Mike Butala grew up in Hermitage, graduated from Penn State Behrand and served as an engineer out west and in the midwest before returning with his wife Irene to southwestern Pennsylvania, where in August he opened Needle and Bean. The coffee and record shop sits along Castle Shannon Boulevard in Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s coffee and records store a chic local destination Story and Photos by Katherine Mansfield
Needle and Bean markets itself as “coffee and records,” but really, When Butala moved to Chicago, Reckless Records became his it’s a destination: a sleek space that smells like java, sounds like a go-to spot for all things music, but he had a hard time finding movie soundtrack and feels like a place in which one could start an coffee that suited his tastebuds. Finally, he discovered Just Coffee ink drawing, finish a novella or write a song. Cooperative in Madison, Wisconsin. “I wanted something for the community,” said Mike Butala, who Needle and Bean proudly serves (and sells bags of) Just Coffee. opened Needle and Bean along Castle Shannon Boulevard in Au- When Butala first conceptualized the coffee and record store, his gust. “We like people to drive here and visit from distances, but focus was mainly music. the big drive is the community that’s around us. It’s something “I wanted to have a record store that had just drip coffee. I local for everybody to enjoy.” thought that was a great idea because I would charge like a buck Butala grew up in Hermitage and, after graduating with a degree for a cup of coffee, and you can just have it while you’re looking in engineering from Penn State Behrend, moved west. A love for music began with a CD collection in his youth, and an affinity for at records,” Butala said. coffee started over cups with high school friends at the local Eat ‘n Park; both passions were cultivated in California.
But Butala’s wife Irene said the space needed more than just drip coffee. It needed an espresso machine.
“Around 2004, I got a turntable. I lived in San Diego at the time – not the good part – but the good part of that is that there are a lot of consignment stores. My roommate and I, every weekend we, would go to four different consignment shops. We would just get great albums for a dollar. You could really start to explore B sides and deeper cuts from things that you didn’t listen to that much,” Butala said. “During the work week, I would still make Folgers. Then we would just get either Pete’s or Starbucks, my roommate and I, and that would be our treat for the weekend.”
“It started snowballing and getting to be a completely different business idea,” Butala laughed. “That’s kind of how we ended up with what you see here.” Needle and Bean offers a full menu of drinks coffee shop-goers have come to expect, including flavored lattes crafted with house-made syrup, iced coffee and a selection of teas, pastries and chocolate (yes, there’s drip coffee on the menu, too, a nod to Butala’s original vision).
SOUTH HILLS LIVING | NOVEMBER 19, 2023 | 4
