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.

[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.

[6][7] The restaurant was named after a fictional establishment mentioned in the poem "Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town" by T. S. Eliot.

One scene in The Exorcist, where Father Karras tells a fellow priest over dinner that he may be losing his faith, was filmed there.