Meet Kristina Magro
- Feb 4, 2015
- 2 min read
KRISTINA MAGRO 25, Ukrainian Village
Behind the bar: Thursdays-Saturdays at Fulton Market Kitchen in the West Loop, Sundays at Bordel in Wicker Park
Bartending bio: "It was the diviest of all dive bars," said Kristina of her first bartending gig at age 19. "You were just popping bottles [of beer] and shots of whiskey. I genuinely don't think I ever made a cocktail there." At 21, she started bartending at Jameson's in Joliet, near her hometown of Channahon, Ill. "That's where I learned how to speed bartend and make the best chocolate martini in the world," she said. (The secret? Frangelico and heavy whipping cream.) After moving to Chicago, she worked at Lincoln Park sports bar Derby and then The Local in the Gold Coast. "All I did was make vodka martinis and stuff blue cheese olives over there," she said of the latter. "I would try to do fun things with the menu, but nobody really got it." Hanging out at Drumbar across the street inspired her to learn more about craft cocktails. "I just thought it was so cool. They've got dropper bottles, and they're lighting things on fire," she said. "Working at a steakhouse, you become very educated in wine, but I really wanted to be well-rounded in spirits as well." She joined the team opening massive bar and restaurant Fulton Market Kitchen last year and also works one shift a week at Bordel, a little speakeasy-style bar from the same owners.
Signature drink: My Other Car is the Batmobile, a pisco-based cocktail with citrus juice, pear cider and chai tea-brown sugar syrup ($13 at FMK)
Bartending style: Kristina likes getting to know her customers, but getting them talking to each other is also part of what makes a fun night out for everyone. "People come to a bar because they want to have fun and feel cool. … I try to get people at my bar to talk to each other … so you can show up by yourself and still have fun."
Competitive spirit: Kristina recently participated in San Antonio Cocktail Conference and Portland Cocktail Week. She's trying to push outside her comfort zone by participating in a few competitions this year, such as Speed Rack, an event for female bartenders that raises money for breast cancer research.
When she's not bartending: She collects vinyl (motown, blues, classic rock) and plays the ukelele. "I really, really wanted to play guitar when I was younger, but I have really small hands. and it just wasn't working out," she said. Free ukelele lessons at Guitar Center inspired her to pick it up.
Drink of choice: "I like a nice High Life because it's quick and refreshing," she said. "On cold winter days, I love scotch or whiskey, but I'm also super into rum. I think it's a very underrated category. It's very versatile."
Off-duty hangouts: Drumbar, Bar DeVille, Sportsman's Club, The Dawson, Lone Wolf
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The Gold Coast sports bar crowd wanted vodka martinis and blue cheese olives, and there is nothing wrong with that — but it was clearly not the canvas that Kristina needed to develop her full range as a bartender. The fact that she found her way to venues where dropper bottles and open flames are not just permitted but celebrated is a reminder that career development in hospitality is as much about finding the right room as it is about developing the right skills. For venue designers and bar owners thinking about the physical layout of a new cocktail bar, including bar counter dimensions, back bar storage, and customer seating arrangements, a square footage calculator can help optimize the space for…
The Speed Rack competition deserves a specific mention here because it represents something important beyond the individual achievement of participating bartenders. Speed Rack is not just a cocktail competition — it is a fundraising platform, a community builder, and a visibility campaign for women in an industry that has historically been dominated by male voices and male role models. Kristina's decision to push outside her comfort zone and enter competitions like Speed Rack reflects a broader shift in how ambitious female bartenders are choosing to invest their professional development time, and the cumulative effect of that participation — in terms of both prize money raised for breast cancer research and industry recognition for women's talent — is genuinely significant. For…
Kristina's observation that rum is a very underrated and versatile category is one that the broader spirits industry has been trying to communicate for years with only partial success, and hearing it from a working bartender who genuinely reaches for it on her days off carries more weight than any marketing campaign. The problem with rum's reputation in the United States is largely historical — decades of association with cheap mixers and spring break cocktails have obscured the extraordinary range and quality that exists within the category, from aged agricole rhums to complex Jamaican pot still expressions to delicate Spanish-style rums that rival the finest aged whiskies. A bartender like Kristina, who approaches rum with the same curiosity and respect…
The detail about Kristina learning to speed bartend at Jameson's in Joliet is one that deserves more attention than it typically gets in craft cocktail profiles, because speed and efficiency behind the bar are foundational skills that many bartenders who come up through the craft route never fully develop. Being able to make a beautiful, technically precise cocktail is one skill; being able to make fifty of them in a busy Friday night service without losing quality, composure, or hospitality is an entirely different and arguably more demanding one. Kristina's path through dive bars, sports bars, and steakhouses before arriving at craft cocktail venues means she brings both of those skill sets to every shift, and that combination is genuinely…