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Robbie Guzman noticed that the women of Charlotte were already taking lots of pictures during an outing, so she decided to open BabeCave, where the aesthetics, food and craft cocktails are all high quality and thoughtfully curated. 

BabeCave opened in January, located upstairs inside event venue Good Life at Enderly Park.

“Instead of creating a traditional selfie portal kind of space, we wanted it to still be a cocktail bar but very Instagrammable so we were just really intentional with the decor,” she said. That decor includes neon quotes on the wall, a swing and couches. Even the numbers on each table are themed and picture-ready.

Being in the hospitality industry, the Covid-19 pandemic was – and continues to be – a challenge for businesses like the BabeCave. The Good Life at Enderly Park was closed for the majority of 2020.

“It was very difficult to sustain a business after making such an investment,” Guzman said. “We received very little PPP [funding], but we managed. This is my 32nd year as an entrepreneur, so we’re able to pivot and adjust. We’re going to take it day by day.”

BabeCave and Good Life at Enderly Park are for us, by us and, on purpose. 

“We were very intentional when putting the space together that we wanted a place that was owned by minorities, that was for minorities, so that we’d be comfortable. Because most of the time with us servicing so many clients in these venues, these venues do not treat us the same. … So it was just important for us to try to create a space that aesthetically was competitive, but again was welcoming for us,” Guzman said.

The craft cocktail menu at BabeCave is seasonal and curated by a mixologist, so right now Guzman’s favorite drink is one called the Barbie Dream. One of the most well-known and well-liked features at BabeCave is their dessert tower. It comes with cookies, chocolate-covered strawberries, cake pops, cake slices and more when a group purchases a table. 

The dessert tower was born out of a celebration of women.

“We specialize in dessert stations, so we just decided with [our first] brunch because it was Galentine’s Day and it was woman-focused, usually you see tea towers, we’ll do a dessert tower because that’s what we sell.”

Although Guzman is always working weekends, she says she would spend her time exploring the food scene if she weren’t working.

“I am a foodie, so we do dine out a lot quite a bit, probably daily,” she said.