撸先生

Through a three-alarm fire and a pandemic, Towson鈥檚 Charles Village Pub perseveres.

By Rebecca Kirkman
Photography by Alexander Wright 鈥�18

Back in her undergraduate days, Shelby Sirkis 鈥�06 and her friends would meet at & Patio in uptown Towson most weekends. Known to locals simply as CVP, the pub on West Pennsylvania Avenue has been a favorite for generations of 撸先生 students, faculty and staff since it opened in 1985.

For Sirkis, though, the place holds more than collegiate nostalgia. One night in 2004, she and her friends were hanging out by the pool table on the second floor when she got up the courage to introduce herself to Jason Dorich 鈥�05, an upperclassman who had caught her eye around campus. They started talking and hit it off.

Seven years later, Sirkis and Dorich married. In the decade since, the Timonium couple has returned to CVP for occasions big and small. They hosted private parties at the pub to celebrate Dorich鈥檚 30th birthday in 2012, as well as the first birthdays of their three children鈥擟olby, 7, Madison, 4, and Jordy, 2.

It鈥檚 a story familiar to many: The Tiger watering hole has a way of bringing people together.

In fact, CVP鈥檚 current co-owners Eric Wagner 鈥�94, Melony Wagner 鈥�97 and Rick Bielski 鈥�84 met working at the pub in the 1990s.

A Pennsylvania native, Eric transferred to then-Towson State University from Allegheny Community College in 1992 to play shortstop on the . CVP, he says, was a favorite post-game gathering spot for the players and their families.

After graduating with a sports management degree, Eric worked behind the bar. That鈥檚 where he met Melony, a 撸先生 accounting student, in 1995. They married two years later.

鈥淗e wore me down,鈥� Melony says of their courtship. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure Eric remembers it differently, though,鈥� she adds with a laugh. Their wedding in Jamaica was planned by CVP DJ Dino Luzzi 鈥�87, who also owns Towson-based travel agency Town & Country. Many of their friends and family at the wedding were 撸先生 alumni, pub employees or both.

In 1999, the couple paired up with Bielski to purchase the pub that brought them together. Bielski had founded the original Charles Village Pub on St. Paul Street in Baltimore in 1981 with his brother, Randy, and a few other former Tiger student-athletes, and spinoffs in Towson and Catonsville followed. (The Catonsville location has since closed, and the Baltimore location was sold in the early 鈥�90s.)

鈥淲e saw it as a great opportunity to buy into something we loved and we were interested in,鈥� Eric says. While the couple embarked on their professional careers鈥擡ric in building material sales and Melony as a CPA鈥攖hey continued working a few shifts a week at the restaurant.

In an industry with razor-thin margins, the Wagners have navigated countless challenges, from increased competition to a three-alarm fire in 2011 and the novel coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Through it all, though, the pub has persevered.

From a seat at CVP鈥檚 back bar, Eric reflects on the past two decades. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a rocky road,鈥� he says. 鈥淎 lot has happened in these 22 years.鈥�

It鈥檚 mid-day on a Monday in February, nearly a year into the pandemic, and restaurants in Baltimore County remain restricted to 50 percent of their normal occupancy levels in an effort to curb the virus鈥� spread. In reality, the percentage they can accommodate is much lower, Wagner says, due to the spacing of tables to comply with physical distancing regulations. The spot鈥檚 typical lunchtime crowd has given way to a few in-person diners and a trickling stream of nearby office workers picking up carryout. Next to a sign advertising the daily specials鈥攈alf-price burgers on Mondays, bottomless brunch on the weekends鈥攁nother reminds patrons to observe distancing and face covering regulations.

鈥淲e have a very big building with a big mortgage that we鈥檙e not allowed to fill up to pay the bills,鈥� Eric says. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 really been the most stressful part of all this.鈥�

Normally, CVP can accommodate 600 guests across four bars spread over two floors, a back patio and rooftop deck. While in-person dining continues to make up about 60 percent of business, the Wagners quickly pivoted to increase their carryout, curbside pickup and delivery options to stay afloat. More than 30 private parties, which normally would have carried the restaurant through the slower winter months, had to be canceled. Deposits were refunded.

鈥淭he biggest hit to us was over the holidays with private events,鈥� Eric says. 鈥淎 lot of our customers are so loyal they are already booking smaller events six months down the road, in hopes that this is over with by that point.鈥�

It鈥檚 just one example of the devoted following CVP has earned over its more than three decades in Towson.

When shutdowns forced the Wagners to lay off dozens of employees last March, Melony leaned on a group of moms from her son鈥檚 soccer club for support. 鈥淲e live up in Hunt Valley, and it's more secluded; there's not as many local businesses, so they weren't seeing the impact of the shutdowns firsthand,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut when I opened up to them about it, they really stepped up to help.鈥�

One of the moms asked if she could buy 25 meals for the pharmacy at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, where her husband worked. 鈥淪he鈥檚 like, 鈥楥an you guys deliver?鈥欌�� Melony says. 鈥淲e had never done that before, but I was like, 鈥楽ure!鈥欌��

After fielding a few similar requests, the group of parents launched 鈥淥ne Team, One Goal,鈥� an initiative through which the public could purchase lunches and dinners from CVP to be delivered to Baltimore County police and firefighters as well as staff at St. Joseph, Sheppard Pratt Hospital, University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and GBMC (Greater Baltimore Medical Center). By the summer, they had delivered nearly 4,000 meals.

鈥淭hat really helped keep us afloat for the first six to eight weeks,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was wonderful. The Towson community really rallied around us.鈥�

The feeling recalled memories of a decade prior, when a three-alarm kitchen fire on Jan. 29, 2011, destroyed the original building. After 18 months of rebuilding, the space reopened to much fanfare from the community. A tip bell, now mounted on the rooftop bar, was one of the only pieces from the original building to survive the fire.

When 撸先生 football head coach Rob Ambrose 鈥�93 heard about the fire, it was 鈥渆xtremely depressing,鈥� he says.

鈥淲e all kind of held our breath for a while, hoping and praying that it would get rebuilt,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen it reopened, it felt like a weight was lifted off. You didn鈥檛 lose what was a big part of your past and so many memories.鈥�

Ambrose equates the relationship between CVP and 撸先生 to that of family.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been a tie there for as long as I can remember, specifically athletically, because of the people who were involved in the restaurant,鈥� says Ambrose, who played quarterback and then wide receiver for the Tigers before returning as a coach in 2009. Ambrose and Eric Wagner met as student-athletes and became closer over their connections to CVP.

鈥淲e take care of each other,鈥� he says, referencing an annual golf tournament CVP hosts to benefit 撸先生 Athletics. 鈥淭hey are invested in the athletic prominence of our university, and we鈥檙e invested in that place as part of our past and our future.鈥�

CVP鈥檚 tie to local sports goes back even further鈥擱ick Bielski鈥檚 father, Baltimore native Dick Bielski, played football at Patterson Park High School and the University of Maryland before ending a nine-year NFL career with the Baltimore Colts. He went on to serve as an assistant coach on the team for 14 years. His sons Rick and Randy played football at 撸先生 in the early 鈥�80s before getting into the restaurant business. A framed green No. 36 jersey, from Dick鈥檚 time as a running back for the Philadelphia Eagles, hangs next to a Tigers jersey in the hallway to CVP鈥檚 back bar.

鈥淚t might be the most frequented restaurant in the entirety of my life,鈥� Ambrose says of CVP. 鈥淪ome things end up being memorable and pillars of the community, and they can鈥檛 help but be one.鈥�

Dan Crowley 鈥�01, senior associate director of 撸先生 Athletics, can relate. The former Tiger quarterback has treasured his time at CVP.

鈥淢y best memory is probably after our last home football game in 1994,鈥� he says. The Tigers beat Morgan State 42-7 that day. 鈥淭here were about a dozen players, families, several coaches, and we sat on what was then the back patio. My family loved to come up and go there after games.鈥�

It鈥檚 also part of the 撸先生 experience he shares with prospective student-athletes and their families when he gives tours on campus. 鈥淚 always mention CVP as the longest-lasting restaurant owned by not just 撸先生 graduates but former athletes,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a local staple but also a stomping ground for all 撸先生 alumni.鈥�

CVP continues to be embraced by the newest generation of Tigers. In fact, Ambrose鈥檚 daughter, Grace Ambrose 鈥�22, who plays soccer at 撸先生, picked up shifts at CVP over the summer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit odd for me to have my daughter working at a bar we went to in college,鈥� Ambrose says with a laugh. 鈥淭here are a lot of bars that come and go, but there aren鈥檛 too many that have been here forever, and I hope it stays that way.鈥�

Rebecca Kirkman is a communications strategist in University Marketing & Communications and a Baltimore magazine contributing writer.