About this Event
☾ About THE DINNER:
The Cedar Falls Ghost Tour and The Spire are teaming up to offer a one-of-a-kind culinary experience! Attendees will be given a private ~90-minute walking ghost tour, followed by a five-course gourmet meal centered around the stories on the tour. The dinner is hosted at the historic Black Hawk Hotel, and uses locally- and Indigenously-sourced ingredients in collaboration with over 20 area businesses.
As an attendee, your evening will look like this:
- 5:30pm - Private Ghost Tour
- 7:00pm - Five-Course Gourmet Dinner
- 9:00pm - Exclusive visit to the "Haunted" Hotel Room
The menu for the event includes*:
- Appetizer: Herbed Bread with Seasoned Butter
- First Course: Crawfish Beignets with Remoulade and Local Greens
- Second Course: Bison & Hominy Pozole
- Third Course: Sauerbraten Rouladen with Horseradish Potatoes and Ginger Snap Gravy
- Dessert: Hibiscus Tiramisu with Rosewater Ambrosia
- Drink: Seasonally Spiced Mulled Cider (non-alcoholic)
Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for attendees ages 21+, including a selection of custom cocktails crafted for this event!
Please note that this private gourmet dinner is paced a bit slower than a typical restaurant meal, so plan to sit back, relax, and enjoy great food with good company!
Want to check out some of our other seasonal experiences? Check out THE TOUR, THE HOUSE, THE INVESTIGATION, THE BOOK CLUB, and THE BODY.
*Note that there may be some adjustments to the menu ahead of the event, based on the availability of seasonal and local ingredients. Dietary restrictions cannot be accommodated due to the nature of this event.
☾ THE DINNER date (cost $90 + fees/tax):
- Sun 10/25, 5:30pm-9:30pm
Dinner sold out? You are welcome to join the waitlist. Don't lose hope—a few attendees are taken off the tour waitlist every year! To join the waitlist, click "Select a Date" to the right, then the "Tickets" button for your preferred date, and finally "Join Waitlist."
If there is only one ticket left and you would like to bring a friend, please purchase the single remaining ticket and then immediately email [email protected] to request an additional ticket.
☾ Notes for Purchasing Tickets:
Here are a few things to keep in mind while purchasing tickets:
- Party Details: At checkout, you will be asked for your name, the total size of your party, and the names of the people in your party. This way, whether you purchase tickets together or separately from your other party members, we are better able to plan seating arrangements that allow you to sit together. Don't know who will be joining you just yet? No problem, just enter "TBD Guest" or similar when prompted.
- Updates to Party: While tickets are non-refundable, it is permissible to swap out members of your party. Please email [email protected] by Wed 10/21 if you need to swap out members of your party.
- Dietary Considerations: Please note that substitutions or changes to the menu unfortunately cannot be accommodated. Due to the nature of the event, which requires sourcing specialty ingredients far in advance and then taking the time to hand-craft dozens of gourmet dishes, it is not possible to accommodate dietary restrictions. We encourage guests to review the menu and dietary information carefully before purchasing tickets. The menu contains or may contain gluten, dairy, egg, shellfish, meat, fish, soy, sesame, nuts, and pork.
- One Ticket Left? If there is only one ticket left for the event and you would like to bring one additional party member, please purchase the single remaining ticket and then immediately email [email protected] to request an additional ticket.
- Event sold out? You are welcome to join the waitlist. To join the waitlist, click the button to purchase tickets to the right and then "Join Waitlist".
- Looking to purchase tickets to our other experiences? If you'd like to explore and purchase tickets to our other seasonal experiences, you can do so here.
☾ About Your Hosts:
- Cedar Falls Ghost Tour: Cedar Falls Ghost Tour author and host Lauren Riensche is a Cedar Falls local and haunted history buff. Lauren has always been fascinated with the spooky stories that find themselves embedded in a community's history, and she has taken dozens of ghost tours in cities around the world. Now, she's excited to share that passion for the paranormal with you in this one-of-a-kind Cedar Falls ghost tour! To learn more, click here.
- The Spire: Chef Zach Gardner is a local culinary talent focused on local ingredients. His gourmet farm-to-table dinners have received rave reviews, and he has previously hosted pop-up meals at Doolittle Farms, The Rose Farm, The Ragged Edge, TwoMorrow's Acres, Thinkwell Coffee, the Cedar Falls Farmers Market, Second State Brewing, and many more locations. He collaborates with dozens of area producers to craft delicious and creative meals. Learn more here.
- The Black Hawk Hotel: At nearly 175 years old, the Black Hawk Hotel is the oldest continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi (and the second oldest in the country!). Steeped in history, the Black Hawk Hotel has quite a few spooky stories within its walls—and you'll have the exclusive ability to explore these tales in greater depth than our standard tour experience while attending this special dining event! The hotel is also pleased to offer a 10% discount to dinner guests who attend the tour—learn more about the hotel here. The discount code is provided in the ticket purchase confirmation email.
☾ Additional Information:
Thank you for supporting our small, local businesses! We look forward to hosting you!
Curious where your ticket spend goes? Read on below. Thank you for your support!
- Author and host time
- Research materials
- Tour hosting materials (e.g. first aid, handouts, props)
- Dinner hosting materials (e.g. dining sets, menus, kitchenware)
- Black Hawk Hotel event space
- Black Hawk Hotel event staffing
- Bar Winslow bartender staffing
- The Spire chef time and resources
- Support chef team time and resources (slower course pacing allows for a smaller team to reduce cost)
- Premium locally and ethically sourced ingredients (e.g. bison from the Iroquois Nation)
- Eventbrite fees (these continue to climb, if you have a better platform recommendation, let us know!)
- Local and State Tax
- To limit further costs, the dinner is hosted on a Sunday night to decrease disruption to Bar Winslow's business. Bar Winslow will be open to the public, but only via backdoor access. This should not impact the overall private atmosphere of the dinner, as only ticketed guests will be allowed to sit in the lobby.
Failure to comply with tour guidelines or engaging in disruptive behavior may result in dismissal from the tour, at the tour guide's discretion. No refunds will be issued for any circumstances other than severe inclement weather—if this occurs, your tour guide will inform you of tour changes via the contact information you provided during purchase. Please practice safety measures while on the tour—your tour guide is not responsible if you are injured or become a "ghost" yourself on this tour. All guests who purchase tickets must agree to a liability waiver at the time of purchase that applies to them and anyone in their party.
Have a question not answered above? Shoot us an email. We try our best to answer all emails within 48 hours. Please note that we cannot guarantee that tickets will still be available by the time your email is returned, as tickets are first-come, first-serve.
Interested in booking a private tour? To book, send an email to [email protected].
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Event venue & nearby stays
Overman Park, 316 West 3rd Street, Cedar Falls, United States
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