Bob's Java Jive coffee pot

A giant concrete coffee pot on South Tacoma Way has been feeding and entertaining Tacomans, in one form or another, since 1927. It began as the Coffee Pot Restaurant, built by Tacoma veterinarian Otis G. Button and designed by Bert Smyser. Tacoma Weekly calls it Smyser's first architectural design. The current operator describes a 25-foot concrete pot with a 30-foot belly.

The roadside diner changed hands several times. According to Tacoma Weekly, Harold Elrod added a dance floor in 1940, and the operator's history says he also added a liquor licence. The operator's history says that in 1955 Bob and Lylabell bought it and renamed it Bob's Java Jive, after the Ink Spots song. The music years followed: the operator says The Ventures played there in the 1960s for $40 a night, and Tacoma Weekly lists The Wailers among the acts. Later came a Jungle Room, murals and two live monkeys named Java and Jive. A fire in 1996 damaged the back rooms. The building appears in films including Say Anything (1989) and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).