by Zara Yost
Image via Needle and Bean
Mike Butala has the disgruntled, satirical authentic record-store-owner-vibe down. An engineer by degree who worked in the corporate world, Butala was determined to make a significant shift in his life and realized he needed to move towards something more meaningful to him. You can find Butala slinging lungos and Americanos behind the bar. Most business owners lob the heavy lifting to employees–but not Butala. While Butala gives the busier shifts to the few new employees he’s hired, he maintains his interest in the store, talking and connecting with the community while serving coffee. “Why wouldn’t you want to be the barista of your own shop?” Butala says as we sit down together.
Needle and Bean has a clean, minimalist, modern aesthetic, complete with subway tile and a white coffee bar base with a wood countertop. The record shelves are also wooden, painted white on the base, with an exposed natural finish on the interior, giving a two-toned look. A few Peanuts comics are adorning the walls, and one large typography print says: Play it Loud!
According to Butala, his family and friends pitched in for the aesthetics. His sister created the logo, his wife, Irene, designed the shirts, and his friend drew up the plans for the space. Chocolates from Butala’s hometown bedeck the counter alongside the organic fair trade coffee he sells.
During our conversation, Butala and I delved into his experience working in different cities, including jobs offering financial promise, start-ups, and healthcare-related manufacturing. However, these jobs did not hold his passion or interest once the pandemic hit. For many, the pandemic served as a reset button, allowing a fresh start for those not living their desired lives. Who wouldn’t want to open a cozy coffee and record store of their favorite independent labels? Butala is far from Rob in High Fidelity, with his wife Irene and his mother helping at the shop. However, he is still committed to music, which motivates individuals to discuss the albums that have significantly impacted their lives.
Butala explains that he and his wife decided to open Needle & Bean after identifying their most significant expenses: coffee and records. They knew there were coffee shops around Sunset Hills and even looked at a place in Dormont. The commute was another main factor in choosing the location; he and his wife live over the hill, and Butala hates Pittsburgh traffic–but really, who can blame him? Via “The Cure for Loneliness” by Eliza Relman for Business Insider in September 2023, research has shown that access to “third places” such as coffee shops and parks, as well as living in walkable neighborhoods, improves well-being and social connectedness. “It makes all the sense in the world to have it where you live because you build these bonds with people in your neighborhood,” Butala says. I anxiously waited for the opening of Needle and Bean.
As a local in the South Hills, I spent weeks peeking in the store window while it was under construction, exclaiming when the coffee bar finally went in and the record shelves went up. I was greeted with the familiar sounds of the early aughts. Butala’s labels are harder to come by in record stores like Merge, Sub Pop, Paw Tracks, Warp, Matador, and Discord. They might carry a few, but hardly a store caters to them in the South Hills. I was pleasantly surprised; I tend towards the more experimental, electronic, and independent genres of music.
Besides the fantastic labels and records he sells, one of my main interests in Butala and Needle and Bean is our apparent shared connection with Reckless Records. This known and celebrated record store originated in London and opened its Chicago location in 1988. Reckless, as it’s familiarly termed, is a subculture in Chicago’s music scene, from its employees to the underground DIY music and art scene it follows.
I was fortunate to know a few people who worked there and even lived with someone who did. There is a profound sense of satisfaction and connection whenever I come across someone who shares my knowledge of the different Chicago neighborhoods. Chicago is one of the greatest cities of all time. Its people, culture, music, and art make it an unforgettable place. Those who have spent time there understand its allure. We chatted about Reckless Records as if it were an old friend, not just a space. I’m excited for Pittsburgh to have that sentiment in places like Needle and Bean.
Though I’m pretty sure I never met Butala in Chicago, I feel like I know him, and that’s poignant. There is something fascinating about spaces that bear witness to human experiences and serve as repositories of memories. Whether it is a bustling city street, a cozy coffee shop, or a majestic mountain range, these spaces have a way of capturing the essence of what it means to be human.
They are where we come together to share stories, ideas, and emotions and where we create the bonds and connections that make us a thriving society. Needle and Bean provides a unique experience that the Mount Lebanon community longs for–an opportunity to indulge in culture and explore music genres beyond the Pittsburgh norm. When I was growing up in a suburb of Atlanta, I often yearned for a place that could offer me both great music and a cozy ambiance to indulge in. Had there been a spot like Butala’s record and coffee shop nearby, I know my life would have been transformed in ways I can only imagine.
Restaurants, coffee shops, and record shops are spaces meant to be integrated into the community by people who revel in doing them. “There’s got to be something I can do to get in touch with people,” Butala says, “Things I like doing, not things I can do, but things I like doing.” We’re meant to share in life’s small pleasures, like sipping espresso and listening to the Cocteau Twins.
https://needle-bean.webflow.io
Zara Yost is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and writer living in Pittsburgh. Her career is heavily influenced by her time in Chicago’s music and art scene. She has written for publications such as Newcity, the Chicago Reader, and Fnewsmagazine. Zara is best known for her work with organizations such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, United States Artists, Boston Society for Architecture, and The Roberto Clemente Museum.
PETRICHOR 
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