Legacy BART car to become family-friendly beer garden in Downtown Hayward
Trains aren’t known for stopping street traffic, but one flying BART train car did just that this past Thursday on B Street in Downtown Hayward.
On May 7, a legacy BART car landed (literally) in its final resting place as a Bigge crane deposited the decommissioned car from the back of a flatbed onto a cement platform that will become the centerpiece of Arthur Mac’s Big Snack, a family-friendly pizza-by-the-slice beer garden and neighborhood hangout spot, slated to open in the next few months.
Passersby and drivers stopped on the sidewalk and middle of the road to watch the cinematic process unfold. One driver stopped in the middle of the road to inquire what was happening. "It'll be a restaurant!” the sidewalk dwellers shouted to which the driver replied: “I don’t have experience, but can I be a hostess?” She went on her way as the cars behind her started honking.
Resting place isn’t quite the right word for this legacy BART car. That's because its second life, though stationary, has just begun.
“I feel emotions I’ve never felt before,” said Joel DiGiorgio, Arthur Mac’s cofounder and co-owner, as he watched the car fly over the lot by crane. “I’m slowly feeling 65,000 pounds of pressure off my chest.”
In the coming weeks, Arthur Mac’s will shine and spruce their BART car to serve as a dining car among a smattering of shipping containers that will make up the outdoor restaurant.
“Customers will be able to go inside and have a food and beverage experience you can’t have on a normal BART car,” DiGiorgio noted. Want to down wings and a brew on BART? Here's your chance.
The restaurant is the first Arthur Mac’s to land in Hayward. The first location is located across the street from the MacArthur BART Station, and the brand is an homage to BART, its name an anagram of “MacArthur.” They are selling their Oakland location in order to complete the more complicated buildout of the Hayward restaurant, which will be nearly double in size of the Oakland spot.
An East Bay 90s kid, DiGiorgio and his friends would often ride the 51 AC Transit bus to Rockridge Station then onto the Embarcadero to skateboard at famous spots like Pier 7 and Hubba's Hideout.
“This is in part why we named our family restaurant after a BART station, as it played into Bay Area culture and shared nostalgia,” he said. “We also believe that public transportation is a pillar of the American Dream…Public transportation gives us all a chance while acting as the connective tissue of our extended and disparate communities.”
In addition to the excited passersby, Hayward Mayor Mark Salinas and Hayward City Council member Angela Andrews visited the scene to check things out for themselves and celebrate the occasion.
“This is going to be a gamechanger in Downtown Hayward,” said Salinas, noting that effective economic development happens when municipal governments, businesses, and public transportation collaborate. “It’s iconic spaces like these that define the East Bay and bring the community together.”
BART gave Arthur Mac’s the car at no cost as part of its legacy car decommissioning program. The restaurant was responsible for the cost of transporting the car.
BART officially retired its more than 50-year-old legacy fleet in 2024. Acknowledging that its legacy cars have a tremendous sentimental value with the Bay Area community, BART gave the public the opportunity to submit proposals for repurposing retired cars, and eight recipients were selected after describing what they planned to do with the vehicles. Only one legacy car remains in BART’s possession, intended to serve as a bike shop and clubhouse for Oakland youth once the permitting process is complete. The unclaimed legacy cars were recycled locally.
The recipients are reusing their cars for a multitude of purposes, including a concession stand for the Oakland Ballers, a short-term rental in the Sierra foothills, and a regional fire training center. An A, B, and C car were awarded to the Western Railway Museum for its Rapid Transit History Center, which opens later this year.
Representatives from the Sierra Train House and Western Railway Museum came to Hayward to watch the second-to-last car be delivered, offering DiGiorgio pointers on how to restore the car, what to reinforce, and general best practices when refurbishing old BART cars.
Built in the 1970s and refurbished in the 1990s, the Arthur Mac’s train car will lean into the aesthetic of the latter decade, its ads to be swapped with those you might see on BART in the 90s. They intend to fully lean into the “time warp” by leaving the car largely as it is, with some seating rearranged. The front of the cab will retain the Train Operator’s seat and control panel for kids to explore.
“This is a new life for this BART car,” DiGiorgio said. “In the words of Bob Marley, this train is bound to glory.”