Behind the Slice

Written by Sophia Leone | Photography by Nina Gerzema

Varsity Pizza, situated between Purple Banana and Down Under Leather, is a renowned landmark of Marshall Street. A local hot spot for students, alumni, and visitors to gather and enjoy freshly made pizza, Varsity is a staple of the university community.

Without fail, you can always count on Varsity for your daily dose of orange spirit. Photos of athletes line the iconic blue and orange interior walls of the restaurant. And everyone knows it is the place to be before every Orange game and after every win for some victory pizza and beer (try the Varsity Special if you’re feeling more adventurous than plain cheese). But the legacy of this family-owned and operated business is a long one and has a rich history that many of its pizza-loving customers may not know.

Varsity took up residency in Syracuse in 1926 with Greek immigrant Jerry Dellas. Originally however, it wasn't pizza he was dishing out. Dellas stood on the corner of Marshall Street selling simple peanuts and popcorn to pedestrians. When the opportunity arose to move into a brick-and-mortar store, he purchased a house where he opened a fully-functioning coffee bar and restaurant. Dellas and his four sons lived in the apartment above, working as a family unit to operate the joint. During the second world war, three of Dellas’ sons were drafted, leaving him and his one remaining son to run the business.

After their service, the three Dellas brothers luckily came back to work and became students at SU. After many years of serving locals, Jerry Dellas sadly passed away in 1952. Of course the Dellas brothers stayed and kept the business running. As Varsity became more popular, the family knew they needed to keep up with the influx of new customers. To meet increasing demands, they renovated the restaurant into a cafeteria-style establishment, keeping up with the rising trend of fast-food service. This was the first, but certainly not the last, renovation to the restaurant. In the 70s and 80s Varsity was again remodeled, turning it into the hub for all things SU sports.

In more recent years, cousins John and Jerry Dellas, the third generation, purchased the restaurant along with owning other well-known Marshall Street institutions like Fagan’s Pub. The Dellas family heritage is what makes Varsity so special, and probably what makes the pizza taste so good too! As soon as you walk in you feel connected to the Syracuse University community and culture.

So next time you go in for a slice after a basketball game, know you’re also biting into Syracuse’s very own slice of the American dream.