ANSONIA – It took less than a week for the Haluschak sisters to decide to purchase the former Uptown Bar and Eatery on Main Street.
The idea came from a Thanksgiving family chat in 2024 – and a month later, the trio were being handed keys as they prepared to oversee their first shift on Christmas Eve that year.
Now, a year and a half out, they’re switching up the restaurant’s name. The three sisters – Mikhalia, 32, AmityRaye, 27, and Delia, 19 – celebrated the rebranding to “M.A.D. Sisters Kitchen & Cocktails” in a ceremony July 13.
“It’s overwhelming, the amount of support we had,” said AmityRaye in an interview July 16. “It takes a village to do something like this, and I don’t think that we would be able to do it without the people that we have supporting us.”
First known as Crave when it opened under former owner Libby Meissner in 2007, it led the downtown restaurant renaissance.
The fixture at 102 Main St. has undergone a few changes since the sisters took over – including a new seasonal menu, events including bingo and trivia, and a sprucing-up with live plants adorning the walls near the front entrance.
Mikhalia, who serves as the bar’s head chef, said there’s a spirit of adventure that guides the menu selections.
“I’m asking questions, like, what do you guys want to see this weekend? What can I put on that’s different, that you haven’t seen before?” Mikhalia said.
The drink menu is a site for experimentation, too. AmityRaye, who leads the front-end staff and works the bar, recently rolled out a Mexican chocolate cocktail with habanero bitters, served alongside classics including espresso martinis.
And while there’s a lot new, there’s a lot the sisters chose to keep, too. Staples such as bang bang shrimp and veggie chips are still on the menu, prepared by many of the same employees who were around under the prior ownership.
AmityRaye said that stepping in to lead the staff of about 17 people was a challenge at first. She said the first months on the job included taking notes and listening to the employees who were already there.
“As two young women, it’s hard for us to even get in that head space of stepping into the role of a boss and an owner,” AmityRaye.
Mikhalia agreed, saying that the adjustment is ongoing.
“It’s been a year and half. Somebody calls me boss, like oh my gosh. I’m 32 years old, what do you mean I’m your boss?” Mikhalia said.
They each said they were inspired by their mom, who encouraged them to purchase the bar from Meissner. Both sisters had worked in the bar industry before making the leap, just as their mother had, too.
“Our mom always wanted to own a bar. She’d been in the industry her whole life. And she is a huge part of this, and was a huge part of the decision-making,” AmityRaye said. “She’s like, “I’m going to live vicariously through you girls. I always wanted to do it. I never did. You should go for it. Whatever I could do to make this happen, we’re going to make this happen.””
AmityRaye said their mom continues to be involved with the bar behind-the-scenes, along with a whole host of family and friends. Foremost among them is the pair’s younger sister, Delia, who helps them handle invoices and paperwork.
“She’s the woman behind the curtain,” AmityRaye said.
The name M.A.D. Sisters – formed from the three sisters’ initials – took time to land on. AmityRaye said other options they considered included The Rabbit Hole (from Mikhalia’s love for “Alice in Wonderland”) and Here And There (for the wide variety of cuisine options on the menu).
It was their mom’s best friend, who previously worked as a marketing director at Yale University and now helps with the bar’s website and advertising, who helped them settle on their new name and logo, AmityRaye said.
The sisters are all Valley natives, having grown up between Shelton and Oxford. AmityRaye and Delia both live in Oxford with their mom, while Mikhalia recently moved back down to Shelton, where she lives with her boyfriend.
Both Mikhalia and AmityRaye credited their boyfriends, who work in IT and construction respectively, with helping the bar, too.
“(AmityRaye’s) boyfriend was just up on our roof a month ago because our roof was leaking,” Mikhalia said.
The sisters said they’ve been overwhelmed with support from their regulars and the community. Mikhalia said one regular has fixed their A/C and cleaned their vents in the past. She said he tried to refuse payment after doing so.
“I’m like, ‘Okay, where’s my bill?’ He said don’t worry about it. I’m like, ‘You also have a business, I need to support yours as well,’” Mikhalia said.
Going forward, Mikhalia and AmityRaye said they plan to continue making the place their own while fleshing out the bar with input from their patrons. AmityRaye said she’s looking at getting bands to play at the bar on weekends, in addition to the acoustic acts who currently perform.
“We wanted it to feel like (it’s) for people. We wanted everyone to be able to walk in, whether it was with their friends, their family, by themselves, and be able to have a seat at the bar or a table and feel comfortable,” AmityRaye said.
M.A.D. Sisters Kitchen & Cocktails is open from 4 to 11 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 12 to 11 p.m. Thursday, 12 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
(The kitchen closes at 9 p.m. from Monday through Thursday. The kitchen closes at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.)
You can visit their website here. M.A.D. Sisters is also on Facebook.