The Varsity sits on Atlanta’s Downtown Connector and is the World’s largest drive-in. The two acre site has space for 600 cars and 800 people. On football days 30,000 people visit the place.

Some other statistics about the Varsity:

They serve two miles of hot dogs...

...2,500 pounds of potatoes....

...2,000 pounds of onions....

....and 300 gallons of chili...

EVERY DAY!

Inside you get the feel that this is a big place - Counters as far as the eye can see (this picture was taken late on a Monday afternoon so it was quiet):

The Varsity is now over 80 years old and is such an institution in Atlanta that it has its own lingo. When you get to the front of the line the servers all ask “What’ll ya have” in a fairly direct manner (This is not a place for indecisive people). The list of choices is available in straightforward English (e.g. “hot dog to go”) or Varsity lingo (“walk the dog”). Once you’re really proficient you can order things like a “red dog, all the way sideways with a bag of rags” which, roughly translated is a plain hot dog with ketchup, onions on the side and a bag of potato chips.

For those less proficient, fortunately there’s a menu:

Your meal comes in a nice box which you can keep as a souvenir or use in some kind of Blue Peter project:

I went for the “hot dog, all the way and a side one”. Confusingly a “hot dog” is not a plain hot dog but one with chili and mustard on it - being health conscious I avoided the “heavy weight”, which is the same thing with more chili. Here it is in all its glory:

So next time you’re driving through Atlanta (or more likely stuck in traffic going through Atlanta) stop by the Varsity for a Yankee dog with strings and a squirt-one and see what you get.