They plan to maintain tradition, ambiance, but add in special nights
OCEAN CITY — A big change is coming to the Varsity Inn downtown in Ocean City, but if the owners have it their way, no one will even notice.
Minor renovations have been done to the interior but the numerous college banners — among the eatery’s most well-known and endearing features — once again line the walls.
Breakfast and lunch still will be served and the menu still will include popular favorites such as its Baked Jersey Tomato Soup and Red Raider (the soup with a grilled-cheese sandwich).
According to the business website, the Varsity Inn building at 605 E. Eighth St. — which now has the restaurant on the first floor and condominiums on the upper floors — was built in 1905 and has served as a Methodist retreat, a one-room schoolhouse and a private home.
After World War II, it was the Florida Inn Restaurant. In the 1960s, it was the White Whale Coffee House.
In 1969, the Symonds family bought the property and the Varsity Inn Restaurant celebrated its first summer in 1970.
“This old building has served many generations of Ocean City locals and visitors alike. Unfortunately, she needed some tender, loving care and a facelift,” the website states. “We hope you like our new, bright and clean dining room, as it is our hope to bring customers the same caring service and great American food they are accustomed to.”
Keith Symonds and his family have operated the 80-seat eatery for 53 years, but he has finally decided to hang up the apron.
Chris and Marsha McCarthy, who closed on the restaurant Tuesday last week, wasted no time in reaching out to the community. The couple and the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting and grand reopening ceremony Friday following a sneak peek breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. for social media friends.
Chris McCarthy said the couple was picked to purchase the restaurant because Symonds wanted to ensure it would continue operations as the Varsity Inn.
“There were multiple people interested in the Varsity Inn. Keith decided after meeting us and we promised it would remain a traditional restaurant that the customers were used to, he selected us to be the new owners,” he said.
Symonds said it feels very good to pass the spatula to someone who is going to continue operating the business as the Varsity Inn, noting it had been for sale since Jan. 15, 2020.
“It was very important that — so many things have changed in Ocean City, so many things have changed on Eighth Street. We wanted to keep it the same and we found a family that understands that Ocean City is America’s Greatest Family Resort. They understand the tradition, the history of Ocean City. They understand the history, the tradition of the Varsity Inn. It’s a business that is going to keep on going and we are very pleased with that,” Symonds said. “They have two young kids and maybe they will want to keep on going.”
“We’ve known and loved the Varsity for years,” Marsha McCarthy said. “This is our chance to continue a tradition that has been established for the last 50 years.”
The couple has roots in the sand here that they recently replanted. She grew up in Hammonton and moved to Ocean City after graduating from Stockton University (she was reluctant to say what year but it was called Stockton State College at the time.) Her career in education took her to central New Jersey, where she met her husband and started a family.
After their children were born, they began finding themselves in Ocean City more and more often, so they ended up buying a condo.
“This was our home away from home and the Varsity was a destination for us,” Marsha McCarthy said.
“I feel like I’m coming home,” she said, noting they are moving to their shore home full time and enrolling their children — Chris, 16, and Kyla, 12 — in the local school system.
Chris McCarthy said they often sat and thought about the business and how it would be great if they could own it someday.
“The opportunity presented itself years later. We wanted to be part of the community and worked with the current owner and purchased it,” he said, noting Symonds has been supporting and advising them.
While both have worked on the service side in restaurants, they have never before owned a restaurant. However, they have been working with Symonds for two months, retained all of the staff and even hired the former sous chef from one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants in Atlantic City.
“We have a very talented team in place,” Chris McCarthy said. “We had a strong team and now it’s even stronger.”
“The Symonds family and McCarthy family are equally committed to keeping it a mainstay for visitors,” Marsha McCarthy said.
As noted, there will not be a lot of changes.
“People who have been here before will come in and it will be very familiar to them,” Chris McCarthy said, noting the trademark college banners retain the nostalgic feeling.
There will be some additions to the menu, such as avocado toast and eggs Benedict options, but it will stay mostly the same as well.
One change that the new owners hope everyone will notice is their pop-up specialty nights.
Chris McCarthy said the Varsity would continue to serve breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily but, as a way to take advantage of the skills of their new chef, they also plan to offer a dinner to a limited number of guests once or twice a month, depending on interest.
“We will be bringing an elevated dinner menu to Ocean City,” he said, noting the three-course, fixed-price meal will include themes based on the entrée or the region in which it originated.
“Ocean City has been historically a breakfast and lunch place,” he said. “We are going to test our chef to produce some of the most outstanding dinners available in Ocean City.”
Marsha McCarthy said they are looking forward to becoming more engrained in the community, both through their restaurant and participation in public events such as the block parties and farm market.
She said they plan to support local sports teams, military veterans groups, Boy Scouts and others.
“Our community supports us and we in turn support the community,” she said.
Symonds follows several well-established restaurateurs who have left the business in the past year, including the Taccarinos who closed Voltacos Italian Foods and Walt Hohman of Wards Pastry.
He said one factor driving that is that “we are all aging out at the same time,” but also noted the younger generations are attending college and pursuing other interests.
“You’re going to see more go because second and third generations don’t have the interest in taking over their family’s business,” he said. “They can have a better living following their degree.”
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff