by Gretchen Kubeck on Everytime I come here, I am offended that this is supposed to be one of the best night clubs in Boston...please describe "best". I only come here now when they have techno DJs, and even then I hope that in the future they choose other venues. The crowd is wack, the bartenders are horrible and rude, the tableside waitress was a joke, and the bathrooms are unclean, even at the beginning of the night. Superiorly disappoointed here.
by Ngoc Kahalehoe on Whadalya have?! The answer is, always, a chilidog, onion rings, a fried peach pie, and a frosted orange. It ain't that hard, folks. Their menu isn't that big. Nevertheless, it's common to greet "Whadalya have?!" with "Uh....uh.....huh?" "Whadalya have?!" "Uh, I'm thinking......well, maybe....." "Whadalya have?!" "Please.....for the love of God, I don't know! The thinking part in my head is hurting!" "Whadalya have?!" "Please don't yell at me." (Sob!) The venerable Varsity, target of much love and much derision. Honestly, I don't know how much of both it deserves. It does earn some respect just for being a constant in ever-changing Atlanta. It's grown some, added a little bit of technology here and there, but for the most part, it's remained refreshingly old-school. Some might call it "predictable," but I think most of those people expect too much for too little. It's a drive-in, people. They serve chili dogs. But then how ARE the chili dogs? Aye, and that's the rub. They're not very good, even by chili dog standards. OK, they're not Checker's quality (which, to me, is the culinary equivalent of getting a thousand paper cuts on the head of your penis), but I've had much better chili dogs in my day. They're still better than the hamburgers, so I still stick with them. Comparatively their onion rings, greasy though they may be, score much higher in my book. And the frosted orange (the original Orange Julius before Julius found it) truly deserves its place in Atlanta lore as does any fried pie. Really, though, to most the food is secondary to the experience--the experience of being an original old-school Atlanta institution filled with hustle, bustle and aged engineers re-experiencing their days of youth. Seen through the prism of nostalgia, The Varsity comports itself well. Taken as a restaurant in and of itself, not so much. To me, that's the crux of the polarized opinions surrounding the Varsity. I understand both views and that's why I sit solidly at 2.5 stars. For the sake of rateclubs and sentimentality (even though I never attended GA Tech), I'll round up to 3 stars.
by Louis D. on One of the reasons I like this place is because it's across the street from Roll N' Roaster. I guess anything can be cool if it's near that place. This place can be fun but it depends on who you bring with you. If you bring someone who doesn't like to dance or doesn't like to leave the house, you probably won't have a good time.
