ONE DAY: MINNEAPOLIS + MOA - SECTION FIVE

SECTION FIVE:

FEAR THE CHEESE!!!

RECOMMENDED TIME WINDOW: 2:00pm - 3:30pm Disregard Time Window if doing A La Carte or going at own pace

CASH IS MANDATORY FOR THIS SECTION!!

Personal car users: type in Matt’s Bar and Grill into your Map App. Parking is a bit tough on Cedar Avenue, which is in front of Matt’s. If you park on 18th Avenue, a block west of Cedar, you’ll have better luck.

Time to order an Uber/Lyft.

I’ve found that there’s a bit of a GPS snafu at Mill Ruins Park when it comes to Uber/Lyft pickups and drop-offs.

To fix this problem, when ordering the ride, put the pickup at Mill City Museum, drop-off at Matt’s Bar and Grill.

Walk down the hill to the left and reach Portland Ave. Walk south (right) on Portland one block and turn left. Go one more block to reach the front of the museum to wait. Stop.

Now, when the ride gets to us, get in and once settled, take a gander at the skinny on where we’re headed and what we’re about to eat:

The Jucy Lucy vs. Juicy Lucy.

The “Jucy Lucy” or “Juicy Lucy” is essentially a cheeseburger with a patty stuffed with cheese instead of cheese on top of the patty. This creates a melted core of cheesy goodness. Others might call it molten lava if you eat it too soon after the burger is delivered to you at the table.

Seriously: WAIT!!!! If you’ve ever burned your mouth on a Hot Pocket or Pizza Rolls because you got impatient in your hunger, you’ll know something of the regret, the loss of taste for three days, the pain in general. The wait staff at Matt’s will sternly warn you about waiting, as well. It’s a big deal!!! But good things come to those who wait . . .

Now, why all the hoopla for a burger patty stuffed with cheese???

Because the Twin Cities wanted to have a claim to fame like a Hoagie, a Cuban, Buffalo Wings, Chicago Style Chili Dog, Kansas City BBQ, New Orleans Beignets, etc. Between Ju(i)cy Lucy’s and Tater Tot Hot Dish, the former is easier to find. You’d have to go to a Minnesota potluck for the latter. Or restaurants further outside of the center of the metro, and still those restaurants don’t hold a candle to Aunt Midge’s famous version of the casserole with her secret ingredient, Aunt Ethel adds chili pepper to hers, the barista friend Jonathan who lives down on 34th Ave. with his dinosaur shaped tots. You get the idea: homemade Tater Tot Hot Dish is supreme!

That leaves this burger with the internal power of a small sun . . . (Doc Ock: " . . . in the palm of my hand . . .")

We’re also headed into the middle of a small local war . . .

Two restaurants in Minneapolis claim to have invented this burger. And a plethora of other restaurants and bars have their version of it in the area.

Both restaurants claiming to have been the inventor are coincidentally on Cedar Avenue in South Minneapolis, three miles from each other: Matt’s Bar and the 5-8 Club.

Matt’s says that the bar’s former owner, Matt Bristol, made it before he opened the bar in 1950. The bar popularized it. Another account states that “the burger was invented by a customer in 1954 who remarked ‘Oooh, that’s one juicy lucy!’ after biting into it.” The 5-8 Club doesn’t have an origin story, but they were a speakeasy in the 1920’s, so . . . were they skirting Elliot Ness’ goons while secretly melting people’s tongues???

The two restaurants also have different versions of the burger. Matt’s calls theirs “Jucy Lucy” because they supposedly misspelled it on a menu back at the time of the origin. The 5-8 Club spells is “Juicy”, and the staff have shirts saying “if it’s spelled right, it’s done right”. Matt’s advertising says “Remember, if it is spelled correctly, you are eating a shameless rip-off!” The 5-8 Club offers several varieties of cheese, whereas Matt’s only does American cheese. (Jucy Lucy Wikipedia)

So why are we going to Matt’s Bar and Grill? Did they win the war? Are they the actual originators of this beef oddity???

Well . . . a couple things in their favor (remember, this is my personal opinion):

Do you remember the old Saturday Night Live skit where Bill Murray and Dan Ackroyd worked at the Chicago staple, The Billy Goat Tavern? They were notoriously short with customers who asked for simple items like hamburgers, fries and Coke. They would shout, “No hamburger, cheeseburger!” “No fries, chips!” “No Coke, Pepsi!”

Matt’s is a little like that. Which carries a bit of authenticity to it. They have a very simple and succinct menu. No substitutions.

They only take CASH (they do have an ATM onsite if you forgot this tidbit in the prepping for the Loreway).

They’ve been featured on the Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food and Food Wars, where they won the award for best tasting “Jucy Lucy” in town. If you’re catching the probable technicality here . . . does this encompass Juicy Lucy’s in general??? Or just “Jucy”, which is just them!

Another thing that goes highly in Matt’s favor: the Wikipedia page on this particular burger does not list it as Juicy Lucy, but JUCY Lucy. Points awarded!!!

And lastly, Barack Obama visited this site in 2014 to have their Jucy Lucy and NOT The 5-8 Club. That pushes the needle, the spinner, in Matt’s favor!

The lack of diversity in burgers lends itself to them focusing on just the ONE AND TRUE JUCY LUCY. Therefore, this wins out for Loreways!!!!

Next time you come back to the Twin Cities, I encourage you to visit other famous establishments peddling their versions, including: The 5-8 Club, The Blue Door Pub (with their famous bleu cheese Blucy) and The Nook (which won “Best Juicy Lucy” by Bon Appetit magazine!).

Here’s to a smooth ride to Matt’s, and to an even better lunch experience!!! JUST WAIT TO EAT THE DANG OL’ BURGER A MINUTE!!!!! Eat the fries, have some of the Grain Belt beer from the pitcher (in honor of the Grain Belt sign we passed about an hour ago), just . . . wait.

Fear the cheese . . . MATT'S BAR & GRILL

Once 3:30pm rolls around, I’ll see you again for Section Six! Around 3:30pm order an Uber/Lyft to pick us up and take us to Sea Salt at Minnehaha Falls.

CLICK HERE TO START SECTION SIX: MINNEHAHA FALLS!