The Varsity is what would be considered the landmark of Atlanta Georgia.It is Atlanta, in the opinions of many people. It is seen as an iconic restaurant to the Modern generation and the older generation of people who have gone to The Varsity in Atlanta. I’ve been to The Varsity many times in my life but this was a totally different experience, because instead of eating, I was observing and capturing the indoors and outdoors of this Wonderful restaurant. The Varsity was opened before the tragic “Great Depression” in 1932. The Varsity opened 88 years ago, 1928, and ever since then, people were impressed by how great the food was and how people-friendly the workers were. Within the rest of this Observation blog, I will put my focus point on the inside of The Varsity and mainly the outside area of The Varsity. This experience wasn’t like a new experience where i’m possibly nervous and bias about if I should go on the inside of the building or if I should go to the area period. I was aware of what to expect as far as comfort wise.  Image Taken By Deshauna Swinney

This is the wall of fame in The Varsity. The large closed in board is surrounded by photographs of celebrities who dedicated their time to eat at the varsity. Some of the images are worn out and some look decent/new. The board has been up for years so the images are expected to look worn out, if so. The board includes a worn out image of the former president, Bill Clinton and a new photograph of President Obama.

The Wall Of Fame Taken By Deshauna Swinney

Personal Images Taken By Deshauna Swinney

When first entering The Varsity, there is an artist drawing off to the left side, in an open area, near a shiny glass window, surrounded by black and white images, that are placed on the walls, and the others are placed in frames and sit against the wall. I had to ask the artist for his permission before proceeding with taking pictures inside of the restaurant, mainly because he hand drew the artwork that is displayed on the main wall of The Varsity, which also has three big signs saying “NO PICTURES OF THE ARTWORK”.  The artist is a man, possibly middle-aged. The drawings are all done by him personally, in which every picture is finished in black and white and is signed by him on the bottom, right corner of each drawing. Everything he draws is in such a unique fashion to where if you were to see a drawing, and look at the bottom to see his signature, you would have already known that he had to be the magical hands behind the beautiful, scaled out art work.

Walking outside of The Varsity, there is a church building neighbors with the restaurant. There is a medium sized, somewhat faded sign to the left side of the building that says “Hope is faith holding out its hand.” and the quote is by a man known as George Iles. The quote sits along the side of the church building for inspiration to those who may possibly be lost in life and need a little bit of inspiration.

George Iles Sign

Image Of Fountain At The Church Taken By Deshauna Swinney

The beautiful water fountain is centered in the middle area of the church. The church is a bit old as many can see from the picture. The fountain sign is pretty much faded and rusted, basically worn out. The stone sign reads “In Loving Memory of Eric Hay Henderson JR.” who was a member of this church. The fountain forever flows with fresh clean water for the life of Mr. Eric JR.

The Varsity has a huge mobile sign that presents it’s food and other advertisements on it, with bright colors only, and at night, the sign lights up the area making Metro Atlanta a bright beautiful site, especially when driving pass the area at night.    The sign flips through many different images and advertisements, leaving each ad up for 7-8 seconds maximum. The sign doesn’t have too much importance when it comes to the naked eye, but for it to display images back to back, like a slideshow, and for it to be placed in such an area, it must have some type of importance deep down, otherwise, it would not be there.

To conclude all of this, the varsity is a place you could call home, if home was a food place. It is an original restaurant that can only be copied, not the other way around. If you haven’t been to The Varsity, I advise that the next time you and a friend, or you and a few family members are hungry, and you are in Metro Atlanta, stop by The Varsity and let it change your inner food life like it did mine and many others.