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In the bougie Hamptons, where more cafes are serving $20 iced matchas and $32 over-the-top breakfast creations, these days it’s rare to find a humble abode serving classic diner grub.
That’s part of the reason people are lining up outside Babe’s, a new eight-seat, no-reservation Sag Harbor diner that has become one of the East End’s hottest year-round breakfast spots since opening in May, where even A-listers are forced to wait hours for a coveted spot at the counter.
In a region increasingly defined by seasonal concepts, luxury dining, and wellness culture, Babe’s is not chasing trends — instead, it’s reviving the beloved American diner in an enclave where that concept has become increasingly rare.
Local families, summer visitors, and celebrities, including Meg Ryan and Neil Patrick Harris, all queue for the same counter seat and the same stack of banana pancakes.
That was the vision, according to founders Jonny Shipes, 46, and Julian Cavin, 36, two New York City natives and entrepreneurs, both now full-time East Hampton residents, who wanted to create the disappearing middle-ground fare they felt was hard to find.
“We wanted Babe’s to feel democratic. Everybody waits. Everybody sits at the same counter,” Cavin told The Post, which generally means service will run from 45 minutes to an hour, keeping a steady flow where nobody overstays their welcome.
In a community where everyone is connected, Babe’s feels like an equalizer of sorts. The long lines aren’t because there is a red velvet rope — it’s simply a logistical design of the small space.
“People may see a line and think it’s exclusive, but it’s really the opposite,” Shipes told The Post. “There are only so many seats, but the spirit of the place is for everyone.”
Wanting to bring diner nostalgia to the Hamptons, where the waitress knows regulars’ coffee orders, and strangers become friends, this past December, Cavin, founder of popular Greenberg’s Bagels, who had long wanted to open an East End restaurant, and Shipes, who built his career in the music business as the CEO of GoodTalk Records, put their heads together.
“You can have someone who’s been coming to Sag Harbor for 30 years sitting next to someone who just heard about us that morning, and they’re both ordering a bacon-egg-and-cheese or banana pancakes. That’s the whole point,” said Cavin.
“We kept talking about the kind of places that become part of your routine,” Shipes added. “Babe’s was never meant to be a summer thing. We wanted to build something that felt like it belonged in Sag Harbor all year, not just during high season.”
Housed inside a cedar-shingled cottage with a red checkerboard floor and eight red leather counter stools, Babe’s was designed to feel like an intimate melting pot that boils together the duo’s love of food and NYC culture through an East End lens.
“The space is small, so there’s naturally a little bit of a wait, but that’s part of the energy. It’s not about keeping people out. It’s about making something that feels personal, local, and worth coming back to,” Shipes explained.
The founders noted that they keep the place staffed with 16 employees, but both of them are quick to jump into the kitchen and get their hands dirty if need be.
And the name? It comes from familiarity rather than branding.
While watching “The Sandlot” with his three-year-old son, Cavin landed on “Babe’s”—a nod to the film, baseball, and, eventually, the nickname the partners all used with one another.
The menu features items ranging in price from $15 to $25, such as their beloved bacon, egg, and cheese on a Kaiser roll, challah French toast on Zabar’s bread, blueberry pancakes, spicy vodka chicken parm sandwiches, ribeye cheesesteaks, and Shipes’ beloved lemon pepper wings.
Because it is the Hamptons after all, the priciest order is the crispy chicken and waffles at $40 a plate.
“There’s no microgreens on it [the menu],” said Cavin. “It’s classic American diner fare, but it’s just naturally elevated by the ingredients we’re using from local and Baldor [a premier food distribution], and then the collaborations,” he added.
Babe’s isn’t performative. And its simple point of view has resonated with the community.
“Babes is the casual diner we needed out east,” East Hampton resident Samantha Winnick told The Post.
“Sitting on the stools reminds me of being a kid in the Hamptons and going to the Poxabogue Diner back in the day. The food is incredible, and the staff is the nicest,” she added, noting that their intimate setup oozes nostalgia in a world of mediocre, overpriced dining options.
She sees Babe’s as a way to fill the void left by the loss of local institutions like Estia’s, which have given way to trendier concepts.
“Don’t miss the egg and cheese with the hash brown. It’s the best since Dreesens griddle,” she added, of another now-defunct casual dining option.
Even the collaborations Babe’s has taken part in, whether with Barney Greengrass, Mark’s Off Madison or Santo Taco, feel less like influencer marketing and more like a celebration of classic New York food culture.
This past weekend, the Barney Greengrass collaboration, in particular, drew big names like actress Emma Roberts and influencer Alix Earle, among other residents just looking to enjoy some classic Jewish deli fare.
For the founders, flashy clientele and coveted collaborations are simply extensions of the community they’re trying to build, not the point of the restaurant.
“We’re a smaller, for-the-people thing that’s not some huge corporate brand taking over the real estate,” Cavin said, pointing to the growing presence of national retailers expanding in Sag Harbor.
Shipes added that engaging with their customers online has actually become one of his favorite things.
“I thought I was gonna be very hands-off. And then you open a diner, which is a whole living, breathing organism in its own right,” Shipes said.
When the line is unrelenting, and hungry customers grow frustrated in the heat, Shipes said being able to engage with the crowds is something he didn’t expect to take such pride in.
“That has become kind of like a rewarding thing for me, because I enjoy taking care of people.”
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