Today we’d like to introduce you to Krista Cushman
Hi Krista, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am native to Baltimore. I tease that I tried to move away a couple times, but Baltimore kept pulling me back in. In 2014 I opened my first business Mutt Mart, a pet supplies store in Hamilton. It was a passion project designed to help animal rescues and shelters, and also educate the public about healthy pet food and treats. Sadly, like many small businesses, Covid led to stress, burn out and eventually financial downturn. I closed the business in 2022, and I swore I would never run my own company ever again. Never say never! My partner at the time, Michael “Micky” White, grew up in the restaurant industry, His parents owned a restaurant, and it was always a dream of his to open his own place. The restaurant formerly known as Char’d City went up for sale, and we began talks with the owner. We eventually struck a deal and opened Micky’s Joint on December 16th, 2023. Char’d City had installed a large, beautiful brick oven, so we added wood fired pizza to our menu of sandwiches, burgers, salads, and elevated bar food. In addition to tasty food, we have a full bar and calendar of events including live music, karaoke, fundraisers, & tap takeovers with local breweries. Micky’s Joint is a friendly, welcoming neighborhood watering hole with lots of fun happenings.
White has since left the business, and now Micky’s Joint is a woman owned independent business.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think any restaurant owner can claim a smooth road at any point. Owning your own business takes an immense amount of dedication, problem solving, and perseverance, not to mention money. Since we took over the business, almost every piece of equipment either needed to be serviced or replaced. Micky and I struggled to maintain a relationship and run a business together. We came to an agreement that I would buy him out of the restaurant, but that was a slow process with lots of compromises for both parties. Financially I am still struggling to balance the debt with sales, but the company is moving in a better direction, and hopefully within a few years we will be stable. I am very fortunate to have a hard-working, dedicated staff that has created a great regular customer base. I’m sure there will be plenty of bumps in the road ahead, but we have a lot of support from the neighborhood so I hope the joint will be here to stay for many years.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Micky’s Joint?
Micky’s Joint is a woman owned neighborhood watering hole with wood fired pizza, smash burgers, elevated bar food, craft beer, organic wine, spirit-forward cocktails, and live entertainment. We are most known for our smash burgers, wood fired and then fried chicken wings, wood fired pizza, live music, and a very friendly, casual vibe.
I think you can find good food in SO many Baltimore bars and restaurants. I wanted to create an environment where everyone feels welcome and appreciated, and is guaranteed to have a good time. Single women feel comfortable sitting at our bar alone, and I am very proud of that. Whether you are looking for a night out with family, friends, your kids, or hanging at the bar solo, Micky’s Joint is a great gathering space.
Some fun things you will experience at the joint begin as soon as you find a seat: our menus are displayed in record album covers (some of our favorites are KC and the Sunshine Gang, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton, and Tina Turner). In addition to the menu, there are coloring pages and activities for all ages in the back of the menu , as well as crayons at every table. We also have a shelf stocked with board games.
We host live music every week and it’s always free! We strive to offer a variety of entertainment including but not limited to folk, jazz, indie rock, punk, bluegrass, and rock & roll. We are excited to host our first Beatbox Bingo in January, a comedy night in March, and traditional Irish music on the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day.
I am organizing and coordinating the first ever HART Festival (Hamilton Art Festival) taking place May 2nd – 4th. The HART Festival is not a traditional street festival, but rather an expansive art crawl in Hamilton where businesses open their doors, walls, windows and stages to artists for an entire weekend. There will be comedy, visionary arts, live music, theater, workshops, performances, classes and so much more. The festival is free and held rain or shine. We are hopeful that this event will become an annual event and will put Hamilton’s thriving art culture on the map.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in Baltimore with a passion for animals, art and the environment. I especially loved photography and sewing. I made my own reusable shopping bags way before that was cool or the social norm. I was hopeful to pursue a degree in art, but settled on Elementary Education at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC. Warren Wilson is a very progressive working college where all students have a job on campus. One of my favorite jobs was Sage Cafe, the coffee shop on campus. We served coffee and snacks to students up late studying. We also hosted live music on the weekends. Another job on campus I loved was the recycling crew. In addition to making sure recyclables stayed out of the trash, and vice versa, we also operated a “free store” on campus. Students could drop off unwanted items, and sometimes we rescued usable items from the trash. This concept stuck with me, and I implemented it at my pet supplies store Mutt Mart. In the basement, we had a huge room dedicated to donations for rescue foster families. We gave countless beds, bowls, toys, food, treats, crates, collars, and so much more to folks willing to foster animals. We also took countless car loads of supplies to BARCS.
Opening up Mutt Mart was a fun passion project where I got to be creative and help animals under the same roof. I was making dog toys, creating merchandise displays, coming up with fun and engaging social media content, hosting fundraising events, and so much more. If I was a wealthy person, I would have loved to keep that business going, but there is just so little profit in retail, and I gave what little profits we made to rescues and shelters.
I never thought I would ever dabble in the restaurant industry, but no regrets. I am once again able to help animals by hosting fundraisers for rescues and shelters, and I have a lot of creative outlets through signage, social media, curating the art on the walls, and our silly menu activities. I also love live music, and it’s been wonderful to give local musicians a performance space in Northeast Baltimore. I also work part time as the Neighborhood Marketing Coordinator for Hamilton Lauraville Main Street, a non-profit that assists community organizations and small businesses in our area. I attend events spreading the good word about our neighborhood, create marketing materials for our area, and educate residents (and soon to become residents) about our Healthy Neighborhoods loan and grant programs.
Pricing:
- We are very affordable. The joint is restaurant you can afford to go to often.
- Smash Burger starting at $12.99
- Chicken Wings $13.99
- Wood Fired Pizza starting at $13.99
- Grilled Donuts $7.99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sites.google.com/view/mickysjoint/home
- Instagram: @mickysjointhamilton
- Facebook: @mickysjoint
