By the corner of Thomas Street, Downtown Bel Air is a fairly new restaurant, the Vagabond Sandwich Company. The restaurant was opened three and a half years ago and has been a popular destination since.

The founder of Vagabond is Ben Meyer, who traveled the U.S. when he wasn’t flying around the world and seeing other countries. Meyer’s extended family is from California, so he is used to travelling and going on road trips to visit them.

Meyer travelled all over the country, but always came back to his hometown of Bel Air, Maryland. He started working in restaurants and worked his way up in the food industry.

“My first job was in a restaurant called Heaps to Eat Cafe, which was behind what is now Pairings Bistro. I was 13, and Bel Air was much smaller. The Festival Shopping Center was just being built, and there was no Route 24. Well, there was, but it was what is now called 924,” Meyer explained.

After working in the restaurant business for years as a kid, Meyer fell in love with the industry and wanted to pursue a career in it. He purchased a closing restaurant, Dillweeds, after selling nearly everything that he owned, and renamed it Vagabond Sandwich Company.

Vagabond’s logo is the hobo symbol for Courthouse which Ben explains, “Being sandwiched between two of them, I thought it was relevant.” referencing when he was arrested for “Rogue and Vagabond” when he was 20 while loitering in an empty parking lot, waiting for a friend. This experience inspired Ben to make a burger and name it the “Rogue Burger.”

Ben uses other memorabilia to make his restaurant unique, such as interesting names for entrees and licenses plates from around the country and quirky decor that gives the place a cozy feel for all to enjoy.