The Tombs is a restaurant and bar located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was opened on July 23, 1962,[1] by restaurateur and Georgetown University graduate Richard McCooey as the below ground bar or rathskeller for his restaurant 1789.[2] The Tombs is a popular destination for Georgetown University students and alumni, and has been ranked as one of the best college bars in America.[3][4] It is well known for its collegiate rowing-themed interior design, as well as the 99 days club, a competition in which Georgetown seniors aim to eat or drink at the club for all of the final three and a half months of the school year.[5] In 1962, McCooey established the tradition of regular "Chimes Nights" where Georgetown's all-male a capella group, the Georgetown Chimes, would perform in the pub, inspired by the Whiffenpoofs' weekly performances at Yale's local establishment Mory's. The Chimes Night tradition continues.[6][7] The restaurant was named after a fictional establishment mentioned in the poem "Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town" by T. S. Eliot.
The Tombs has been used as a location in two movies set at Georgetown. One scene in The Exorcist, where Father Karras tells a fellow priest over dinner that he may be losing his faith, was filmed there.[9] In 1985's St. Elmo's Fire, The Tombs serves as the movie's titular bar.[10]
