When Anthony Bourdain asked novelist Stewart O’Nan to appear on the Pittsburgh episode of his “Parts Unknown” CNN program in 2017, O’Nan insisted on recording the interview at the Squirrel Hill Café.

There are a lot of other places he could have picked. Why the Squirrel Hill Cafe?

“It’s not pretentious whatsoever. It’s reasonably priced. It’s got lots of regulars but anybody can go there and it’s got some charm to it. And (Bourdain) was thrilled that he could smoke there,” said O’Nan, the Pittsburgh author of 16 novels.

“Those old booths there are cool. It’s old-school cool. It’s got a divey vibe to it and it’s got some history there too.”

Actually, the “Squirrel Cage,” as it’s affectionately known, has lots of history. That very detailed back story has inspired a new book called “The Red Door: An Historical Memoir of the Squirrel Hill Café.”

It’s a hardback coffee-table sized book written by Jan Cavrak, a bartender there for nearly 40 years, and Leslie Anne Mcilroy, a bartender there during the 1980s and ’90s. Both are Pittsburgh natives who spent more than three years compiling and writing it. Cavrak, now in her late 60s, began collecting stories for the book as far back as 2011.

Mcilroy called the bar a “true melting pot. … It’s a fascinating place. There are all kinds of crazy people there and it’s weird because it’s this reasonably priced dive bar in the middle of somewhat ritzy Squirrel Hill, and somehow it works.

“Everyone from a landscaper to a lawyer goes there, so there’s a good cross-section of people. It’s that third place. It’s not home, it’s not work, it’s a comfortable in-between place for people. Some of that has to do with the fact that the people who work there get to know you and remember what you drink.”

Mcilroy would know. Now with a day job as a copywriter, she is an established poet with three collections to her name (and at least two poems about working at the Cage). But she had not written a work of non-fiction before attempting this one.

She’s amazed at some of the information about the bar that she’s been able to dig up. While the space opened in 1935, it started out, she learned, as a fruit and confectionery stand.

“We have this amazing picture of the back of the bar from when it opened, and it almost looks exactly the same now. So we were able to get then-and-now shots with the bartender and the waiter and a person sitting at the exact same table that sits there now,” Mcilroy said.

The book includes photos of early menus, showing the 25-cent gin fizzes and a chicken liver dinner for $1.49. There are also personal memories shared by patrons and employees alike, including love stories of people who found their future husband or wife at the Squirrel Hill Café.

And then there are the characters including Billy Nagel, known as “Billy the Bartender,” who’s worked there since 1984.

“Billy grew this really long beard and his promise was to never shave it off until he got out of debt. Before the end of the book, he finally shaved it off,” said Mcilroy. “So, he finally got out of debt just in time for the place to close.”

Yes, for the first time since it opened 85 years ago, the Squirrel Hill Café has been forced to close, as a result of the pandemic. During tough times in the past, the Squirrel Cage has been a place where people could take refuge, such as after the shootings at the nearby Tree of Life Synagogue in October 2018.

“The Red Door: An Historical Memoir of The Squirrel Hill Café” is available for pre-sale at The Mainstreet Rag Online Bookstore for $31.95. Copies will be available after September.

“This whole thing,” Mcilroy said, “is like a love letter.”

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