Bridgeway Gas doesn't have a convenience store, or even card readers, so every morning someone sits by the pumps and processes cards. But it does have a cat, whose name is Coast, who sleeps in his own car at night. It also has the Cavalho family, including Steve, who owns it, his mom Gwen (who does the books by hand) and his dad Harold. Normally, Bridgeway doesn't open on Sundays.
But on July 15, at 5 pm, the residents of Oakland and Berkeley who love the station will be having a party. There will be music, food, drink (please bring snacks to share) and a mercifully brief reading from Oil On the Brain, which will be offered for sale by the College Avenue bookseller Mrs. Dalloway's.
The station sits at the intersection of Ashby/13 and Claremont, and is tucked right under the Claremont Hotel.
Originally, Bridgeway was a Flying A station, which explains its fantastic overhang design. Flying A was bought by Getty Oil which was bought by... I forget. But then, sometime in the early 70's, the Cavalhos bought the Bridgeway. Their other station was near the original Bay Bridge entrance, but the freeways changed all of that. So when they moved into the current station, they named it the Bridgeway. Even though it's nowhere near the bridge.
