For Aaron Magden and his brother Harley, entering the restaurant business wasn’t their first plan.
The Magden brothers founded window-replacement business Window Nation in the early 2000s, but when their father passed away in 2018, they decided they wanted to honor him, their grandfather and the family’s legacy.
So, they opened Mikey and Mel’s Deli in Fulton, an old-fashioned spot meant to hearken back to the Jewish delis their family frequented while they grew up in Cleveland. The Magdens built Window Nation into a huge success, but the restaurant business is known to be an especially unforgiving one.
Now, they are taking on a new challenge, purchasing the legendary Essen Room deli in Pikesville, with plans to continue its legacy and slowly transition it into the third Mikey and Mel’s location.
“Running a deli, specifically, is just a tough, tough business,” Aaron Magden said. “But we’ve managed to open up from scratch, and The Essen Room has the foundation and everything there. We’re just going to be able to run it more efficiently and expand it and just get more of the community out there to experience Eastern European Jewish food.”
The success of Mikey and Mel’s, which opened a second location in Washington, D.C., in early 2025, is a testament to their work ethic and the quality of their food, Magden said.
The menu has classics — like corned beef on rye, matzah ball soup and bagels with lox — as well as creative additions like loaded fries with brisket, onions and barbecue sauce, and babka french toast.
The Essen Room’s owners wanted to retire, according to Magden, which resulted in them closing the restaurant on Mondays and operating with more limited hours than some peer businesses. The Magden brothers saw a chance to take a beloved restaurant and usher it into its next stage of life. Since taking it over a few weeks ago, regular customers have continued to come. Magden said that, today, there are barely any differences between the old Essen Room and what exists on Hooks Lane in Pikesville today.
“If you walked in today, you wouldn’t even be able to tell that ownership has changed [other than] the receipt says Mikey and Mel’s,” he said. “You don’t want to mess with a good thing, right? And quite frankly, a lot of the stuff at Mikey and Mel’s originated at The Essen Room, because one of the owners consulted with us and helped us build it. It’s almost like it’s come full circle.”
Magden said that he was enjoying a sandwich at The Essen Room when it all clicked — this was how he would honor his dad and grandfather.
“I said, ‘this is great. We should just try to replicate this,’” he said.
But for the brothers, it’s about more than just their family. It’s also about preserving Jewish tradition.
“A lot of the younger generation, they’ve never really experienced deli food. To them, a deli is like going to Subway or Jimmy John’s or Quiznos,” Magden said. “If I can get the younger crowd into our place of business, they’re going to be like, ‘wow, I love corned beef,’ or brisket or latkes.”
The menu at the new Mikey and Mel’s location will be virtually the same as the one at The Essen Room, with Magden saying that the team “may add some specialty sandwiches,” but that everything else will remain as is.
Next door to The Essen Room is a small storefront that the brothers will take over in order to expand the dining room and offer customers a bit more space. They also plan to “freshen up” the interior a bit, refurbish the bathrooms and expand the hours to open earlier so that the early-bird breakfast crowd can enjoy the deli, too.
It’s a great opportunity for the Magden brothers to expand their business, but it’s also an opportunity for the local community to continue to enjoy classic Jewish fare at a familiar location.
“We’re just going to keep moving forward and support the Jewish community,” Magden said.
