Week 1 – The Jucy Lucy

I am not entirely sure how many of you are familiar with the term “Jucy Lucy.”   I honesty don’t know a single person outside of Minnesota who has ever heard of it.  So let me enlighten you.

The Jucy Lucy is a cheeseburger.  Except, instead of the cheese being added to the top of the burger near the end of the grilling process so that it is nicely melted when finished, the burger is instead prepared with the cheese IN THE MIDDLE of the hamburger.  That’s right; cheese in the middle of your burger instead of on top of it.  Best. Idea. Ever.

This wonderful burger originated at Matt’s Bar in south Minneapolis.  Now, I have had two Jucy Lucy’s before in my time.  One was at a small bar in St. Paul, and the other I made myself.  While both were great, I have always wanted to try to original.  So what did I do?  I got a crew of people together and got ready for an adventure.

Now, as you can maybe see, this bar is small.  Very small.  But PACKED.  Every booth is full and there is a line that led outside waiting for a table.  Now, that may not seem surprising to some, a line that goes out the building, but this is Minnesota. The air temperature was -4 degrees fahrenheit. With wind chill, it felt like -12.  And yet people are waiting outside for the food.  That alone was a testament for how great it must be.

This burger is pretty famous in the Twin Cities area.  Another famous thing from this area is a wonderful rapper named Atmosphere.  Here is a signed EP of his on the wall.  If you can’t read what he wrote, it states” Atmosphere loves Jucy Lucy.”  That is a pretty hilarious quote if you are familiar with Atmosphere’s music and how often he uses a female named Lucy as an antagonist.  Just saying.

Now, at first glance, this seems like a simple hamburger.  But our waitress warned us: “Don’t eat it right away.  Let it cool down first.”  The reason being?  When the cheese is cooked on the inside, it doesn’t burn or anything like that.  But it does liquefy and get REALLY FUCKING HOT.

Let me tell you, I am in heaven right now.  This shit is AMAZING.  The burger is so juicy and moist.  It isn’t dry at all; you can feel it just melt and form together in your mouth.

Just look at the cheese dripping from that beast.  I have never had a cheeseburger so…so…just fucking awesome.  I am not sure if it was the best burger I have ever had (cause I love me some burgers, and I have had some damn good ones in my day).  But this is surely worth a visit if you are ever in Minneapolis.  The experience is awesome cause it is a small bar with a casual wait staff.  The food is outstanding and worth the wait.  And it is actually pretty well priced.  $5 for the burger.  Gotta love it.

I will admit, my first adventure for the year wasn’t the most thrilling.  But man oh man was it amazing.  And brought to my attention a place I will surely go back to time and time again.

Be easy, space cowboy.