East Liberty cocktail lounge Hey Babe expands with 50-seat dining room

PITTSBURGH — East Liberty cocktail lounge Hey Babe has expanded its space, now offering a full-fledged dining room.

Located in the Maverick Hotel, Hey Babe is the brainchild of married couple and industry veterans Danielle Cain and Rob Hirst, who first met working at Soba in Shadyside. The two opened Hey Babe’s lounge last summer with the intention of someday expanding to the dining room, and now that space is up and running.

“We were always like, ‘let’s get the lounge open and running and figure out the building and within six to eight months start the process of the other side,’” Hirst said. “There was a wall that separated what now is the dining room, and we got a lot of calls for that space for private parties around the holidays, so we sort of pushed that start of construction back a little bit.”