When you talk about a business like Davis’ Pub in Annapolis, you don’t refer to its longevity in years. You tell tales of its evolution and survival in terms of decades. In the 1920s, on the corner of 4th and Chester Ave., lifelong Eastport businessman George Washington Davis opened a general store. Two decades later, his business had evolved to be known as Davis’ Lounge, serving the local, predominantly black watermen in the neighborhood. In 1986, a decade after Davis’ death at the age of 92, the building became known as it is today, Davis’ Pub.
Current proprietor Kevin Colbeck has been working there nearly three decades. In a recent interview with the Beverage Journal, he remarked, “I started at Davis’ Pub as a bartender and thought it was just going to be a summertime job. That was close to 30 years ago! While the neighborhood has changed quite a bit, there’s been no need to reinvent the wheel. We’ve tweaked the menu a bit and made it more health-conscious. But we have a lot of the old-school stuff on there.”