Haunted Pub Crawl Near Me in Hollywood Hills: Yamashiro's Table No. 9

Most entries on a haunted pub crawl near me list in Hollywood sit at street level. Yamashiro, at 1999 N. Sycamore Ave, sits 250 feet above Hollywood Boulevard in a Japanese-style mansion the Bernheimer brothers began building in 1911 and finished in 1914. It opens every evening from 5 pm to 11 pm, and its gardens hold a pagoda, ponds of old koi, and, according to Time Out, the ashes of the man who turned it into a restaurant.

The name means mountain place, and the setting is what separates Yamashiro from every bar on the boulevard below. Terraces look across the Los Angeles basin, the courtyard garden is ringed by carved wood and stone, and the koi in the ponds include fish the restaurant says are more than sixty years old. Come before sunset, take your first drink outside, and watch the lights of the city switch on beneath you.

Start with a cocktail built for the view. The Yamashiro Espresso Martini, made with Patron Reposado tequila, Kahlua and espresso, is $22 on the official drinks menu. The Japanese Gin and Tonic uses Roku gin, tonic, lime and an aromatics bouquet for $20. The Royal mixes Branson Royal cognac, Aperol, yuzu juice, pineapple, Luxardo maraschino and Tajin for $25, a bright, spicy drink that works on a cool October terrace.

Sake drinkers have a better option. The Heavensake Flight, listed at $20, pours two ounces each of three sakes made by Regis Camus with Japanese breweries: a junmai with Konishi, a junmai ginjo with Dewazakura and a junmai daiginjo with Niizawa. It is a compact tasting of three styles and an easy way to slow down on a night of bar-hopping, especially if this is your second or third stop of the evening.

Eat here rather than at a later bar. The Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice, with avocado puree, sweet soy, spicy mayo and pickled serrano, is $28 and shares well over drinks. For a proper meal, the A5 Wagyu Hot Pot brings four ounces of sliced wagyu, a tsukune meatball, Tokyo negi and udon in lemongrass broth with smoked onion oil for $56. Sunday brunch runs from 11 am to 2:30 pm if you would rather see the hilltop by daylight.

The ghost stories are unusually specific. Time Out's 2026 list of haunted Los Angeles bars advises booking table No. 9 in the Sunset Dining Room, where a ghostly lady has been seen, and notes that former owner Thomas Glover's ashes were interred in the garden courtyard. In a 2015 PBS SoCal feature, then general manager David Comfort said people had seen a man in a cowboy hat walk past after closing, and that Tom Glover Sr. used to wear one.

Comfort told PBS more: employees had seen silhouettes walk into a wall and plates fly off a shelf. The book Gourmet Ghosts, quoted by Larchmont Buzz, claims that keeping nighttime security guards has always been difficult here. Yamashiro does not run ghost tours, and none of these accounts come with proof, so treat them as stories from staff and writers. They do give a reservation for table No. 9 a little extra purpose.

Reservations matter more here than at any other stop on a crawl. The restaurant's own date-night guide says they are strongly recommended, and booking runs through Resy from the homepage. Ask for the Sunset Dining Room if you want the haunted table, or keep things simple with a seat at the Pagoda Bar, the name Time Out uses for the bar. Book a slot about half an hour before sunset so your first round lands on the terrace with the city still in daylight.

Dress up a little. Gayot lists the dress code as casual, but the restaurant's own guide says dressing up adds to the experience, and on a hill with a view like this most guests take the hint. Costumes are fine in late October, though bulky outfits are awkward on the garden steps. Bring a layer: the terraces sit high above the basin and evenings in the Hollywood Hills cool down quickly once the sun drops.

The early history reads like a Hollywood script. The restaurant's history page says the Bernheimer brothers built the hilltop mansion to house their collection of Asian treasures, bringing in hundreds of craftsmen. PBS SoCal reports they sold Yamashiro in 1924 after quarrels with their Hollywood neighbors. During the 1930s various social organizations used the estate for events. A persistent rumor says it once operated as a brothel, though PBS notes that no proof of this has ever been found.

The Glover family shaped the place you visit today. Thomas O. Glover bought seven acres of the estate in 1948, and in 1960 his son, Thomas Y. Glover, began serving hot hors d'oeuvres at what started as a four-table restaurant, PBS reports. The family owned the property until 2016, when Bisnow reported it sold for nearly $40 million to 1999 Sycamore LLC. A 2017 remodel brought back a wooden cherry blossom design inside.

Walk the grounds between courses. The restaurant says its pagoda was flown in from Japan, and PBS has described it as about 600 years old. Paths wind past ponds, stone lanterns and trimmed pines to lookouts over the city. Then head down the hill to Musso and Frank Grill at 6667 Hollywood Blvd, where Time Out says staff talk of a headless woman and Charlie Chaplin's old booth, No. 1, still gets requests.

Practical notes: Yamashiro is at 1999 N. Dinner hours are 5 pm to 11 pm daily, and Sunday brunch runs from 11 am to 2:30 pm. Parking is by valet at the top of the hill. You must be 21 to drink at the bar. Cocktails at $20 to $25 make this the splurge stop of a crawl, so plan a cheaper bar afterward.

Yamashiro suits couples, small groups celebrating something and anyone who wants their haunted crawl to include a view. It suits budget crawlers and big rowdy groups less well, since tables are booked in advance and drinks cost more than on the boulevard. Reserve for sunset, ask for table No. 9 if you are feeling brave, order The Royal and the crispy rice, and walk the garden before you go back down the hill.