Vinnie Witel

Front Entrance Outside of Buffalo Bill’s

Citizens of Hayward as well as students from California State University, East Bay were disappointed when they found out Buffalo Bill’s Brewery closed their doors in the Summer of 2022.

The historic Brewery closed in June of 2022 doors due to financial hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 under former owner Geoff Harries. Harries did have hope that maybe he would be able to sell to someone and preserve the restaurant.

In 2023 Harries successfully sold the business to Aleandro Gammara. Then on August 7, 2023, nearly 14 months after closing, Gammara reopened the historic brewery for business in downtown Hayward located at 1082 B. Street.

After the passing of California Assembly Bill 3610, which allows brewers to brew on premises of restaurants  Bill Owens opened Buffalo Bill’s Brewery on September 9, 1983 as the nation’s first brew pub. He owned it until selling it to Geoff Harries in 1997.

A couple of patrons shared their thoughts on the reopening. “I was heartbroken when it was closed last year, as a lifelong resident of Hayward, a part of life felt like it was dead” Said Jimmy from Hayward. He also added “When I found out they  reopened, I went there the following day.”

An anonymous patron who admitted they did not realize the brewery closed down for over a year. The patron from Hayward who now lives in Oakland did say,”I never knew they closed down”. They added, “This place has a good vibe… When I lived in Hayward I used to come here once or twice a week either before of after seeing a movie across the street”

CSUEB Senior Paige Swarts a Global Studies Major stated “I was pretty sad because it was only of the only places to go that was pretty chill that has food and drinks in the area,” When she heard the news that brewery reopened she added, “I got really excited that I didn’t realize that they were planning on reopening at all, thought they were closed permanently, so when I heard I ended up going that weekend.”

Besides students and citizens of Hayward,  the employees are excited to be part of the reopening. Server Danielle Mendez who is new to working at Buffalo Bills “It is history because it was the first place that made their own beers, really excited to be part of Hayward History.” Another server Sarah Severs added,”Buffalo Bills is very beneficial to the Hayward community as whole… Lot of memories were made and a lot of good times were made in the past.”

One employee, brewmaster and CSUEB class of 1988 alum Mike Manty, was brought back from the previous ownership under the urging of the former owner Geoff Harries. “I am blessed to be able to come back and restart this, because it’s been like my home for a while.” Manty who has been working at Buffalo Bill’s for 12-years says that the reopening is fantastic, “It’s been an integral part of the downtown area… when it closed many people including myself were heartbroken.” Manty also went on to say that “being part of the reopening… seeing old friends and the public I’ve known for years in the past just warms my heart.”

One particular neighboring business saw the effects of both the closure and reopening. “Foot traffic went down about 15 percent when they closed,” said Chris Hill, the owner of Ska Records. He also added that “Buffalo Bills has always been a great way of being people downtown and it’s good to see that it’s starting to have a positive impact again”.

For the students at CSUEB who are of legal drinking age that have frequented the brewery there is good news. All of the popular in house brewed beers that Buffalo Bills brews, including the Tasmanian Devil imperial ale have returned as well as the popular seasonal pumpkin ale will return for the fall, expecting to return the weekend of October 6th or 7th.

Buffalo Bill’s was recognized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as “the most historic brew pub in America”

The Pioneer was unsuccessful in their attempts to get a statement from the owner Alejandro Gammara.