A Juicy Lucy: a burger that has a pocket of melted cheese inside. St. Paul claims to be the founder of this cheesy, heavenly dish, one of those places being Matt’s Bar and another being 5-8 Club. I could argue for most of this article which one of these two are the best. I’ve heard good arguments for them all. Instead, I will be giving you tips on the best ways and places to go and truly taste test for yourself. So strap in for the most random and specific Ted Talk of your life.
How to eat:
There truly isn’t a not-messy way to eat a burger that has a pocket of gooey cheese in the middle. All you need to know is you will need lots of napkins and that the cheese inside will be burning hot. A way to combat this is when you first get your burger, bite a bit off, not enough to go into the middle, but enough to let air into the pocket. If you’re afraid of doing this you can use a knife to cut the tip slightly off. Don’t cut the burger in half though or you’ll end up with all the cheese on the outside. I don’t care how big your burger looks, don’t cut it in half. Then blow into the burger to let it cool. Wait at least two minutes for it to properly cool.
In the meantime while you let it cool, dunk some fires in. The cheese is usually the best for fries. Once the burger is nicely cooled so that it won’t burn you, then you can bite in, but you’ll still have drippage. Fries will help too. Take tiny bites, then when the cheese comes out onto the bun, wipe it up with a fry.
Trust me it’s a blast to eat and even more fun to watch your friends struggle with it.
Where to Eat:
You can eat anywhere. Food is subjective. I’m not a connoisseur or anything, but here’s my review on where to go.
Matt’s Bar: I’m putting this one at the top, for it’s my favorite. There’s only one option on the menu for food and that’s a Juicy Lucy and fries. No thinking about what to get, because that’s it. The waiter will sit you down then instantly ask you how many Juicy Lucys you want. I do suggest if you only have four people in your party to only order one order of fries, for they give you a lot. From the outside it looks like the dive bar will murder you, and you will have to find street parking, but it’s probably one of my favorites and it’s fully worth it.
5-8 Club: The self claimed “Home” of the Juicy Lucy. I do have to admit this one does rival Matt’s Bar, with an atmosphere that’s cozy, but also fun. They also have other things than a Juicy Lucy on their menu if you’re going with someone who might not want one.
Nook: Juicy Nookie Burger: it’s almost exactly like the Matt’s Bar burger, but somehow I feel like their pocket inside their burger is bigger. The wideness of the pocket slightly bugged me for I found that the cheese was harder to contain because of it, but if you want more cheese for your buck then this will be for you. The Nook is a cute little Irish pub that has plenty of other great food as well.
Blue Door Pub: You’re welcome to all those who say this is the best–– I’m putting it on the list. They call their Juicy Lucy “Blucy’s” here. That’s because their signature Blucy has blue cheese instead of American cheese in the middle. I’m not a fan of blue cheese at all so this one goes to the bottom of my ranking list, but Blue Door Pub does have other options as well. I just don’t like that they have to dress up the burger with other things on it, for we all know I’m truly there just for the cheese inside the burger.
You can’t go wrong with any of these options, and there are a dozen more out there, but these are probably the four that make their Juicy Lucys an experience.