Scottish Guy Tries American Fast Food (The Varsity) in Atlanta for the first time 🇺🇸 

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You missed out. You didn't get the onion rings. Those are the real treasure of the varsity.

“Whadda ya have whadda ya have” !!!! My dad loved the Varsity! Cant wait for this one, hope you can decifer the lingo( language)!!

The chili cheese dog and burger looks bloody yummy 🤤

My parents dated at The Varsity way back in the ‘40s. Not always the best food, but nostalgic and always lots of fun. My dad used to bring me a box of fried peach pies when I was in college, made me very popular in the dorm!

Peach pie looked good ! You need to try peach cobbler ! Maybe we when meet up we can make you both one ?

I don't think that I've ever clicked so hard on a video before. Was so happy to see the thumbnail. The Varsity is a Georgia, especially Atlanta, staple! Some of my greatest memories are going to The Varsity before a Braves game. Nothing beats a chili dog with an F.O (frosted orange). Hope you enjoyed your time in my hometown. "What'll ya have? What's ya have?"

What? You didn’t order the fried onion rings? Simply awesome!

If you're ever back in Atlanta, you MUST try Mary Mac's - southern food at it's best !!! We do love our Varsity, and so many other great eateries. Let us know when you're planning a trip back and we, the citizens of Atlanta, will be happy to show you around and feed you !!! Y'all come back now, ya hear !!!!

The Varsity has the best onions rings I've ever eaten.

There was also a Varsity in Athens Georgia for decades. It was an Athens institution. Sadly, it closed earliest this year. The orange frost was always my favorite. So glad you had a chance to find out, "What will you have?"

We need to try that burger ! 🍔

When I heard about The Varsity, I was on a cross country trip from Boston to Texas. So I figured I'd stop in Atlanta for lunch and check them out. This was 1996. I was HOOKED! I used the car hop service and it was just awesome!! I spent maybe $5 on food, and gave the car hop another $5 for his time/advice! My favorite order...2 Hot Dogs, Ring One, Large Sweet Tea. Extra Mustard on the side. On the ketchup...well, we agree to disagree. Glad you enjoyed it! To stay healthy, don't come back there for 18 months. Haha! Yeah, it's wicked salty, but wicked good! Whenever I'm in Atlanta...I always make time for a visit to The Varsity!!

There are sooooo many good restaurants in Atlanta. The Varsity isn't somewhere I go often, but when you are craving it there really isn't anywhere else that ticks the box in quite the same way.

Whoop 🙌 ❤ 🤤

That’s awesome!! We just went there a couple months ago for a college trip after a concert

As a teenager, my best friend and I would hop on our motorcycles and ride from central South Carolina in the late evening and ride to Atlanta for a Varsity Chili-cheese dog or three, fries and a large Coke and ride back home… ahhh.. those teen years were something indeed!

Awww!! The Varsity is a classic grease joint in ATL, lots of College students love it. Too bad you weren’t told to go to Ponce City Market… no fast food there! You should Google it. Even Little Five Points has amazing restaurants. I know it’s hard to choose when you only have a little bit of time to explore.

Peaches are absolutely delicious. I can't understand why anybody would not like peaches that much. I'm drinking peach iced tea right now and it's so good.

Pretty spot on with your review. Best things are the fries, the chili cheeseburger and the peach pie. Homemade fried pies like that are better though. Too late for suggestions but I hope you tried Fox Brothers BBQ and just about 20 minutes west of Atlanta is Douglasville where you can find an awesome Cajun restaurant called Gumbeaux's. Their seafood rotini is one of my favrite dishes I have ever eaten in any restaurant.

I know what you mean about being over fast food. There is so much of it in America and it is so convenient, cheap, and tastes so good.

I'm not a big fan of ketchup but I've always seen here in the US & having grown up here... That it's always mustard, ketchup,and relish, also onions and maybe a little mayo. Those are the most common condiments to use, so I can't believe somebody would say something against using ketchup on a hot dog

My father was an ATL police officer in the 60's. He told me The Varsity fed the on duty cops for free. He really enjoyed the hamburgers.

Welcome to Atlanta. It's not the heat, it's the humidity.

As much as I have wonderful memories at the Varsity (and as a Georgia Tech student, I ate there regularly), it's really not as good as it once was and I quit going and/or taking visitors there over five years ago. You missed out on the onion rings and the *frosted* orange, which are the best items they still have (at least when I was still patronizing them). I favor the Varsity's onion rings so much, I refuse to eat any onion rings from anywhere else.

I love the onion rings at The Varsity! Best onion rings I have ever tasted! Also, try the frosted orange. The peach pies are delicious!

Peach pie, apple pie cherry pie fried pies are all over the south. Peach pie is the best. You can even get fried pies with chocolate in it

Hi Shaun, thanks for another video of your travels. You may find this interesting: I read this morning that Georgia suffered a peach crop shortage. They lost more than 90% of the crops due to record warm weather in the winter months that signaled trees to start blooming and some put out fruit. This was followed by a freeze that completely froze the blossoms and tiny fruit. Georgia is now buying peaches from Washington State.

Classic place. You've got to eat there when you're in Atlanta.

Have you ever been to Albuquerque, NM? If not, put the Owl Restaurant and their Chile burger with a shake on the list of "Must Eat!"

LOVE Ketchup and Mustard and Mayonnaise and Piclkes and sauerkraut and chili and cheese and....! Whatever and whenever it might strike my fancy or fancies in any given moment. Glad you ate it the way YOU wanted it.

When I was there they would say, "Walk Me A Dog... Chilly Cheese Slaw Dog". The Best! 😄

You missed the onion rings. Very popular at The Varsity. Also made with Vidalia onions, another world-famous Georgia product. The last time I was there (in the early 80s), you could watch the rings being cut through a big glass pane

My favorite in Atlanta! Frosted Orange 🍊 yum

I'm an Atlanta native! You have to try Mary Mac's Tearoom, Marietta Dinner, The Vortex, etc...

Was a favorite stop in Athens GA as well but it closed. All of this American food is gonna kill ya!

Thanks for giving me ideas of what to do when I visit the ATL! I live an hour and a half away. Im a travel nurse in Alabama.

Eat the hot dogs the way YOU like. I also like ketchup and mustard on mine.

Gosh, I'm really surprised you didn't get more votes for Mary Mac's Tea Room, The Silver Skillet, or Bones, which are iconic, too. Varsity is okay; it's pretty typical heavy, greasy, gut bomb food, though it's still tasty. The others are, to me, a bit more unique and varied.

When you’re in SC or NC make sure you try a Carolina Dog. It’s a hot dog with mustard, diced onion, chili and cole slaw. The most classic and traditional ones will have bright red hot dogs but in my area they’re just basic regular hot dogs.

A 67 year old Canadian here. Shaun, I like very much watching your videos when you`re in Scotland. I look forward to other such videos. I don`t think the whole of Scotland has been covered.

Love that you are in my hometown! Can't wait to see where else you go! If you need any recs, let me know. 50 years here so, I might have a few. LOL

Finally someone makes a video a very in depth video about this place thanks Shaun

Love Varsity chili dogs, but they sometimes bark back later on. You need the extra salt as hot as it's been.

It is the world's larget restarant. I went to engineering school across the road at Georgia Tech. I love the Varsity!

The varsity is a big hangout for the university of Georgia. Students usually gather around dinner after studying all day. During games it’s packed to the rafters. During summer not so packed as everyone is off. Sometimes you see the strangest people inside like the entire Denver Broncos football team was inside still in Uniform just chowing down after a game. Or coaches just taking a break from their job. They have a lot of large private rooms inside for some reason which is fine and it’s actually pretty good for people who want to eat for meetings and stuff.

I always thought it was the abrupt counter servers who expect rapid fire ordering...but that was in the late 80s when I moved to Atlanta. Glad to be long gone from there.

I'm perplexed as to why anyone would tell you ketchup doesn't go on a hotdog, most people I know like a hotdog with mustard and ketchup, while I like mine with mayo, mustard and relish. Whatever floats your boat is what I say,lol, thanks for taking us along Shaun.

Welcome to Georgia! Glad your here and hope you have a great visit!

I grew up in Georgia and have lived in Tennessee for a while now but whenever I get a chance to go thru Atlanta I always try to stop at the Varsity....its the best! If you ever have the change to go thru Macon Ga you need to get bar B que at Finchers. The original location on Houston Ave looks like a dump but it is awesome....the Q there and the brunswick stew is unbelievable. Whenever we go back home we load up with Finchers Bar B Que and brunswick stew.....yummmmmm.

Perfectly fine to put ketchup and mustard on hot dogs. But you wouldn’t put that on a bowl of chili, which is why it seems weird to put either of them on a chili dog or chili cheeseburger, because you want the chili flavor to stand out. But dangit now I want a hot dog and fries!

The Vortex is well worth the try!!

Grew up going to the varsity on the way to my grandmother’s house. Now there’s one two miles from my front door

The ATL still has some cool things to experience, but it’s got a totally different vibe post The 96 Olympics. The late 80’s and early 90’s were epic for late nights in Buckhead and then after hours at Club Anytime. Going to the Varsity after a Braves game was always a great childhood experience too.

Yes! Now you’re sampling our finest.

Oh I can’t believe you didn’t get the onion rings. They are very unique and you won’t get them anywhere else. They are made with Vidalia onions which are kind of sweet. My grandparents ate there in the 30’s & 40’s and my parents started eating there in the 40’s. Me in the 1960’s until present. Possibly my great grandparents in the 20’s & 30’s. Now my kids and my grandchild eat there so they have served 6 generations of my family.

My family eats ketchup and mustard on hotdogs. I never eat mustard on mine. Ketchup only! Lots of people here don't use mustard on their hotdogs, so eat it however you like it!

Hi Shaun! Met you at Fraser's Ridge Homecoming! LOVE the Varsity, but my favorite there is the fried onion rings-the best ever!!! And I take my hot dogs--mustard, chili, coleslaw!!! There use to be a Varsity across from the Arch at UGA when I went there!!

Glad you enjoy it. I live in Athens, GA. It's about an hour east of Atlanta. Sadly, our Varsity closed down last year so we don't currently have one.

Shaun, We have burgers here in NC. We call it the Carolina burger. It is a cheeseburger or hamburger...with chili, onions, mustard. Sometimes, we do it (All the way), with cole slaw on it. They are very good. I have mine like this, if I do have my regular..mayo lettuce tomato and onion.

Peach pie can be found on other places, but Im sure its good.

Peaches are in really short supply right now. Georgia had to pivot to try and preserve what they have now. This shortage is due to such a cold early winter with a double freeze and a dry summer which killed many peach flowers early. It’s going to a bit rough for them for a while. The citrus crop however is better as Florida didn’t get a major frost last year or this year nor did a drought hit for more than a week. Weather though hot has been quite steady with rains in the afternoons and fairly high humidity. It’s been what you can say is boring Florida weather.

I haven't been to the Varsity since the 1980s. Seems things have changed a bit. I'm not hearing them call out "What'll ya have?" Possibly because you were around the corner.

I love how people think it's ok to criticize how someone eats their food, lol. I don't think chili, onions or coleslaw belong on a hot dog but nobody gives me grief about it. Give me my ketchup and mustard (something I only started regularly adding in the last 10 years) any day. Those fries did look great but there's only so much salt I can stand. I don't like peaches at all so more power to you on that one. I love apple hand pies though. That flaky crust looked great.

I hope you're planning to visit the Atlanta Fox Theater. An architectural gem! ☮️

Welcome to Georgia bro! Hope y’all enjoy your stay! Yes it’s been blistering hot as per usual this time of year!🥵

I never heard of putting mustard and ketchup on a chili dog. But to each their own. 👍🏻✌🏻

You missed The frozen orange. They are the bomb

I've never been to Atlanta, but I've connected in it's airport quite a few times, I'd love to visit properly sometime

I wish you had ordered a Frosted Orange and Onion Rings...my must haves at the Varsity 💕

The hat was on size fits all, you just needed to expand it where the 2 ends of the piece of paper fit together.

I agree as a Native of NC ketchup, mustard, chili, coleslaw and raw small diced onions are a must on hotdogs some cheese doesn't hurt either 😋

I miss ordering and eating in the car with the waiters on rollerskates.

I love this man eating xdxd American fooooddd

Mick’s, Mellow Mushroom, La Madeleine, and there’s a wood fired pizza place whose name I can’t recall.

I would never in a million years go to Atlanta Georgia. Especially when not too far away you have beautiful tropical Myrtle Beach South Carolina with like 100 delicious seafood buffets. Beautiful beaches and palm trees.

I put ketchup on everything. 🤣 I’m a Chattanooga gal, born and raised. I’ve been to Atlanta for concerts over the years but never made it to Varsity. My husband has and has always told me the food was subpar and the staff is rude. Lol. I’m sure those who love it are somewhat operating off sentimentality which I totally understand. ❤

I put ketchup on my hotdog..when I was 12. 😂 At the end of the, you eat it how you want. I like to go mayo inside the bun and mustard on the dog.

I grew up in the Atlanta area and still live nearby. If I'd known you were going to be there, I'd have dropped by to say hello. The Varsity is an iconic Atlanta fast food restaurant and I have been there many times, including recently with my son. It was not crowded when you were there, but one of the hallmarks of the Varsity is their ability to handle enormous crowds. It was (and still may be) the world's largest drive-in hamburger restaurant. When I was growing up and was attending a sporting event, usually an Atlanta Braves baseball game or, across the expressway from the Varsity, a college football game at Georgia Tech, it was commonplace for Atlantans to stop by the Varsity and grab a carry-out meal for the game. Eventually, and sadly, the greed of professional sports team owners won out, and the Atlanta Braves banned outside food from being brought into the stadium. I am not sure how long you plan to be in Atlanta, but if you have time, you may want to check out the original Chik-fil-A restaurant, also known as the Dwarf House, at 461 N Central Ave, Hapeville, GA 30354, near the airport. It is a different experience from an typical Chik-fil-A, inasmuch as you can sit down at a table and be served by a waiter or waitress, with a much expanded menu with items only available at the original location, including chicken and waffles. There is also a historical marker outside, as well as a bench with a life-size statue of Chik-fil-A founder Truett Cathy, who died not long ago, seated on it. Coca-Cola and Chik-fil-A are Atlanta's most famous culinary exports! Regardless, I hope you enjoy your visit to Atlanta!

I’m a ketchup & mustard on hot dogs guy, but would never put ketchup on a chili dog. To each their own, though!

Hi Shaun. You really missed out by not trying their onion rings. They are spectacular.

Lololol Georgia is The Peach State. Famous for peaches. Although, Alabama & South Carolina both also claim to grow the BEST peaches.

I am a big fan man of the Varsity 🥰🥰🥰…however I was always torn between the Varsity and the Yellow Jacket drive in (closed in the early 70s) down the street (I grew up in metro Atlanta in the 1950s-70s…and regularly went to the Varsity…sadly y’all were never exposed to the carhop “Flossie Mae”…his taking your order was priceless 😎😎😎).

Ketchup on hotdogs is the way to go! Be a rebel!!! 🥰😆

Nice place to eat. You needed to get held up outside for the true experience. Come late on a Friday night. Visit the Bluffs. Welcome to Atlanta

My favorite varsity menu items are the FROSTED orange and the onion rings.

Slaw , chili cheese dogs or burgers with either Onion ryor fries sweet tea to drink and for desert peach pie

In Edinburgh they'd dip that chilli cheese burger in batter and deep fry it.. with salt n sauce.. imagine how much better that would be!

Unfortunately they closed the one in Athens. We are just East of Atlanta. Home of the Georgia Bulldogs.

LOL, dude...stop with the ketchup on the burgers/dogs...just wrong!...LOL. I live up the road a couple of hours from there. Very familiar! Enjoying your travels!

Someone has been remiss in failing to recommend the onion rings to you. The Varsity has great onion rings!

Personally, I use very little ketchup but there are things I want it for. Not on my burgers and hot dogs though. However, I did freak out a with the ketchup on pastrami. 😂

That's the 1st time I've seen fries that look like the fries served at Dicks Hamburgers in Seattle. Sure enough they're hand cut from fresh potatoes. Same kind of basic and hopefully affordable eats.

Aw,man! You didnt get some onion rings?!?! They're so greasy, so good

The legend goes that the original founder was either kicked out or flunked out of Georgia Tech, which is just next door. He vowed to open a business on their doorstep and become a millionaire, which he did. The peaches in the peach pie are probably from California, not Georgia, as California is the number one peach producing state. Glad you enjoyed.

What ya have what ya have what ya have?

Been there and done that and it was good.

More like local fast food, Near a university there is usually a good cheap place to eat. There are salads at fast food places

I'm with you Shaun, ketchup DOES belong on hotdogs!

Where was "Waddya have, Waddya have, Waddya have???" The FAMOUS Varsity catch phrase?