Coffee, Comfort, and Spirits: The Haunting History of Clary’s Cafe

In the heart of historic Savannah stands Clary’s Cafe — an unassuming diner with a haunted history as rich as its Southern cooking. For over a century it has served generous helpings of eggs and grits by day, and stirred up Savannah ghost legends by night.

Locals cherish Clary’s as a friendly neighborhood fixture, while visitors flock to experience the café made famous in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. But beyond its movie cameo and famous Reuben sandwiches lies an eerie side — shadowy figures, unexplained noises, and ghostly presences that have woven this cheerful eatery into Savannah’s supernatural lore. Grab a steaming cup of coffee (refills are free at Clary’s) and settle in — here’s the full story.

Origins: From Corner Drugstore to Beloved Diner

Clary’s began humbly at the start of the 20th century. The building at 404 Abercorn Street opened in 1903 as a neighborhood drug store, complete with a soda fountain counter for locals to enjoy sweets and tonics. In the 1930s, a pharmacist named Luther Clary took over and made it the second Clary’s Drugstore in Savannah — the first was his original shop on Bull Street at Perry Lane. His daughter Betsy later recalled the old pharmacy vividly: “Inside, the store was long and narrow, with a black and white tile floor and a high decorative tin ceiling. It had a long marble soda fountain with a mirror behind it and stools that swiveled.” Under the paddle fans, neighbors gathered for chicken salad sandwiches, sodas, and popsicles — less a store than a community living room.

Tragically, Luther Clary did not oversee his shop for long. Only a few years after opening this second location, he died suddenly, and his wife, Clara Clary, kept the business running for decades, ensuring the little soda fountain and lunch counter continued to thrive. Clary’s remained a family establishment until the 1970s, when Clara finally sold it — but by then it was already a Savannah institution with deep roots.

As times changed, so did Clary’s. By the 1950s it had become a café and ice cream parlor, its soda fountain serving malts and milkshakes to a post-war generation. In 1986 it was remodeled into the full-service restaurant and diner we know today, the menu growing heartier while the old-fashioned malts remained. Yet the place never lost its nostalgic charm. Step inside and you can still spot the original brick walls, the old wood flooring, and even a stained-glass window depicting Savannah’s famed “Bird Girl” statue. One dining room was once the pharmacy; the other, with its long counter, was the soda shop. In a city known for preserving its history, Clary’s fits right in — it is living history.

A Savannah Cultural Icon: Literature, Film & Local Lore

By the late 20th century, Clary’s had firmly planted itself in Savannah’s cultural landscape — a place where locals greeted each other by first name over coffee, its walls crowded with knickknacks, family photos, and memorabilia. Then a bestselling book and a Hollywood film gave it national fame. Author John Berendt became a regular in the early 1990s while researching Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, describing Clary’s as “a clearinghouse of information, a bourse of gossip” where he ate breakfast and eavesdropped on Savannah’s eccentric characters. One of the book’s most colorful figures — the eccentric Luther, who was said to walk flies on strings — is introduced in a scene at Clary’s. Berendt himself, thinly fictionalized as John Kelso (played by John Cusack in the film), made the café part of his daily routine.

When the book was published in 1994, it became a sensational bestseller and put Savannah — and Clary’s — on the pop-culture map. Curious readers stopped in “for a look around and a quick bite,” and in 1997 Clint Eastwood filmed his adaptation on location, with Clary’s appearing in two notable scenes. The production designers temporarily restored the space to its 1980s drugstore look for the shoot. Watch closely and you’ll spot the long counter, the swiveling stools — and an uncredited cameo by actor James Gandolfini (later famous as Tony Soprano) as the café cook, flipping eggs in the background while John Cusack’s character speaks with the voodoo priestess Minerva.

To this day, Clary’s commemorates its brush with Hollywood. A photograph of the cast hangs on the wall — Clint Eastwood, his daughter Alison Eastwood (who played Mandy), John Cusack, Kevin Spacey (who portrayed Jim Williams), and the incomparable Lady Chablis, the Savannah performer who played herself. Nearby, the stained-glass Bird Girl casts colored light onto the brick, a constant reminder of the café’s connection to “The Book.” Yet Clary’s has remained fundamentally local: regulars still come for morning coffee and Sunday brunch (the corned beef hash and the “Eggs Benedict Savannah” with crab cakes are standouts), SCAD students linger over study sessions, and weekends bring a popular Drag Queen Brunch — a nod, perhaps, to Lady Chablis’s legacy. Part museum of Savannah lore, part everyday diner, Clary’s balances both with ease.

Ghost Stories and Legends of Clary’s Cafe

Savannah is often called “America’s Most Haunted City,” and Clary’s, for all its bright charm, has accumulated its share of ghostly lore. By day the café bustles with clinking dishes and laughter, but when the last slice of pie is served and the lights go low, an eerie stillness settles over the old building — and some believe the spirits of the past come out to play. Its haunted reputation is such that many Savannah ghost tours feature Clary’s as a stop, sharing spooky tales over the very tables where patrons ate breakfast hours earlier. Over the years, the reported encounters have ranged from subtle to startling:

• Shadowy figures after hours. More than one employee, closing up late or opening before dawn, has reported a dark silhouette near the counter that vanishes on a double-take — a figure witnesses swear had human shape and intent.
• Unexplained noises and voices. A clink at the empty register, a shut door that slams, footsteps creaking across the old floor when the staff know they’re alone. One story tells of a waitress who distinctly heard someone call her name in the empty restaurant.
• Cold spots and strange sensations. Guests seated by the exposed brick have felt a sudden chill on an otherwise warm day, or a prickling sense of being watched near the front door — only to turn and find no one there.
• Objects moving on their own. Rarer, but reported: a neat stack of napkins found scattered moments later, or a sugar caddy sliding a few inches across a table in plain view — harmless little disturbances, as if an unseen diner were tidying up.

These claims aren’t documented in newspapers — they live in oral lore and personal accounts, and skeptics may reasonably chalk them up to Savannah’s humid breezes and an old building’s quirks. But the stories are taken seriously enough that multiple ghost tours include Clary’s on their routes. So who might be haunting the place? A few theories swirl like mist along Abercorn Street.

The Ghost of the Founder

Some believe Luther Clary himself is the café’s resident spirit. He died suddenly, in the prime of life and deeply invested in his business — the kind of untimely end that folklore says can leave a spirit lingering out of duty or unfinished business. The sentimental notion is that Luther still watches over the café, straightening chairs or causing that phantom coin-drop by the register — a pharmacist’s nightly audit. Staff have been known to joke that a mild unexplained incident was “Mr. Clary saying hello.”

Spirits Drawn from the Surroundings

Others point to the neighborhood. A few blocks south of Clary’s lies Calhoun Square, one of Savannah’s most notoriously haunted spots, reportedly built over a former burial ground for enslaved people — and home to the looming, long-vacant mansion at 432 Abercorn Street that fuels so many scary tales. In Savannah, hauntings often extend beyond four walls; entire blocks are said to carry restless energy. It’s conceivable, the story goes, that a forlorn soul from that vicinity might drift along Abercorn Street and into Clary’s, drawn by the light and warmth.

Former Employees or Patrons

A gentler legend imagines a longtime employee still “clocking in” — a waitress who served eggs with a smile for thirty years, softly fussing over tomorrow’s setup — or a devoted regular who decided to make his morning routine eternal. These are more fanciful storytelling than fact, but in a place as cozy as Clary’s, it feels fitting that any ghost would be a familiar, even caring presence. Notably, nothing malevolent is ever reported here; the spirits of Clary’s are said to be mischievous but benign, invisible visitors dropping in for a bit of nostalgia, much as the living regulars do.

Savoring the Mystery of Clary’s Cafe

At Clary’s, every cup of coffee comes with a pinch of Southern folklore.

Clary’s Cafe is far more than a place to grab a meal — it’s a living chronicle of the city’s soul, a microcosm of Savannah itself: charming, storied, a touch eccentric, and haunted in the best Southern Gothic way. For history buffs, you can sit at a table once frequented by John Berendt and admire the Bird Girl stained glass and the cast photo on the wall. For food lovers, there’s honest, hearty Southern fare with a side of nostalgia, over a century in the making. And for those drawn to the paranormal, Clary’s offers an approachable haunted spot — a bright, lively café that just happens to have a few shadows in its history.

That contrast between the beautiful and the eerie is exactly what makes Savannah enchanting, and Clary’s captures it perfectly. The next time you’re in the city, consider starting your day here — soaking up the hospitality, the buttered toast, and the chatter of regulars — and perhaps ending your night nearby, peering into the darkened café beneath the rustling oaks. Many come for the famous reputation, many for the food, and a curious few hoping to glimpse a ghost. All leave with a story to tell. Bon appétit, and boo, y’all.