Tony “Sho’nuff” Johnson has been a member of the Griesedieck cafeteria staff for almost three years now, having started in April of 2008. Ever since then, he has made a name for himself. Literally.

The best part of his job is doing what he loves to do—his job. Cooking, frying, preparing meals, meeting students, talking to the people around him. He loves all parts of his day and all people involved.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Johnson has been helping the rest of the cafeteria staff with preparation of fried foods.

He is especially known for his wide selection: chili fries, curly fries, waffle fries, crinkle fries and many more. Known to love this role, he was given his own fry station last year, with his own “good luck fryer.”

Johnson confidently states that a majority of the freshmen know him. Also, the majority of people that know him call him “Sho’nuff.”

With a nickname such as “Sho’nuff,” Johnson surely has a story behind it.

Johnson said that he remembered a character named “Sho’nuff” from the 1985 karate-genre movie “The Last Dragon.” He loved the phrase that was always repeated in the movie, and as a result he says “sho’nuff” as every substitute affirmative word in place of “yes.”

Johnson makes it a point to make the students’ day.

He will talk to students when they come up, asking how their day is going and how classes are coming along.

The most defining moment for many students is when they mention to Johnson that they have a test coming up. Sure enough, “Sho’nuff” serves up “the good luck fry.”

He will tell a nervous student to worry no more because he just cooked up a good luck fry, and it would give them the luck they needed.

Many come back to tell him it worked, and all come back for Johnson’s encouraging words and delicious fries.

“I have faith in them, and I believe in them,” Johnson said.

Besides the enjoyment Johnson finds in making sure students are getting their “Scooby-doo snacks, kid’s meal and Fred Flinstone meal,” his way of describing a snack, a side and an entrée, he also loves cars, both driving and refurbishing them.

His most common task is removing passenger seats, fixing in couches as seating and adding seatbelts shortly after.

Sound familiar? He is a real-life version of the hit MTV Show “Pimp My Ride.” When asked if he got his inspiration from the popular TV show, Johnson said he was most certainly the original.

“No, I started doing this in [1985],” Johnson said. “So ‘Pimp my Ride’ copied me.”

Johnson wishes students had more meals on their meal plan so that they would eat at the Griesedieck cafeteria more often.

He claims that students stop coming by after freshman year, and he is sad to see them come either rarely or not at all.

The beloved fry cook becomes a favorite of students very easily.

Last year, during Griesedieck Staff Appreciation Day, posters were put up with Johnson’s picture, and students even made him a Facebook page called “We Appreciate Tony!” For those students who have not met this elemental figure at SLU, he encourages all to come say hi.  They will “sho’nuff” love him.