Like many other folks in Moscow, I had been eagerly awaiting the opening of this establishment, as the only other breakfast place downtown, The Breakfast Club, always had long lines on Saturday mornings. I took my young son this morning, knowing that, as with any new establishment, there would be some kinks to iron out. But nothing could have quite prepared me for the showcase of appalling service we were about to receive. After being seated, we promptly ordered about as simple an order as one could, the Eggs (scrambled) and German Sausage ($9) and a kid's pancake ($2--and large enough for a small appetite, so a good bargain). After waiting for 35 minutes, I finally asked the waiter if the food would be out soon. Instead of apologizing for the wait, he asked, "Oh, why? Do you need to be somewhere or something?" and eventually came back to report, again without apologizing, that it would be some time yet. Finally, 55--FIFTY-FIVE--minutes after we had placed our order, the food arrived--or some of it at any rate. The pancake was not accompanied by syrup, and my scrambled eggs were not accompanied by a german sausage link. There was also no butter for my biscuit. The waiter never came by to check, so after five minutes I went up to the counter and brought these matters to his attention, and he said that I was right, there was supposed to be German sausage, and he would get this taken care of right away. The syrup and butter did arrive in due course, and we dug into our food, hungry enough by this point that we were just happy to have something in front of us. But even so, I could not help feeling that the food was decidedly mediocre--which is saying something, as it's pretty hard to go wrong with scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and biscuit (the last of these tasted like it had been frozen and thawed). 15 minutes later, we had finished eating, my young son was ready to go, and there was still no German sausage. When I was able to get the waiter's attention (he had never come by to check on us), I asked for the bill, and he said he would void the sausage. When he brought me the bill, however, I was still being charged not just for the $9 item that I had ordered and had only received part of, but for a different $10 item--a sausage and egg scramble (and there were indeed bits of flavorless ground sausage mixed in with my eggs). When I tried to explain to him that he had botched the order and we were being overcharged, he actually started arguing the point with me persistently, until I decided to cut my losses and gave up, handed him a $20 bill, said "keep the change" and got out of there as fast as we could. read more

I'm on a special diet and they were great about making substitutions. The portions are huge plus the service friendly and efficient.

Great diner style breakfast. Huge portions, clean atmosphere, and good service.

So we ended up going to Varsity on the second day it opened and we were super excited about going. When entering the establishment it was all sorts of crazy and unorganized. We ended up ordering a burgers with a side of potato salad and some chocolate shakes. Once we got the burgers and the side of potato salad we were disappointed by how bland it was and it tasted frozen. The potato salad was very expensive for also being completely tasteless and small. The shakes that we ended up ordering as well we're just vanilla with some chocolate sauce. So we were very disappointed and ended up not getting the shakes. Overall a very disappointing experience and would not recommend to anyone. read more

It's a cute little place, but the food is only average. I probably won't be back. The breakfast menu is very very small.

Ordered a BLT and the bacon was hard as a rock - I think it had either been overcooked or cooked much earlier. The sandwich had two tiny pieces of tomato and normal amount of lettuce. The fries that came with the order were crispy and cooked correctly. Overall a very poor dining experience. read more

My adult son and I have eaten there twice now. The first time was a week ago and while we waited a bit the onion rings were to kill for and the burger was great was told they grind their own meat. Bun was delicious, too. 2nd time the onion rings were way too greasy but service was friendly quick and accurate had a chocolate malt and could have been thicker. We will go back again as we can see they are getting better each time. Pretty noisy with all the little kids in there. Don't know how they are going to handle the crowd when the University resumes in the Fall. Talked to Larry the owner and he had just sold his Other sandwich place so he just owns Gambinos and The Varsity now. Great place to take a family. read more

I just hate to give bad reviews, but I felt it's nessery in this case .I ordered a French dip the first month they opened it was dry , tough and flavorless. I ordered it with clam chowder the soup was ok but not great for a diner.so i waited a couple of months to give them a second chance .I ordered a chef salad my wife a burger my two daughters burgers with side salads ,I can't tell you if they were good or not. They were not to busy but 3/4 full after 5 free refills and a 1 he later we left with and went to arbys. Arbys was busy,we ordered and got a good meal in 10 min. read more

Was super excited to go to a diner but sadly we showed up around lunch expecting them to serve breakfast (diners and breakfast to hand in hand c'mon) and it was all burgers sandwiches and salads.... You can get that anywhere. Also NOT vegetarian friendly whatsoever unless you're okay with just a salad. read more

5/5 Absolutely, perfect place to go and eat. The burgers are so tasteful they make your mouth water with each bite. They freshly grind the hamburger in house which might be why they are so good. Additionally, the customer service is pristine. They are all helping out each other like a family. We have had Shawn for the times we have been, and you can really tell he loves his job. Ask him about his shake, you will not be disappointed! Thank you. read more

This place is simple food so it should not take over an hour to get a basket of chicken strips and fries. I will never go back unless forced. read more

The food was very marginal. Pastrimie sandwich was very salty and the onion rings were barely warm when served. Both sandwich and onion rings were too greasy. read more

The waitress made a few mistakes our first time in but was quite gracious and apologetic about it. I appreciated her humility. The food is good and we didn't have to wait very long before it arrived. It's still on my circuit of restaurants to choose from when I'm eating out. read more

Wow, this place is a real asset to Moscow! The food was Delicious! The staff couldn't have been better! I will definitely be going back! Too many things on the menu that sounded delicious, I had a hard time choosing! read more

After much anticipation we went to Varsity Diner. So far we have gone 3 times, first time food was good ( just good), wanted dinner but we're told couldn't order dinner until 5 we were there around 4 so we had their lunch menu. Next time we went they were always closed time & time again. We almost gave up trying. Next 2 times we went food was very disappointing and very small portions. If you go to this diner just plan on leaving hungry. Service help was good although they always try to seat you at the worst table by the kitchen even though there are always window booths available. Weirdest hours ever, closed much of the time, no breakfast hours. Really? read more

Worst service I've ever had. I have never felt so disrespected was sat down and told my server would be right with me they sat 2 tables after us. The waiter took both those table drink orders and food brought it out to them and our serve never came to us and even asked if we wanted water!! We were looked up and down by all waiters but never waited on!!! Horrible service would never recommend to anybody!!! read more

Great quality food and was served quickly. Delicious fries and the best fry sauce. Will definitely be coming back. I would highly recommend this place if you're looking for a cozy diner feel. read more

Great service. Food was great and fast. Didn't have to ask for a refill once. People are also very polite. Highly recommend checking this place out read more

This place had a nice retro atmosphere BUT we were drinking our milkshakes and the owner or manager of the place came over and asked us to leave because people were waiting for the table. I've worked in the service industry for years and that's like 101 of things you NEVER do!!! I'll never be going there again. read more

Went in a busy Saturday night. Good food. Good service. Will go again.. onion rings were fantastic and the owner had gone to the farmers market so fresh huckleberry shakes were available. Delicious. read more

worst food & service in moscow ... don't waste your money or time on this place ... burgers were bland, coffee sucked, waitress was awful .. was throwing our change back to us on the table, just all around a miss of the mark ... this place has gorgeous 1950's decor, but that's all they've got ... someone seriously dropped the ball when they were conceiving this spot, like students won't realize how bad the food is with all the great eateries all over moscow ... will never return, ever ~ read more

Terrible terrible terrible service. I went with some friends and the waitress started off by telling us all her problems and how she had a bad day. All i ordered was a milkshake and fries. We waited over 30 mins and still didnt get my shake. I had to remind the waitress. Shes like "oh the milkshake lady left." She came back like 5 times to say im sorry ill try to figure out how to make a milkshake. At one point she said "ill just take it off the bill" explaining i wont get anything at all. And then an hour went by and shes like "its ok, ill make it for you, itll be worth the waits its homemade ice cream." I finally got it and i asked if this will be free and she said "no, weve been giving away too much free food today." On top of that the shake was like soup it was terrible and once i got the bill i was charged for a soda i never ordered. When i told the waitress of the charge shes like "oh man i dont know how to change that." So i had to wait even more time for them to figure out how to fix it. So i ended up paying for fries that i couldve bought at the frozen section in winco and a soupy mess. read more

I finally tried this shiny new place after giving it time to get it together, since I had heard mostly bad things about it so far from friends that had tried it. I had heard the burgers were good, but we went for breakfast this morning. It's a cool looking place, harking back to the days of old time diners, kinda like Mel's Diners in Florida. They were busy with plenty of people wearing their WSU colors, but we got seated right away. It started out good, got coffee after sitting down, placed our order. But downhill from there, couldn't get anymore coffee until just about through eating, which took awhile to get our food. The German sausage was overcooked for about 30 minutes it seemed, very tough & dry, needed a steak knife to cut it, but couldn't get one! Their Varsity potatoes were way overcooked & dried out, easily done since they are more like potatoes chip thin. My friend ordered "that sounds terrible" which is 2 pancakes, with eggs, bacon & sausage piled on top. It was not bad, but didn't come with butter or syrup unless you asked for it, which seems strange. I didn't finish my food, or my 2nd cup of coffee, it was just bad. They are very unorganized & don't know if they even care about it, just keep pushing people through the doors. The waitresses were friendly & did seem like they were trying, but I find it hard to tip well for bad service & food. I will probably try them for their burgers one day, but it may be awhile! read more

First time we were in there were long wait times between ordering and receiving food. This second time we were in it was deplorable. I asked for no seasonings on my burger as I have allergies. Both burgers were brought out highly seasoned. Made my husband sweat there was so much seasoning. I opened my bun and yes, tons of seasoning, Sent it back for a plain burger. It came back and looked ok on top, took a bite and BOOM highly seasoned all over the back! Could not eat it, immediately began having an allergic reaction and shaking. The waitress comes over and asks if she can do anything more. I showed her the burger with all the seasoning and she just looks at me dumbly. I said I cannot eat this, she took it away. The Coke my husband ordered (I had water) was all ice and no soda, and the waitress begrudgingly refilled it once only upon repeated requests. We went to leave, and the waitress charged us for the burger that I could not eat and was never replaced! I made them void the charge for my burger, but they still overcharged me for the one hamburger and soda. Should have been $12.18 but they charged $15! Perhaps teenagers and college students will accept this poor behavior by wait staff and cooks, but if I owned this "diner" I would have fired the entire bunch! Neither of us will be back, ever, and my husband eats lunch out every day! read more