Banta Inn

Just outside of Tracy California, stationed along the forgotten Historic Lincoln Highway, sits The Banta Inn. Rumored as haunted, the Inn nestled in the tiny enclave of Banta is a stranger to the millions of valley commuters who traverse the nearby interstate freeways of the “Tracy Triangle”; scurrying along to-and-fro their Bay Area professions.

Ghost stories ranging from a dead mother and daughter who perished during a fire, the jukebox occasionally turning on by itself, to a former owner’s husband keeling over from a heart attack behind the bar, have been told time and again by restaurant staff and bar patrons. The current owner even had to officially acknowledge the building is haunted in order to obtain the deed.

What seems most unbelievable, more so than fables of ghouls taking up residence over the last century, is the restaurant and bar’s continued humble success. Locals of the Tracy area are undeterred by the fokelore and frequent this establishment. The food is celebrated and the Inn is lauded as one of the area’s spookiest but best kept secrets. Current kitchen staff will tell you that the ghost of “Tony” (Mr. Heart-Attack-Behind-The-Bar) has made his presence known in the bar, diningroom, and especially in the kitchen, leaving many to wonder if the secret behind all the good food is Tony’s still working the grill after all these years…