Savannah's haunted pub crawls finish here. McDonough's is the last stop on the Savannah Haunted Pub Crawl, and the #1 Ghost Tour lists it among the city's haunted places to eat and drink. As the story is told on those tours, the bar is haunted by a former bartender who never quite clocked out. Staff and regulars describe glasses moving on their own and voices no one can account for.

Local guide 'Guy in the Kilt' tells of the strangest night he spent here. He was unwinding at the bar after a long tour, among the usual noise of glasses and music, when a sudden cold came over him, the kind that seems to come from inside rather than through a door. Then he felt two arms wrap around him from behind, a firm, gentle and almost motherly embrace that lasted a few seconds. When he turned around, no one was there, and no one else had noticed a thing. He still can't say who or what it was, only that, in a city full of heavy grief, it was kind.