This unique structure was built in 1927 as the Coffee Pot Restaurant by a Tacoma veterinarian, Otis G. Button.
Later, the big pot operated as a fast food drive-thru restaurant and in 1955, Bob and Lylabell Radonich bought the place. Bob came up with it’s current name, the Java Jive, he said from a popular Ink Spots song.
Bob transformed the big coffee pot interior to cater to new audiences as a music club and in the 1960s, the great band The Ventures played there regularly.
Over the years, it briefly became a karaoke and go-go themed bar.
It was even a backdrop for films such as I Love You To Death (1990) and Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything (1989).
This concrete coffee pot stands at 25 feet tall and is 30 feet in diameter.
The Java Jive
