The Varsity, that glorified hot dog stand a couple of blocks from the Fox Theatre, has been performing the impossible for so long that it now seems commonplace.
On a daily basis the restaurant serves chili dogs, onion rings and soft drinks to the equivalent of the entire city of Fayetteville. Varsity regulars say what’s even more impressive is that it’s all good — the rings arrive on the palate like a salty pleasure bomb, the Frosted Orange a re-creation of creamsicle summer memories.
But an even greater feat is the way the Varsity handles business on certain autumn Saturdays.
On the day of a big football game, when the weather is good and Georgia Tech is playing, say, the University of Georgia at Bobby Dodd Stadium, which happens to be right next door to the Varsity, up to 30,000 customers will move through the gargantuan fast-food emporium.
Waiting on them is a phalanx of 34 servers behind the 17 registers on the 150-foot stainless steel countertop, all hailing customers with the traditional “What’ll ya have?” as if they’re tired of waiting for folks to make up their collective minds.
We took a peek behind the scenes last weekend when Tech ran roughshod over Boston College to see how the Varsity handles the crowds, and to get an idea what to expect this Saturday, when Tech plays Brigham Young University and celebrates homecoming.
Preparations begin the day before football Saturdays, when delivery trucks unload produce and other foodstuffs.
On that Friday morning the Varsity loaded in 2,000 pounds of onions that had been peeled, cored and sliced, ready to be dipped, battered and fried for the famous rings. “We try to get most of that stuff on Friday morning so there won’t be too much loading and unloading on game day,” said Terry Brookshire, corporate operations manager and a former Air Force National Guardsman. Brookshire, 45, has the muscular frame, brush-cut hair and no-nonsense manner of a guy who could fix an F-15 with a screwdriver.
A delivery truck also arrived with 5,200 pounds of potatoes for the fries. The potatoes arrive whole, and the next day about 3,500 pounds would be sliced, skin and all, in a machine imported from Europe.
About 19,000 wieners also arrived Friday, and went right into the walk-in coolers.
Saturday morning Brookshire arrived at 9 a.m., helping to coordinate teams that moved with military precision to their assorted tasks: filling coolers with ice, stoking the 35-gallon chili cooker and the 146-gallon mixer in which the team produces its trademark orange drink, the Varsity Orange,
Shift manager Ramee Shalabi, whose father, general manager Joe Shalabi, is a 40-year employee, looked relaxed. “We’re always ready,” he said as the doors opened at 10 a.m. “We’ve got this down to a science.”
At first the crowds are sparse, but despite the hour some customers are lining up for glorified steaks (Varsity lingo for a hamburger with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato) and chili dogs.
Is it early for chili dogs? “Not in Atlanta,” said Tori Evans, a freshman at Cass High School near Cartersville, carrying a tray to her seat. “Not for Tori,” added her aunt, Carla York.
“We always come here before the game instead of after the game,” when the crowds are thicker, explained Tori’s grandfather, Tommy Davis, decked out in a Georgia Tech jacket and cap.
By noon customers are four deep at some registers, but the only people waiting any length of time are those mistakenly forming a line out toward the front door, which opens onto North Avenue. There is no queuing system here. To get served, simply “herd up to the counter,” said President Gordon Muir.
The Boston College game day turned out to be a lighter-than-average football Saturday, with about 18,000 customers coming through the doors, buying 10,093 hot dogs, 2,983 hamburgers and 3,116 orders of onion rings. Muir knew the day would be slower when he saw empty seats in the upper decks of the stadium, visible from the Varsity parking lot.
Do they want to see Tech have a better season? “Not personally,” said Ramee Shalabi, a UGA graduate. “But from a business viewpoint, yes.”
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