Babygirl brings Whoopsie’s chef Hudson Rouse back to East Lake

Hudson Rouse, founder of Whoopsie’s and Pure Quill Superette, opened his all-day cafe, Babygirl, on April 11, bringing with it a sense of familiarity. The restaurant moves into Hosea and 2nd—near Gene’s and Poor Hendrix—in a neighborhood Rouse has known for years.

“The first farmer’s market I ever sold at was in the lot across the street,” he says. “That was really where I got my start in the food scene in Atlanta.”

Now he returns to the area, serving breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch including favorites from his recently shuttered Avondale Estates breakfast spot Rising Son.

“Rising Son can live on,” he says. “The ethos and mentality are the same—we want to support local and get to know our community.”

Photo by Claudia Ross

Rouse’s famous three-ingredient Rising Son biscuits will be available a la carte or as sandwiches, including one with fried chicken thigh, Swiss cheese fondue, and a chive omelet. Other callbacks include a grits bowl with fried trout, waffles with fruit and cream or fried chicken and collards. Rouse swapped the loose hash browns in his Hashed Out bowl to a crisp McDonald’s-style patty topped with Riverview Farms sausage, Pine Street Market bacon, peppers, and onions. A smoked salmon version pairs egg and crème fraîche atop the hash brown patty in a way that recalls latkes and lox.

A seasonal smoothie will be available daily, beginning with strawberry banana. “We’ll change it as we get tired of it,” Rouse says. “As a cook, you can’t eat biscuits and gravy every day, so we usually make smoothies.”

Coffee comes from Natural Born Roasters—another thread connecting Babygirl to Rouse’s earlier projects—with rotating single-varietal selections and an espresso program centered on straightforward classics rather than compete with Perc Coffee across the street.

Photo by Claudia Ross

As the day progresses, the kitchen expands beyond breakfast as well. Lunch brings salads like Cobb, Niçoise, and spring vegetable salad with fried goat cheese. There’s a a fried fish sandwich and a smashburger made with Riverview Farms beef, shaved Vidalia onion, and white American cheese.

Babygirl was designed primarily for dine-in with 58 seats indoors and 16 outside; however, both counter service and table service will be offered. Designed by Claudia Ross, the space features light wood tables, a colorful wall-sized window, and a Danish-meets-Japanese aesthetic. Rouse is perhaps most excited about the open kitchen, where he plans to spend his mornings. “I’m looking forward to cooking breakfast every day,” he says.

The restaurant is named for Rouse’s family—he has two daughters and a son—and follows the same thinking behind his restaurant group, Rising Sons and Daughters. That team, notably, includes much of Rising Son’s staff.

Photo by Claudia Ross

The bar program is led by longtime Porter Beer Bar fixture Justin Wickline. It will focus on classic breakfast and brunch cocktails, from Irish coffee modeled after that at San Francisco’s Buena Vista Café to an espresso martini, Harvey Wallbanger, and Death in the Afternoon. Wine will be natural and seasonal, while the beer list stays small and local. Rising Son’s pineapple mimosas may be gone, but fresh-squeezed orange juice will be poured daily, with the peels turned into marmalade for biscuits.

Dessert leans simple and nostalgic. House will move the soft-serve machine from Pure Quill to Babygirl, offering sundaes to “give kids in the neighborhood something they’ll recognize,” he says.  “I’ve watched the neighborhood grow [and] my friends open restaurants here. Now, I’m being welcomed back with open arms.”

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