Varsity Pizza: A New, Old Haunt For Newhouse Grad Students
The lyrics of wonder from the Carole King 1971 hit, So Far Away say it best, “Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore?” This still is sometimes achingly true in America where it’s common to move from our hometown for new opportunities, leaving behind family and friends, which is exciting but can be difficult for some. Historical buildings are easily smashed to make way for new ones. So it’s rare when a business is not demolished to make way for a parking lot and when it’s still in the family some 91 years later.
That, ladies and gentleman, is the Varsity.
The Varsity has had its highs and lows. The highs being in the 1970’s and 1980’s where that Carole King song probably played while being drowned out by the celebrations of a won football game.
The lows were the 1990’s where that bittersweet nostalgia had the potential to take hold but didn’t happen because of a renovation and menu upgrade.
Even still, the traditions still hold. Banners of the sports teams who lost against SU will be flipped around at the front of the restaurant (the greatest one to behold this year was seeing Clemson’s upside-down). And pizza is still one of the most popular items on the menu. It’s expanded though to include certain items for those with dietary restrictions, and the staff there are friendly. Maybe that’s why students, alum and many employees nearby at Crouse Hospital return again and again.
For alum, they still have that one familiar food joint, and for others like us it’s a new discovery that is slowly becoming an old familiar haunt.
As a grad student, I go here between classes or before work and am starting to run into familiar faces. Memories are being made from conversations and laughter. Little by little, each customer is being enveloped into its fold, a piece of them becoming part of the history of the restaurant.
As grad students, we may not be going there for a full four years as undergraduates, but it’s pretty cool that we get a literal taste of this historic Syracuse institution. Already, there has been networking done here, friendships made and good food eaten all while the music plays over the speakers sitting above the dusty jukebox next to the cartoons of SU sports past.
Newhouse is about a lot of things like learning new equipment, networking and making advancements toward your career in the classes one takes, but it’s also about relationships, not just the ones you need to get a job in the future, but other friendships, those friends that you’ll meet after your day as a color commentator at a Knicks game. In that Manhattan bar, you’ll not only discuss the best play but that one time you hit up the Varsity after that one SU game and how fun that was.
For those of you who haven’t tried this staple yet, here are a few of the menu items from 802 South Crouse Avenue:
The Pizza – Well, yeah.
Wraps – There are 15 choices to choose from. Fifteen!
Rice Bowls – I tried the Greek one and keep going back for it again and again.
Wings – Great for game day with a few for you or 20 for everyone else… or just for you.
Sandwiches – Nine options there.
Burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, subs…
In addition, they also have daily specials like meatloaf as well as breakfast and catering.
So there you have it! Take a friend, make a friend and enjoy as well as appreciate the fact that with all the change going on around you this semester and going into next year, it will remain the one familiar place within your Newhouse experience.
