AV Restaurant & Lounge

Named by the Food Network as the most haunted restaurant in Pennsylvania in 2019. The basement once served as a temporary morgue during the 1918 Influenza epidemic, when the deadly pandemic overwhelmed traditional funeral services across the nation.

AV Restaurant and Lounge was established in 2017 at 320 Penn Avenue in downtown Scranton, with "AV" being short for "altra volta" (Italian for "another time"), a fitting nod to traditional recipes and the building's historic past. During the 1918 influenza epidemic, the basement functioned as a morgue, handling the overflow of victims from the devastating pandemic. Decades earlier, the address housed R. Schoenfield's undertaker and coffin business, as recorded in an 1879 Scranton city directory. The building later served as a dry goods store and an Irish tavern called The Banshee Pub.

The Food Network named AV Restaurant the most haunted restaurant in Pennsylvania, and the activity reported by staff and diners makes the title hard to dispute. Workers tell stories of feeling watched, being touched, and hearing noises when no one is around. General Manager Julie Thomas describes shadows, sudden chills, and phantom footsteps. Staff are particularly frightened of the basement and upstairs areas. Among the most hair-raising accounts are sightings of a tall man in a black overcoat who lingers silently at the bottom of the staircase. Objects move on their own and lights flicker mysteriously.

Before the restaurant opened, Thomas recalls being there late at night finishing preparations: "We could hear what sounded like children running back and forth upstairs in the banquet room, even though no one was up there." Many guests arrive curious about the haunting but leave focused on their next reservation.