Come Back, Tommy

Harvard is big on tradition, but there are some changes more significant than updating "10,000 Men of Harvard" or the Harvard Republican Club's finally recognizing the existence of Radcliffe. Harvard lost one of its seemingly entrenched institutions last week. With no fanfare and little explanation, Tommy's Lunch closed its doors.

Tommy's was one of the premiere late night establishments in Harvard Square. It was older than the Kennedy School of Government. It was around longer than men have been living in the Quad.

It was older than most of us.

Tommy's Lunch has hardened the arteries of Harvard students for more than 25 years. The Mount Auburn St. eatery was home to many specialities--egg creams, lime rickeys and frappes, not to mention hamburgers, fries and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Open until 2 a.m., Tommy's was also a Crimson institution. It was our initiation. First-year compers were responsible for making a "Tommy's Run" for coffee for our production supervisor, Patrick R. Sorrento (that's a large with three creams and three sugars--get it right), and late night food for the rest of the evening's production staff. Now they will have to search the street for the best coffee and widest selection of food.

The search won't be easy for the rest of the campus either. Late night food within a reasonable distance and with a suitable atmosphere will be hard to replace in Harvard Square. The Tasty would probably be a top contender for atmosphere--but you can't stay too long. Its interior is small and the frier fumes might become intoxicating--as if there weren't enough grease in the food already.

House grills could get a big boost from Tommy's demise. That would be sad, however. Tommy's was a place where the whole University, and people from Cambridge, could bridge social stratification for a friendly game of pinball or Streetfighter. A Harvard student could feel part of a happy community sharing ketchup on a broken bench with people from all different houses.

Tommy's is supposed to turn into a pizza restaurant in January, but details are sketchy. Will it be open late? Will Tommy still be there? Will they still serve lime rickeys?

There are a lot of questions to be answered. When a multi-generational tradition closes its doors in the cold, gloomy silence of Cambridge during Thanks-giving, its loyal customers are going to want to know what happened.

And they are going to want it to come back. Just the way it was. Or maybe a little better.