Carluccio's Tivoli Gardens: where Liberace's spirit lives on?
Off the Las Vegas Strip, Carluccio’s Tivoli Gardens is an atmospheric restaurant where you can enjoy delicious food, wine, and spirits — though the latter may have nothing to with what’s in your glass.
Amidst the generous portions of traditional Italian and Italian-American cuisine and full line of wines and alcoholic beverages, you just might find yourself with an unexpected — and ghostly — dinner companion.
Located next to the Liberace Museum, Carluccio's Tivoli Gardens has been investigated no less than five times by paranormal researchers, who witnessed unexplained noises and lights and even saw an apparition.
The restaurant even made national television, including the Travel Channel and "The Montel Williams Show”!
The restaurant was opened by Liberace, who owned the entire shopping center, in 1983. When Liberace died on February 3, 1987, the space stood vacant for more than a year until the Carluccio family purchased it.
Believers say the ghostly encounters began right after Liberace passed, with reports of odd noises, objects falling for no reason and glimpses of unexplained movement.
John Hosier, who bought the restaurant from the Carluccio family in 1999, said activity peaks on Feb. 4, the anniversary of Liberace's death, and on May 16, his birthday. "We lose power just in this building; appliances break down, and toilets flush by themselves. The phenomenon is strongest near Liberace’s piano but employees have experienced cold spots and unexplained noises throughout the restaurant.”
Hosier has kept the venue exactly as it was when Liberace owned it, decorated it, entertained in it and cooked for his good friends like Debbie Reynolds and Rip Taylor.
At one time, it was a popular hangout for “The Chicago Outfit,” including the Spilatro Brothers. The restaurant has a piano lounge, two banquet rooms and a private dining room called The Mafia Room.
Anthony Spilatro showed the cook how to clean and cook calamari the Sicilian way, and it’s been on the menu that way ever since. The deep-fried calamari appetizer is priced at $6.99, while the linguini with calamari, simmered in a red (hot) or white (mild) sauce, goes for $14.99.
Focusing on homemade Italian food like Mama used to make, the menu boasts a wide array of hot and cold appetizers, pastas; chicken, veal and seafood dishes, as well as steak, thick Silician-style pizza, salads and desserts. Click here for the menu.
If you think you’re going to find better food in a place with more history, you don’t stand a ghost of a chance.
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- by Bobbie Katz, Las Vegas Reporter for HelloMetro
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