Liz Dabecco
Standby | Detroit, MI
July 2025
Baltimore native Liz Dabecco was headed down south to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for graduate school when a family friend and bar owner asked if they could teach Dabecco to bartend, just in case she needed to make some extra cash. She learned the ropes one day a week, working through the entire Rolodex of kitschy cocktails during the flavored vodka martini era. Dabecco brought what she learned to Louisiana and got her first restaurant gig at Schlittz & Giggles. After finishing her degree outside of Pittsburgh, she moved to Indiana, where she amassed a following of regulars, and learned how to make drinks quickly and efficiently during busy happy hours frequented by folks in the oil and coal industry. Looking for a change, Dabecco went back home to Baltimore and helped open Barcocina on the waterfront, where she worked her way up to bar manager within a year. There, she bolstered her tequila and mezcal knowledge while learning the ins and outs of ordering, inventory, and high-volume bar operations. After six years at Barcocina, Dabecco joined the Baltimore Bartenders' Guild. At a Guild meeting, she met Bar Manager William Escalante, who offered her a job at Ouzo Bay, where she worked for the next two years until the pandemic hit.
Dabecco ultimately moved to Detroit, where she spent a few years at the Shinola Hotel before getting tapped for a general manager role at Rising Stars alum Joe Robinson’s Standby. At the Downtown Detroit bar, she leads the front of house and oversees the bar program, creating seasoned bartenders out of green hires and polishing their skills along the way. Dabecco’s menu highlights a broad range of global flavors and spirits, taking maximal form in cocktails like her Word Travels Quickly with rhum agricole, cachaça, amaretto, banana liqueur, gomme, super lime juice, and a maraschino cherry. Beyond the glass, Dabecco is an ardent believer in bar literacy and hosts educational events for her staff and others in the Detroit hospitality community.
