This DC Bar Is Serving Drinks in an Actual Subway Car

Metrobar has finally opened its Railcar dining and drinking experience in a converted, former Washington, D.C. Metro car.

In late 2018, the ​​Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) decided to retire its 5000-series train cars, replacing them with newer 7000-series cars. A few months later, former D.C. third-grade-teacher-turned-entrepreneur Jesse Rauch started imagining how he could open a bar inside a railcar, and sketched out a few designs on the back of a napkin.

In 2021, as the capital city started flickering back to life and pandemic-related restrictions were being lifted, Rauch reached out to the Transit Authority and asked if he could buy an out-of-commission 5000-series car to bring his drawings to life. According to Washingtonian, Rauch’s new purchase was sliced in half, mounted on two trailers, and transported from just outside of Baltimore to just outside D.C.’s Rhode Island Ave-Brentwood Metro station.

The car was stripped of all of its mechanical parts, and the infamous carpet that the 5000-series trains were known for was unceremoniously discarded. At the time, Rauch told the outlet that it may just be “another six to eight weeks” before the bar inside the car opened.

Related: Old Public Toilets Are Some of England’s Hippest Bars

In the past two years, the Bryant Street NE development has grown around the railcar, including the Bryant Street Market’s nine food stalls, an impressive array of local artwork, and even a pet-care company. The Metrobar opened, with an inviting outdoor seating area around the railcar with the big caveat that customers still weren’t able to sit inside the train sipping their cocktails — at least not until this week.

The Railcar at Metrobar officially opens at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12, and it will be serving up Metro-themed drinks like the Berry Mass. Avenue and Blue Line Chill Rickey, along with locally made beer and cider. “We’ve always wanted to celebrate what makes D.C. great, celebrate our culture, our history, and also celebrate local vendors,” Rauch told WTOP.

According to the @MetrobarDC Instagram account, the bar can seat 38 people at its two-top and four-top walnut tables, and there are also 26 repurposed (and reupholstered) actual Metro seats. The facade of the ultra-mod bar has an inset metal Metro map, and the space has been kitted out with a new A/V system, upgraded lighting, and decorative elements that reference the Metro system and its design era. (And for anyone who was traumatized by the state of the carpet on those 5000-series trains, don’t worry: the floors inside the car have been newly tiled.)

The railcar bar will be open weekly from Wednesday through Sunday from 4 p.m. until late, while the outdoor spaces at Metrobar will open at 12 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Reservations for the railcar are not currently available so you’ll have to squeeze in whenever and however you can — just like you’re on a train.

For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Food & Wine.