The Brothers Behind Mikey & Mel’s Bring New Life to The Essen Room

Natives of Cleveland, in an area dense with delis, Aaron and Harley Magden moved to Howard County in 2006 to start a window replacement business. The brothers were soon struck by the utter absence of the authentic Jewish delicatessens of their youth.

“At that time there was still Suburban House, Lenny’s, and EdMart,” says Aaron, “and there were places downtown but nothing where we lived.”

So, after selling Window Nation—it went on to become the largest independent window replacement business in the country—they decided to do something about it.

“In 2006, our grandfather Mel passed away,” says Aaron (pictured left with Harley, above). “And in 2018, our father, Mike, passed away, so we were like, ‘Why don’t we open our own Jewish deli and name it Mikey & Mel’s Famous Deli?’ At the time, Harley and I were looking at each other like, ‘We have no freakin’ idea what we’re doing, but we’re entrepreneurs.’”

To help them launch their new business, they consulted Pikesville’s The Essen Room deli owner Lou Ellison. And by February 2020, they opened their first Mikey & Mel’s in Fulton, with a second spot opening near The White House in D.C. in December 2024. In March of this year, the duo purchased The Essen Room from Ellison, rebranding it Mikey & Mel’s.

“We opened in Howard County, even though the area isn’t overly concentrated with Jewish people,” says Aaron. “But customers come because the food is just good—especially the younger generation who think a sandwich equals Jimmy John’s or Subway.”

Thanks to Mikey & Mel’s, they can now taste the difference.

Were there particular places that inspired you when you were creating your deli?
I ate all over the country and did reviews of corned beef, pastrami, and matzoh ball soup. But I was really inspired by 2nd Ave Deli in New York, Katz’s Delicatessen, and Corky and Lenny’s in Cleveland.

What changes are you making to The Essen Room other than changing the name?
The Essen Room didn’t do third party delivery—we do. We expanded our hours to open at 7 a.m. to catch the breakfast crowd. And space-wise, we are expanding to the old barbershop next door to make it even larger, for a total of 90 seats with booths and a big family table. We’re going to add more massive sandwiches like The Larry David, The Spielberg, and The Seinfeld.

What about your baked goods?
We still make the knishes in-house and the challah and rye are sourced locally from Rosendorff’s but the bagels at Essen were terrible. People would come in with their own bag of bagels and order an omelet or lox and cream cheese. We are now sourcing our bagels from Ess-a-Bagel in New York. They come par-baked and we cook them here.

Will you still have the pickle bar?
Absolutely. I’m a pickle snob. Essen had four or five types; we will have 10. It’s all-you-can-eat.

Do you have a favorite of those specialty sandwiches?
The Aaron, of course. It’s corned beef, pastrami, turkey breast, rare roast beef, and Swiss cheese, potato salad, and Russian dressing.

Tell me about the new décor.
It will be modern but also have a vintage feel with collage wallpaper of old Jewish delis from the ’20s. There will also be a large delicatessen sign with lightbulbs like you see in old movie theaters—and there will be pictures of our father and grandfather.