Blame it all on my roots, I showed up at Lo Places Social Club and fell in love with it. I’m sure Garth Brooks would say the same thing.

The Helen Street dive bar-turned-private event space in my ancestral homestead of McKees Rocks still has all the hallmarks of a great watering hole — it’s dark with cheap drinks, a dart board, thrift store decor, a hyper-active A.C. unit and a clientele that ranges from old-timers to newcomers — but without the liquor license.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LO PLACES SOCIAL CLUB

It’s open to everything from film screenings and sober karaoke bashes to black-tie affairs. Need bar services for the big day? Aubrey Halliburton and Lisa Considine, the owners of the joint, are veteran mixologists who also operate Lo Bar Cocktail Services. They launched the company in 2019 to boost spirits at bashes throughout Pittsburgh, including 2025’s pink-hued Mattress Factory Garden Party.

This ain’t their first rodeo.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

If you B.Y.O.B. to Lo Places, they can provide the expertise and all the accoutrements of a full-scale hootenanny, right down to a RAMP-certified pro slinging boozy and non-alcoholic craft beverages. They’re happy to have a rootin’ tootin’ location to match.

It’s been a long road for the pair.

For five years, Kate Romane’s Black Radish Kitchen in Point Breeze served as their cocktail showcase and prep space for fresh mixers, syrups, shrubs and bitters. Last July, they wrangled the former Take A Break Too Bar to serve as the new Lo Bar Cocktail Services headquarters. After a lengthy DIY restoration process, Halliburton and Considine both agreed that the space was just too cool to stay a secret, and made it a rentable destination with multiple.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

In addition to having the aforementioned essentials of a dive, it also boasts a beautiful wooden bar and backbar that stretches nearly the entire length of the room. It’s lined with vintage glassware and surrounded by a collection of vintage portraits, including family heirlooms and snapshots of strangers. (They’re accepting donations if you want to add a dive bar-lovin’ relative to the wall!) There’s a gravel parking lot in the back and a vacant four-bedroom apartment above the bar, which came in handy as a crash pad when the owners, along with their friends and family, put in long hours patching up the building.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Despite a drop ceiling, Lo Places feels spacious and the smell of cigarettes has dissipated. Behind the stage is a curtained-off storage area leading to a walk-in freezer and a small kitchen. Halliburton and Considine recently opened their swingin’ doors to local chefs who want to host pop-up dinners in Lo Places. It’s already in high demand.

Csilla Thackray, the chef behind the soon-to-open Lawrenceville restaurant Titusz, held the inaugural Lo Places meal on July 1, serving a menu of Hungarian dishes to a crowd of 40.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Now other food purveyors are chompin’ at the bit to join in. Word around the campfire is that one of my favorite roving pizzerias is going to post up at Lo Places soon.

If you want a taste of what Lo Places is like, visit the original Take A Break Bar on Penn Avenue in Lawrenceville, which was also once owned by the late George Williams. Last Sunday, I slipped on down to the oasis and had a frosty mug of beer.

And, you know what, it did chase my blues away!