Babe's 'Finer Diner' Opens at 51 Division St. in Sag Harbor

Babe's Diner opened last week at 51 Division Street in Sag Harbor, taking over the spot on the southern edge of the village where Nikki's Not Dogs stand operated for years, and bringing a concept the owners call a "finer diner" — all-day American classics built on locally sourced ingredients, with a supper club format layered in on peak summer weekend nights.

The restaurant is a three-way collaboration between Julian Cavin and Martine Langatta, the husband-and-wife team who conceived the project, and Jonny Shipes, the music industry executive who built careers in New York's independent hip-hop and R&B scenes. Shipes, who maintains a home on the East End, said publicly that the project was driven by a desire to build something that works for Sag Harbor year-round — not just the eight-week high season when most Hamptons dining establishments are open.

Anthony Petty oversees the kitchen. Petty previously cooked at Almond in Bridgehampton, Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton and most recently at the Amagansett Golf Club. The daytime menu covers diner fundamentals executed with attention: five types of breakfast sandwiches, buttermilk pancakes, cheeseburgers, tuna melts, triple-decker club sandwiches, Greek and Caesar salads. Milkshakes come in chocolate, vanilla and banana, all made in-house. The restaurant is open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and is available on major delivery apps.

On peak summer weekends, the program shifts. Babe's is booking chefs and culinary creators from New York City and around the country for tasting menu-style dinners, giving the room a supper club character once the daytime diner winds down. The owners framed the format as filling a real gap in the Sag Harbor dinner market: a serious late-evening dining option that does not require a reservation booked weeks ahead of time.

The 51 Division Street space was renovated from its previous state. The interior draws on the mid-century American diner archetype — counter seating, diner stools, a visible kitchen pass — while adding materials and finishes that update the reference without abandoning it. On a recent visit, the room held locals stopping for a mid-morning coffee alongside contractors coming off a job site: the demographic overlap the owners said they were specifically designing for.

Sag Harbor's Division Street has cycled through several food concepts in the past decade, most tied to the compressed seasonal economics of a village that fills in July and empties in October. Cavin and Langatta said they studied that pattern and built Babe's to survive the shoulder months, calibrating the staffing model for winter service rather than peak July volume. The restaurant's delivery app availability reinforces the year-round intent: it keeps the kitchen producing revenue during the slower weekday hours when dine-in traffic drops.

The Sag Harbor opening lands in an active stretch for East End restaurant news. La Goulue Sur Mer, the French brasserie at 210 Hampton Road in Southampton, resumed service for the 2026 summer season in March. Several additional concepts announced for the Hamptons are opening through the end of May and into June, making 2026 one of the more active opening seasons the East End has seen in several years.

Reservations are not required for daytime service at Babe's. Supper club tasting menu seats require advance booking and are announced through the restaurant's social media channels as dates are confirmed. The address is 51 Division Street, Sag Harbor.