McGarvey’s Saloon & Oyster Bar bartender and Annapolis legend Martin “Beans” Gardner celebrated 30 years on the job Friday.
The 53-year-old started the position back in 1996 as a way to pay for his college at Towson University. He liked it so much that he never left.
His legume-forward nickname came from former Annapolis Mayor Pip Moyer — sort of.
“[Moyer] just used to have a play on words for everybody’s name. And so my name is Martin. He called me Martini. Then, it became Beanie, somehow into Beans,” Gardner said.
Since he started at the job, he got married and had two kids. He joined when the bar was still run by its founder, Mike Ashford, who sold it to its current owners, Kevin Havens, Henry MacLaughlin Jr. and Christopher Hannon, in 2016. Gardner says both owners made it an easy decision to stay.
“The biggest thing that has kept me here for 30 years is the management, two sets of owners,” Gardner said. “They’ve all been great, and the management’s always been solid. And some of these places down here, they come and go, but McGarvey’s, we just celebrated our 50th anniversary last summer, and it’s kind of a staple of Annapolis.”
Gardner was attracted to the job because of his love of striking up conversations with different people. He said he’s seen generations come through, customers who, years later, brought their kids or even grandkids.
“When people think about McGarvey’s, and they come into town periodically or on vacation, they’re visiting their sons and daughters at the Naval Academy, or they were at the Naval Academy years ago, they all remember him,” said Alison McClune Thomas, the bar’s general manager. “He remembers everybody’s names and faces, and it’s really cool to have someone like that here.”
Gardner served as the grand marshal of Annapolis’ St. Patrick’s Day Parade back in 2024. McGarvey’s is also an annual stop for the Blue Angels’ flight demonstration team during Naval Academy Commissioning Week.
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