement

Ashley’s Restaurant is housed in a turn-of-the-century, Tudor-style wood building with a unique history that makes this Space Coast restaurant a hot spot for ghost-hunters. Ashley’s boasts that it is the “most haunted restaurant” on the Space Coast, and it’s definitely one of the most famous haunts in the state of Florida.

The menu itself features traditional American comfort food – steak, sandwiches, salads – and comfort might just be what you need, knowing the legends that linger within these walls.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Ashley's Restaurant in RockledgeAshley's Restaurant in Rockledge — Photo courtesy of Ashley's Restaurant

As the story goes, in the early ‘30s, a 19-year-old girl and regular at the establishment was brutally murdered and found nearby, on the shores of the Indian River. The restaurant was one of the last places she was seen. Ghost-hunters and psychics have said they believe she was killed at the restaurant, and her spirit is said to remain trapped inside.

You may see her shoes in the stall next to you in the women’s restroom, glimpse a flash of her reflection in the mirror or watch the lights flicker and glasses crash to the floor. Some people say they have watched furniture move in front of their eyes.

The stories about the young ghost go on.

Advertisement
Advertisement

And she’s not the only spirit that ghost-hunters and others have reportedly sensed at Ashley’s Restaurant. Others say they feel the ghost of an older man who used to live upstairs, or someone from an accident on the highway.

Consider reserving a table well in advance around Halloween time, as this Space Coast restaurant fills up quick with seekers of spooksConsider reserving a table well in advance around Halloween time, as this Space Coast restaurant fills up quick with seekers of spooks — Photo courtesy of Ashley's Restaurant

Ashley’s Restaurant is a Space Coast staple; it’s been open for more than 80 years. It originally opened in 1933 as Jack’s Tavern. It has changed management and names over the years (including The Mad Duchess and The Loose Caboose), but the scary legends have stuck with it since the year after it opened.

Enjoy well-prepared seafood or soup, as your table trembles from the nearby passing trains. You might want to get a drink at the indoor or outdoor bar; it’s open late, as you would expect in a haunted restaurant. The daily specials are a bonus. 

Advertisement
Advertisement

Ashley’s mysterious ambience is sealed by dark wood walls, antique pictures and stained-glass windows that are sure to make even the most cynical diner wonder if just perhaps the lore may be true.

x

Next Up

Kava Bars Grow in Popularity as Alternative Nightlife Option

Read More »

Advertisement

Aimee Heckel

About Aimee Heckel

Aimee Heckel is a writer who grew up in a haunted house. 

Read more about Aimee Heckel here.

Connect with Aimee via: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest


Share

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Flipboard
×

×
Advertisement
Advertisement
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • instagram
10Best logo 10Best logo
  • About 10Best
  • Experts & Contributors
  • Sitemap
  • Newsletter
  • Reprints & Permissions
  • Contact Us

  • Cookie Settings
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy

A division of USA TODAY · Copyright © 2023 www.10best.com. · All rights reserved.

incrementing counter