Entry No. 126 — the Denver file — filed under: haunted
Scileppi's at the Old Stone Church
Scileppi's is a family-owned Italian restaurant operating since 2018 inside an 1888 rhyolite-stone Catholic church — Castle Rock's first — where the bar sits over what was once the church cemetery and regulars report a ghost girl in white haunting the old choir loft upstairs. The combination of genuinely good pasta, stained-glass ambiance, religiously-themed menu sections (including a two-top dubbed "the Confessional"), and well-documented paranormal lore makes it one of the most atmospheric dining rooms on the Front Range.
The story
In 1888, stonecutters raised St. Francis of Assisi—Castle Rock’s first Catholic church—out of local pinkish rhyolite quarried from the surrounding mesas. For nearly eight decades, parishioners took mass beneath its choir loft and stained-glass rose window until the congregation relocated in 1966. The heavy stone shell sat dark until 1975, when it was converted into a restaurant before the Scileppi family—Long Island pizza veterans whose family roots trace back to Sicily—took over the sanctuary in 2018. They kept the historic bones intact, adding a side pizzeria wing named SliceWorks Purgatory and organizing their menu under biblical headers like the Garden of Eden for salads and the Old Testament for red-sauce pasta.
The room's stranger history sits at the bar and upstairs. The modern bar counter was installed directly over the site of the church’s original 19th-century cemetery. Upstairs, the wooden choir loft—where churchgoers once sang hymns—was converted into dining tables, including a prime booth known as 'the Last Supper,' while a two-top sits inside what used to be the priest's confessional booth.
Paranormal sightings have followed the building across its transition from house of worship to Italian eatery. The most persistent report centers on a young girl in white seen wandering near the choir loft railing and the mirror at the foot of the stairs. Kitchen staff have logged unexplainable noises and pots crashing, while regulars sitting over the old burial ground keep one eye on their wine glass to see if anything moves unprompted.
What it's like
You step past heavy 1888 stone into a room where stained glass throws colored light across checkbooks and pasta bowls. The main nave is compact and acoustics carry, so don't count on whispering a secret here. If you want the prime ghost-spotting vantage point, reserve well ahead for the upstairs choir loft or ask for 'the Confessional' two-top downstairs. Downtown street parking on Third Street gets notoriously tight on weekends, so skip the block-circling and head straight for the free multilevel parking garage sitting right behind the building.
The move: Make a reservation for the upstairs "Last Supper" table in the former choir loft — the most-reported ghost hotspot — then linger over pasta and a bottle of wine while daring each other to watch the mirror at the base of the staircase; close the night with a drink at the bar built directly over the old cemetery and see if anything moves.
📍 Before you go It's about a half-hour south of Denver off I-25, anchoring historic downtown Castle Rock on Third Street — the landmark stone building is hard to miss. Parking is the main puzzle: there's a free multilevel garage just behind the restaurant, though street spots downtown get tight on weekend evenings, so allow a few extra minutes. The setting is fully indoor, making it a weather-proof, year-round pick; dinner is the natural visit, and the stained-glass atmosphere plays best after dark. If you want the upstairs loft table, book ahead — it's the one everyone asks for. Pair it with a wander through downtown Castle Rock's historic blocks before or after.
- 📍 Castle Rock
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 210 Third St, Castle Rock, CO 80104
Hours: Mined 2026-06-07 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Provision — Follow up your church dinner by stepping behind the swinging bookcase at this 1920s-style speakeasy just around the corner on Wilcox Street.
- Cantril School House — Walk three blocks up Third Street to view another 1890s rhyolite stone landmark that carries its own haunted local lore.
- B&B Cafe — Pair your evening in an 1888 church with a daytime visit to Castle Rock's 1946 diner, where real bullet holes still puncture the tin ceiling.
Good to know
Is the bar at Scileppi's actually built over a cemetery?
Yes. When the 1888 church building was repurposed into a restaurant, the bar area was constructed directly over what was once the original church cemetery.
Which table should I reserve for the ghost lore?
Book the upstairs choir loft table—often called 'the Last Supper'—where staff and guests most frequently report seeing the spectral girl in white.
Do I need reservations to sit inside the church?
Yes, dinner reservations are strongly recommended, especially on weekends and if you want specific spots like the choir loft or the former confessional two-top.
Where is the best place to park?
Instead of hunting for street spots along Third Street, park in the free multilevel garage located directly behind the restaurant.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Yelp · hauntedplaces.org · castlerockco.com · denvergazette.com
last checked: 2026-06-07