Londoners finally had an alternative to the rickety English pool table in a dingy corner of their local pub, with the ritual humiliation implicit in trying to whip the resident meathead off a 'winner stays on' table. The Elbow Room was a nice place, elegantly designed with seven pool tables, boasting good food, music, and a booking system which meant you could play pool with your mates without getting booted off. The idea was good enough to disguise the lack of experience and it proved a big hit, winning Bar of the Year at the London Restaurant Awards in 1996.

Keen to do another, bigger and better, they somehow ended up in Leeds where the second Elbow Room opened in 1998. This time it was a hybrid nightclub/pool hall, with seventeen tables and a 600 capacity. It was a big risk, but it rocked, setting things up for the opening of a third site in Islington in 2000, followed by Swiss Cottage in 2001 (now sadly defunct), Bristol in 2001 and Shoreditch in 2002. Each one is deliberately different, with distinct design elements built around the same fundamental theme of putting top quality American pool tables into a comfortable bar environment.

Awards Westbourne Grove: Bar of the Year, London Restaurant Awards 1996 Leeds: Best Use of Technology, Theme Awards 2000 Islington: Shortlist, Best Bar, Time Out Eating and Drinking Awards 2001 Best Late Licenced Venue, Flavour Awards 2001 Bristol: Best Bar, BEDA awards 2002 Group: Best Branded Concept, Theme Awards 2001