After taking a glance at the walls of Gus’ Good Times Deli on the Strip, it’s hard not to associate UT athletics with the identity of the establishment.
The walls, filled with newspapers, photos and programs of UT sports throughout the years, contain a cornucopia of signatures. The scrawlings of former UT baseball player Todd Helton, former UT football players Peyton Manning and Reggie White serve as milemarkers of the celebrity visits the deli has enjoyed.
And Gus’ is not alone. The event of UT gameday has led many to other restaurants in the area like Copper Cellar on the Strip and Calhoun’s on the River.
The gameday atmosphere is infectious and sets gameday apart from other days at Copper Cellar, said Bob Crouch, manager at Copper Cellar on Cumberland Avenue.
“The whole spirit of the whole restaurant picks up,” he said. “It’s a fun, fun day. Everyone comes in with a great attitude. It’s just the energy level amongst the guests and the employees.”
Sometimes this energy level can escalate to good-natured taunting between rival fans, like when Bulldog fans get too close to Vol fans at Calhoun’s.
“Every once in awhile, you’ll get the Georgia fans that start barking, and the Vols fans start singing ‘Rocky Top,’” said David Evans, Calhoun’s assistant manager.
And it’s noted when celebrity sports figures come into the restaurants on gameday, such as when players, coaches and even former Auburn basketball player Charles Barkley enter Calhoun’s, Evans said.
Meanwhile, Manning has his usual order of a chicken breast sandwich at Gus’, said Aaron Hale, Gus’ Good Times Deli co-owner.
In the early ‘80s, during his playing days at UT, White had his own special order consisting of a sandwich with scrambled eggs on a Polish sausage, Hale said.
But for the employees of the restaurants, it’s certainly not all football watching and celebrity sightseeing on these Saturdays. Preparation begins early, and the work schedule can prove hectic.
Certain items Copper Cellar gets ready on Thursday, with the majority done on Friday, Crouch said. Baked items, dips, jello shooters and certain vegetables like those in potato cassarole are among the dishes that are prepped two days in advance.
“Of course Friday is very intensive preparation, and, even during the game, they’ll reprep a lot of the items,” Crouch said. “It’s almost a continual process.”
Grilled items and fresh vegetables are cooked for-order on gameday, however, he said.
Hale said Thursday and Friday is spent preparing food for the Saturday rush at Gus’. Hale said he’ll be at the restaurant until 5 a.m. on Saturday preparing. He’ll then go home for a quick shower and breakfast before returning in time for the store to open again Saturday at 9 a.m. and work through gameday.
How much sleep does he get on these football weekends? “Friday ‘till Sunday, probably three hours,” Hale said. “Boomsday’s this weekend too, back at it again Sunday night.”
Patrons can end up spending time at the restaurants too, waiting for their order. Whether the line stretches outside the restaurant and down the block depends on time of day, the success of the football program and the opponent, Hale said.
Crouch said Copper Cellar has rushes an hour-and-a-half before the game, directly after the game and right before the game with patrons trying to get to the game on time.
To adjust to the noon time of the UT-Western Kentucky game, Copper Cellar will open at 9:30 a.m. instead of the usual 11 a.m. on Saturday.
While others might hurry to the stadium when game time approaches, some might stay in and enjoy the game at the restaurant itself. During the 2007 UT-Georgia game, Crouch said there were as many Bulldog fans in the restaurant as Vol fans.
“Georgia fans, they travel a lot, and they’ll come in groups where not all of them have tickets, and they’ll stay in during the game,” Crouch said. “... They’ll come down just for the tailgate experience.”
Copper Cellar serves another traveling group, emanating from all the way in South Dakota. The group of 25 to 30 have adopted the Vols as a team and Copper Cellar as their headquarters, Crouch said.
“They pick one game a year,” he said.
Crouch said a number of UT graduates associate Copper Cellar with UT and head back when they are in town, such as on UT football gamedays, adding to the crowds.
Gus’ Good Times Deli experiences at least two times as much business as on a non-football weekend, Hale said, with three to four times as much business when UT faces conference rivals.
Though UT football means booming business for local eateries around Neyland, the look of Gus’ comes from the enthusiasm of the employees, Hale said.
“Gus is a huge sports fan,” Hale said. “He retired in 2002. Everybody that works here loves college football.”
One might think the gameday experience is limited to those who eat the food and attend the game, but Hale said otherwise.
“There’s nothing like being here on gameday,” he said. “As hard work as it is or whatever, there’s something special about being here on gameday.”