History & More

Over the decades, the Varsity has enjoyed many written and visual documentations of the history behind our family-owned and operated business. A Syracuse.com article by Johnathan Croyle from 2018, which features an ORIGINAL VARSITY COFFEE SHOP menu, along with “an American story” about how to build a landmark.

Croyle writes “The Varsity Pizza restaurant has been a Syracuse University landmark for decades. But its pizza and wings, the restaurant’s biggest sellers, did not arrive until 1971, when the Dellas family hired the husband of their current pizza cook, Elli Darmoyslis. Initially the Varsity had started as a peanut and popcorn cart on Marshall Street. In 1926, Jerry Dellas, an immigrant from Greece, bought a house at 802 South Crouse Avenue, raised the facade, and opened the Varsity Coffee Shop and Deli…read more.”

Then we love a blog post from October of 2011 titled “Picturing Syracuse” is one of our favorites. Read excerpts below or click here for the full article.

“The Varsity, an integral part of SU sports culture, has occupied the same location at 802 S. Crouse Ave. since 1926. Its founding family still owns it. People have met, fallen in love, and hosted their wedding receptions there. Students graduate and bring their grandkids back 60 years later. Although the Varsity has evolved over the decades it represents stability on the Hill.

The restaurant began with Greek immigrant Jerry Dellas selling popcorn and peanuts from a cart on Marshall Street. He then bought a house across from his stand and converted it into the Varsity, a full service restaurant and coffee shop.

So how do we get from cart to Syracuse institution? “It’s really the great American dream story,” says John Dellas, co-owner of the Varsity, owner of Faegan’s and grandson of Jerry Dellas.

Jerry Dellas and his four sons worked in the restaurant and lived upstairs, until World War II pulled three of the sons away to serve. After the war, business boomed as the G.I. Bill brought veterans to Syracuse University. The restaurant expanded. Jerry Dellas’ sons took classes at SU and traveled, but eventually returned to the Varsity. “The family needed help.” John says.

In 1952, Jerry Dellas passed away. Influenced by the fast food movement, his sons converted the Varsity into a cafeteria to serve more people more quickly. The second generation of owners also oversaw the Varsity’s rowdiest era, the 1970s and early 1980s. People packed the restaurant after football victories to see the game’s MVP flip over the opposing team’s pennant, a tradition established by owner Speros Dellas and head coach Dick MacPherson. (The pennants still hang on the back wall, but now the marching band flips them.)

During the 1970s and early 1980s, students (including football and basketball players) packed the Varsity late into the night on Fridays and Saturdays. They fearlessly partied in the open due to the lower drinking age. The photo on the left from the 1979 SU yearbook was accompanied by the caption, “The Varsity was a must, at least once a week, for pizza and beer.” The photo on the right is from the 1976 yearbook.

In the mid 1990s…generation three, John Dellas and his cousin Jerry Dellas…bought it in 2001. John had been devoting his time to Faegan’s, the pub he opened next door in ‘78.  After renovating the space and expanding the menu…the Varsity sells 200 pizzas on typical days, and 350 to 400 on game days. “I was ambivalent in the beginning, but I really like walking in my Dad’s shoes,” John Dellas says.”