Under the guidance of Tamara Murphy (formerly of Brasa, now of new Terra Plata), the Elliott Bay Cafe in Pioneer Square—which hadn’t been even decent for approximately six years—became something good.

When the Elliott Bay Book Company moved to Capitol Hill, another Elliott Bay Cafe opened there, while the Pioneer Square version soldiered on all alone. Now the original EBC has become a private events space, hosting music and book events, parties, and so forth in the cafe and Reading Room (which now has a bar, too, as every reading room should).

Meanwhile, Murphy plans to open a street-level cafe in the original Elliott Bay space in 2012. It'll be on the corner, with the same entrance as the old bookstore (it won't take up the whole giant space, just that corner bay), and it'll be called called the Globe Cafe and Bar. Murphy says, "We are excited about the new direction of Pioneer Square and all the tech companies that have moved in and are planning to. That's the plan after the first of the year." Paul Constant, who used to work at the bookstore, opines, "That'd be a nice space for a bar—it'll be really pretty. I've been drunk in that room before."