Fire closes a ‘neighborhood institution’ in Charles Village
None hurt in grease blaze; pub’s owner says he hopes to reopen in 2 to 3 weeks
The Charles Village Pub, a “neighborhood institution” known for its unpretentious atmosphere with a crew of devoted regulars, will be closed indefinitely after a Tuesday morning grease fire in the kitchen.
The fire already had been extinguished by the time firefighters arrived at the scene before 10 a.m., said Blair Skinner, spokeswoman for the Baltimore Fire Department.
No one was hurt, but the Fire Department remained on the scene to monitor for hot spots.
A smoky smell lingered inside Tuesday afternoon as the bar’s owner, Tony Weir, and Amanda Coyle, the manager, straightened things out.
“We’ve got some leg work to do," Coyle said. “We’re gonna be back.”
Weir said he hopes they’ll be able to reopen within two to three weeks.
“We’ve only got like 17 employees. We don’t want them to have to go get other jobs,” Weir said.
Alex Leach rushed to the pub Tuesday morning to see it for himself after his friends texted him the news.
“It’s a really devastating loss,” said Leach, who calls the pub’s staff his “second family.”
Leach, who works for a cannabis grower in Washington, set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for employees.
“There’s a lot of people who work there that have kids and mortgages,” he said.
As of Tuesday evening, the account had raised $880 toward a goal of $5,000.
Charles Village Pub, also known as CVP, opened in the 1980s. Before that, it was a restaurant called the Blue Jay, which opened in the 1930s.
In its several decades of operation, the pub has attracted a diverse crowd — everyone from “quiet poets to extroverted beer drinkers,” said Carol AndersonAustra, who lives nearby.
The crowds could get loud on Friday nights, she said with a laugh. Sometimes, people gather outside and listen to a car radio.
“It is a neighborhood institution,” she said. Leach agreed. “It’s a place for wayward souls,” he said. “This is like one of the last bastions of ‘Old Baltimore.’ They’re not charging $12 for a cocktail like places up in Hampden are.”
The pub retained that local identity even the neighborhood became increasingly dominated by trendy eateries, chain restaurants and coffee shops attracted by the Johns Hopkins University and its students.
The place, Leach said, “transcends generations.” His father pulled him to the bar on a sled during a blizzard. Today, Leach, 25, remains a habitue, coming by every day — sometimes in the morning before work, sometimes in the evening after. He always gets a chicken quesadilla.
“It’s just been like a massive staple in the community for a very long time,” he said.
Leach said he doesn’t know where he’ll go while he waits for the pub to reopen.
In Charles Village, he said, “there aren’t really any other options.”