In a world with so much bad news, the Pittsburgh restaurant scene has some good news: A new bar lounge is opening in the former Ace Hotel space in East Liberty. Danielle Cain and Rob Hirst, two restaurant industry veterans, are opening Hey Babe in early summer. Even its name is a pop of affection that can cut through even the toughest moment. “’Hey babe’ is what we always say to each other,” Cain explained—she and Hirst are life partners as well as business partners. Just as some people pick out potential band names, Cain and Hirst imagined different phrases as potential restaurant names. Hey Babe felt like just the right thing. They describe it as “a term of endearment, the beginning of a conversation, and now a new throwback…”
Hey Babe Brings a New Cocktail Lounge to an Old Favorite
Chef Bethany Zozula’s Whitfield previously occupied the Ace Hotel’s restaurant space. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic shut the hotel and restaurant down, leaving what Cain calls “a hole in the community.” While a new hotel, The Maverick, has set up shop there, the restaurant has remained empty. On the surrounding streets, businesses like Margaux and Kelly’s are thriving, but there’s a gap in late-night bar service and restaurant-bar-lounge type places where you can really relax in for a night out.
Fortunately, that’s Cain and Hirst’s specialty. “We like to create our own dining experience and focus on sharing plates,” Hirst said. Hey Babe will have a variety of dish sizes with an emphasis on shareability and an accessible but chic wine list and cocktail menu. “We’re not going to take reservations. It’s going to be very accessible to just come hang out with friends,” Hirst described.
A Restaurant Industry Love Story
The couple met when Hirst was working behind the bar at Mad Mex Oakland, where big Burrito Restaurant Group employees—including Cain—went on Monday nights for the 50% off staff special. They struck up a friendship, and years later fell in love. Between the two of them, they’ve worked at almost every position in Kaya, Soba, Eleven, and Sienna Mercato, from line cook to executive chef (which Cain was) and bartender to designing Sienna Mercato’s bar (which Hirst did).
Together, they’ve built up both their careers and their life together, including their college-aged daughter. Now that the nest is empty, they joked that Hey Babe is their “new baby.” It’s a labor of love, involving a re-design of the space that still honors its original layout. Another example of the way a new restaurant can work with, not against, the architecture and legacy of a beloved local classic is Fet-Fisk in the former Lombardozzi’s. Though Pittsburghers are sometimes characterized as resistant to change, a nicer way to look at it is that in this city, what came before matters. What used to be somewhere is part of what it is.
A Lounge for Everyone
But Hey Babe will establish its own identity through its menu and its vibe. Hirst is one of the reasons Pittsburgh has a craft cocktail scene at all, since as president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild in 2013-2018, he helped provide free training for beverage professionals in the city to learn new drinks. “We want to have a nice balance at the bar,” Hirst said. “And we also will have a lot of NA drinks, since it’s important to have zero or low-alcohol drinks available. You should be able to enjoy the company of others and not drink.”
Hey Babe has a tentative opening timeframe for late May or early June 2025, but in the meantime, the buzz is building on social media. Many are happy to see a new hangout spot in the East End, especially one with so much love poured into it. Cain said: “We’re just really honored that we get to do this.”
Story by Emma Riva
Photo courtesy of Hey Babe
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