After such a long day I was feeling a little peckish. We pulled up to the Varsity . According to the website, “The World’s Largest Drive-in sits on more than two acres and can accommodate 600 cars and over eight hundred people inside…It sells more than two miles of hotdogs daily, a ton of onion rings, 2500 pounds of fresh cut potatoes, 5000 homemade fried pies, and 300 gallons of chili, all of which are made from scratch daily. The downtown Varsity is also the world’s largest single outlet for Coca-Cola.”
Compared to the monster burgers of LA, the Varsity chili burger looked a little wimpy. But good things come in small packages, and somehow the patty and their house-made chili melded together into one explosive meat bomb of flavor.
Not only was the hot dog covered in that rich chili, but the dog itself was quality. A nice, intense Nathan’s kosher dog flavor stood up to the chili making for one hell of a dog.
In spite of their impressive record with coca-Cola, the Varsity is all about the Frosty Orange, known to regulars as the F.O. It is like an orange shake with a slushy texture and real juice flavor instead of that artificial “orange drink” taste.
My only disappointment was the peach pie, which was soaked with grease. An hour’s wait to eat it may be to blame, but judging by the taste, even eaten hot I would guess it would be more greasy than crispy.
Car hops, or “Curb men” holler to each car that pulls into the long row of parking spaces, letting everyone know that they are on their way, even when there are four cars ahead of them.
“What’ll Ya Have?”
