Strada Restaurant, Bath

The Strada restaurant in Beau Nash House, Saint John’s Place, Bath is beside the Theatre Royal and as the building name suggests it was lived in by the dandy Richard Beau Nash (Born 18 October 1674 – Died 3 February 1761). According to the Theatre Royal website, Strada is haunted by a ‘Vanishing Lady’.

The chain restaurant Strada replaced a French restaurant called Popjoy’s which was named after Juliana Popjoy (Born 1714 – Died 1777) the mistress of Beau Nash. When Nash’s finances hit difficulties in 1740, Juliana helped him move from his home (now the Garrick’s Head) into the property which is now Strada. Popjoy’s was thought to be haunted by two ghosts. The aforementioned vanishing lady appeared wearing 1960’s clothing and would be mistaken for a customer before disappearing. The second ghost was thought to be that of the restaurants namesake Juliana Popjoy.