God bless Bob’s Java Jive. Seriously.

Perhaps the same can be said of other places, but in Tacoma — true to our linage and history — things can become famous (even “world famous”) by being kind of crappy. It’s a beautiful thing.

For this reason, it didn’t come as much surprise when the World Famous Bob’s Java Jive emerged victorious as “Best Dive Bar in Tacoma” in our 2009 Readers’ Poll. Never has a truer vote been taken.

Oh, and it’s not just the PBR. It’s not just Dave behind the bar. It’s not just the legendary karaoke. It’s not just stories about monkeys and Granny Go–Go, and it’s not just the fact all of this is packaged in a building shaped like a coffee pot. It’s not just the fact that Nirvana played there back in the day, and it’s not just the fact that despite a sub par sound system the concrete fixture on South Tacoma Way still plays home to some of Tacoma’s best shows.

It’s all of this. It’s the history. It’s the legend.

It’s Bob’s Java Jive — 2009’s Best Dive Bar. It’s a T-town fixture that, as much as anything, epitomizes this town we call home.

“It’s a total piece of shiy, but that’s what I like,” Lozen’s Justine Valdez tells me when I ask her what her favorite venue in Tacoma is. Naturally, she’s speaking of the Jive.

It’s a sentiment people share. The evidence is blatant. Why else would people continually venture to an otherwise industrial and vacant spot on South Tacoma Way just to drink crappy beer? Why else would bands from far and wide, from Tacoma and beyond, keep coming back even though they know the sound is going to be mediocre and the bassist won’t be able to fit on stage?  Why else would people still care about a place and a building that, truth be told, is a cramped relic of the past.

Because it’s the Jive. And the Jive is Tacoma. If Seattle is a martini bar and Portland is McMenamin’s joint, Tacoma is a crusty coffee pot with Miller High Life on tap and a bucket of stale licorice on the bar.

“We want to keep the doors open to everybody. We want to be inclusive, not exclusive,” the Java Jive’s main musical booker, Darren Sampson once told me.

At Bob’s Java Jive, much like the town it calls home, this isn’t difficult.