Unlike every other food serve in a restaurant , the Jucy Lucy comes with a admonition not to eat it . At least not at first . “ You boys know you need to waitress a minute or two , ” our waitress at Matt ’s Bar said when she put the Warren E. Burger down . “ Or you ’ll get cut . ”
We find out the same matter an minute after at the 5 - 8 Club , after govern the correctly spelled Juicy Lucy . “ Give it a slight time before you bite , ” said the host , nictation . “ Or it ’ll bite back . ”
The Jucy ( or Juicy ) Lucy is a South Minneapolis creation , a beefburger style singular to the Gopher state . Possibly because the only tender things in Minnesota are traditionally stuffed inside of other things , it involve essentially combining two thin patties around a ball of American cheese and sealing the corners , so that when the burger is cooked , the cheese inwardly gets melty and gooey and explodes into your rima oris when you break through . ideate the burger adaptation of a Gusher fruit snack . in reality do n’t , that ’s kind of gross .
The Jucy Lucy at Matt’s Bar|Ashley Sullivan/Thrillist
There is no dispute that the Jucy / Juicy Lucy burger ’s stock is Cedar Ave in South Minneapolis . But where on Cedar Ave is a whole other story .
The hamburger look decidedly unremarkable , perchance even burnt . But that belies the literal beauty of Matt ’s .
Either path , as legend has it , after biting into the hamburger , that pain in the ass exclaimed ‘ that ’s one luscious Lucy . ’ ” And apparently – because this was the ' 50s and that was the unsportsmanlike thing anyone had say in Minnesota in years – the name perplex . As for how they lost the “ i ” , they claim that the original signal had a typo and they did n’t feel like scram another sign made , so they roll with it . And to those who might attempt to eat a Lucy somewhere else , Matt ’s offers a word of advice : “ recollect , if it ’s spelled correctly , you just might be eat a shameless ripoff ! ”
The competition / spelling bee champ / recipient of Matt ’s ire in the Juicy Lucy debate is the 5 - 8 Club . Originally a speakeasy in the ' 20 , 5 - 8 sits 4.2 miles to the south of Matt ’s on Cedar Ave , just over Lake Nokomis across a parking lot from the Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church and down the street from Fat Lorenzo ’s , a place I ’m pointing out for no other rationality than its astonishing name . 5 - 8 ’s claim to the form of address is murky . In its history section on its site , the story about the Juicy Lucy ’s origin is merely a timeline in which the “ 1950s ” section has a blue ribbon with 1st on it and says “ The Juicy Lucy , a base acquire torpedo , was born . ”
But enough " fact . " I just wanted to see which was more delicious ( as part of my largerMinneapolis / St. Paul Burger Quest ) , so I spend the final Tuesday in August partake in Matt ’s and 5 - 8 Club one after the other , to try and collect more info and run through the burgers . Oh – also , because I have fellowship in Minneapolis and he pass off to be around , I fetch my pa .
On my way of life to Matt ’s , I got a call from said dad , who was meeting me there . “ Have you ascertain this place , ” he asked , dubious . “ Are you trying to prompt me of my puerility ? ”
Matt’s Bar|Kevin Alexander/Thrillist
Seeing how my father grew up in a not - very - courteous section of Springfield , MA , I could tell that was n’t exactly a vote of confidence . “ Do n’t judge a record by its cover , ” I say , as my Uber driver look back at me repel by my tired use of a cliché . “ But what if the cover is falling off , ” he responded , and then hung up on me .
When I got there , I could kind of see his point . From the outside , Matt ’s is not an aesthetic marvel . It will not winArchitectural Digestawards . It look like someone put 80 % of a giant embarkment menage on top of a minuscule ruddy shack . And yet , when we walk in , my Fatherhood visibly relaxed . “ This look like your granddaddy ’s cellar , ” he murmured as we were direct to our tail . He was n’t lying . The wood paneling above the bar , the white christmas light snaking along the cap , random pictures of various sizes dotting the bulwark , the formica tables , everything about it find like my grandfather ’s prized basement bar . Except the nutrient . Thank God .
Look at Matt ’s burger in the picture above this . It search decidedly mundane , possibly even burnt . But that negate the substantial smasher of Matt ’s – which is to make a damn flavorful griddled patty , which is juicy on the interior , despite the limitations of cooking on a tiny grill behind the ginmill and crush two patties around some cheese . When they mix with the grill onion , three bite of Matt ’s are stark Lutheran Minnesota joy , almost like dip an Allium cepa burger in queso while it ’s still in a skillet .
The original Lucy|Kevin Alexander/Thrillist
As oppose to Matt ’s , 5 - 8 Club wait from the outside like the vicarage of a pretty happening church ( it did n’t hurt that it sat across from one ) . From the interior , it was more like a everyday chain restaurant , a local translation of a Friday ’s or a Buffalo Wild Wings with less TVs and more pull tab key station . The Warren Burger there was much turgid than Matt ’s – nearly twice the sizing – but the glory of the closely place house of god was not in it . The core miss serious flavor and the high mallow did n’t sunburn my spit as much as just surrender en masse on my plate after an initial pungency . My daddy gave up after two bites and protrude look at his phone , which I ’m pretty sure was off .
There was , at least , a sweet sign advertising their other macrocosm – the Saucy Sally – which stuffs secret sauce in the middle and give you the Big Mac ’s host of condiment – lettuce , onion , Thousand Island , tall mallow , etc . If I was n’t so caught up in Lucy argumentation , I ’d have opted for a Sally , but alas I did not , because I am a PROFESSIONAL . Also , I did n’t see the sign until after we order .
So yes , friends , in the debate between the two Lucy originators , I would unimpeachably rather dance with Matt ’s Bar . But here is the thing : I am not totally positive that this Minnesota flair of burgers need authorize the borders of the North Star Department of State . To be honest , the novelty of stuffing the cheese in the middle puts the burger cook at a disadvantage , because – in social club to heat the cheese – you essentially have picayune choice but to overcook the pith on each side . Other than the few initial cheesy bites where everything works together , you end up with a relatively ironical puck of a burger , and that is a damn ignominy , despite the fact that pucks are looked upon favorably in the land of eternity lakes .
The 5-8 Club, home of the Juicy Lucy|Kevin Alexander/Thrillist
But then again , as I ’ve say before , I am just a Warren Burger carpetbagger , and if the good mass of Minnesota want to courteously scald their lingua with molten cheeseflower to remind them of those three months out of the year when they do n’t have to ice fish for both nutriment and sport , I will not seek and convert them otherwise .
As for my father , as we were pull up stakes the 5 - 8 Club , he turned to me in the railcar and expect , “ Why do you call up that caught on ? ” When I told him I did n’t screw , that sometimes the novelty of the thing just sticks , he turned on the car , discover a place playing Motown , and drove off . A couple of minutes later , he spoke again . “ I guess some things , ” he tell , over Smokey Robinson ’s smooth stylings , “ do n’t need to make sensation . ”
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The 5-8 Club’s Juicy Lucy|Ashley Sullivan/Thrillist
Kevin Alexander/Thrillist