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question everything

(47,288 posts)
Tue Jan 18, 2022, 01:37 PM Jan 2022

An ode to the Jucy Lucy (or Juicy Lucy) of Minneapolis, which may be the best cheeseburger in Americ

The Jucy Lucy may be the best burger in America. Also known as the Juicy Lucy, the cheese-stuffed burger was invented in Minneapolis nearly 70 years ago. It’s an ideal convergence of beef and cheese. Yet the iconic cheeseburger remains relatively unknown. Untouched, the burger appears modest by modern standards, no toppings stacked sky high. Yet it belongs in the culinary realm of Chinese xiaolongbao soup dumplings and even the Chicago-style stuffed pizza (on the rare occasions when the latter is done right). They’re technical marvels, barely containing their deliciousness within.

Legend has it that two South Minneapolis bars claim to have invented the iconic cheeseburger. I discovered that’s not quite true after visits last fall. Only one clearly stakes the claim, while the other concedes it’s the customers who’ve fought its case. Matt’s Bar in the Corcoran neighborhood is known for its deliberate misspelling of the dish, a historic holdover from a printing error. “A Jucy Lucy is a burger that was created here by Matt Bristol in 1954, the year he opened,” said Amy Feriancek, general manager. “He and a few locals were here on an afternoon when it was slower, and he created this wonderful burger.”

At Matt’s, the Jucy Lucy ($8.95) has a crust that conjures a seared dry-aged steak. Not even the warnings for what lies within prepares you for the molten American cheese magma that pours out with a bite. Three miles south on Cedar Avenue, the 5-8 Club in the Nokomis neighborhood has been continuously operating since 1928, originally as a speak-easy during Prohibition. While its claim to the cheese-stuffed delicacy is perhaps less concrete, its fan base certainly isn’t.

(snip)

The classic 5-8 Club Juicy Lucy ($12.25) looks like a big, thick contemporary burger, complete fries and coleslaw on the side. The oozing experience feels more subtle, with the melted cheese melded into the beef fat. What’s most surprisingly overlooked with the Jucy Lucy and Juicy Lucy conversations focused on cheese has been the absolute importance of fried onions on the burger.

(snip)

There’s no judgment if you want to add ketchup or mustard, but unlike a Chicago-style Big Baby double cheeseburger, you’ll have to add the condiments yourself — Minnesota nice does have its limits.

https://news.yahoo.com/ode-jucy-lucy-juicy-lucy-103000656.html

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I think that Obama visited Matt's.

10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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An ode to the Jucy Lucy (or Juicy Lucy) of Minneapolis, which may be the best cheeseburger in Americ (Original Post) question everything Jan 2022 OP
Jucy Lucy is superior, no question. WhiskeyGrinder Jan 2022 #1
Nah.... Tamarack in Portage WI has the best burger in The world. LakeArenal Jan 2022 #2
I've had the version at Matt's, years ago, and it's quite magnificent. Ocelot II Jan 2022 #3
Matt's for the win Wild blueberry Jan 2022 #4
No mention of the Nook iemanja Jan 2022 #5
Where is the Nook? question everything Jan 2022 #6
In St. Paul iemanja Jan 2022 #7
One beautiful day in June some of my three co-workers & I went to Matt's dflprincess Jan 2022 #8
Matt's is the true Jucy Lucy. geardaddy Jan 2022 #9
I live near Matt's and Obama DID eat there. TigressDem Mar 2022 #10

Ocelot II

(115,295 posts)
3. I've had the version at Matt's, years ago, and it's quite magnificent.
Tue Jan 18, 2022, 02:05 PM
Jan 2022

Even with the fried onions, and I usually hate onions.

dflprincess

(28,059 posts)
8. One beautiful day in June some of my three co-workers & I went to Matt's
Tue Jan 18, 2022, 10:24 PM
Jan 2022

we were celebrating the first day of the year one guy drove his vintage Beetle convertable to work.

Twenty-four hours later, at the same time we had been there the day before, President Obama dropped by Matt's for lunch. It was probably for the best, had we been there when he came in all four of us might have gone into swoons or otherwise made fools of ourselves.

This is how my timing has been all my life.

https://www.twincities.com/2014/06/25/obama-eats-jucy-lucy-burger-at-matts-bar-ice-cream-at-grand-ole-creamery/

TigressDem

(5,121 posts)
10. I live near Matt's and Obama DID eat there.
Sat Mar 26, 2022, 10:46 AM
Mar 2022

My son is a smoker and noticed guys in dark suits with earpieces checking him out while he was on our front porch having a cig.

This was prior to his whole tRump conversion, but if they were Secret Service for any visiting dignitary he simply didn't want to be on their radar so went inside. Later it was confirmed that Obama did visit Matt's.

He is a construction worker so he's got bulky muscles and his skin gets a little dark at times. People have mistaken him for a Mexican and we only recently found a great-great-great grandma in our DNA profile from Mexico. We already knew we had dark Irish on my side and dark Dutch in his ancestry so we thought it was funny.


I have had the Jucy Lucy at Matt's and the Juicy at 5-8. Between the two Jucy Lucy is hands down the best. 5-8 uses Angus beef and while it's probably "healthier" it doesn't taste the same. It's blah.

I use the fries to pierce the skin of the burger and dip a few of them in the cheese to vent the steam.

My son orders a second standard cheeseburger which he eats first while letting the Jucy Lucy cool off a bit.



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