Danish immigrant Louis Lassen pioneered the great American hamburger — here’s his sizzling story
Louis Lassen, born in Denmark, was a lunch-wagon owner in New Haven, Connecticut, when he put ground beef patties between two slices of bread. His delicious creation reshaped backyard barbecues and American culinary culture forever.
Like almost any great local culinary specialty, the origins of the Juicy Lucy — or Jucy Lucy, as it's known in one place specifically — are shrouded in hazy mystery.
Perhaps unique in this case, however, the dispute includes a disagreement over how this delicious tavern-food favorite in and around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota is spelled.
Matt's Bar in Minneapolis boasts the most solid and consistent claim to the original.
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At Matt's in Minnesota, it's spelled Jucy (no "i") Lucy. The bar claims it invented the Jucy Lucy in 1954, as it dared to build a better cheeseburger.
The cheese is packed in the middle of the beef patty, not on top of the burger. It creates a creamy volcanic flow of hot cheese when you bite into beef.
A Juicy Lucy burger at Sak's Sports Bar in Minnesota. The Juicy Lucy (or Jucy Lucy) is an inside-out cheeseburger popular in the pubs in an around Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minnesota. The cheese is stuffed inside the burger. (Sak's Sports Bar)
"The biggest thing is that when you bite into it, you get this ooey, gooey sensation when the melted cheese pours out," Al Landreville, the owner of Sak’s Sports Bar in Vadnis Heights, Minnesota, told Fox News Digital.
The restaurateur opened Sak's 16 years ago. The unique burger has been on the menu since day one. It's been one of the pub's most popular bites the entire time.
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"Legend has it a customer came in and asked for his cheese to be put in between two hamburger patties," food influencer Carrie Killian writes on EatingMinnesota.com.
"On the first bite of the burger, molten cheese came pouring out; the customer exclaimed, 'That’s one juicy Lucy!’"
Matt's Bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota claims it invented the Jucy Lucy (top of the list, above) in 1954. The hamburger with the cheese on the inside a culinary curiosity in and around the Twin Cities. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
The "i" was dropped from the name, she offered, in "an inadvertent misspelling, and the Jucy Lucy came to be."
"Molten cheese came pouring out; the customer exclaimed, ‘That’s one juicy Lucy!’"
Matt's writes on its website: "Remember, if it’s spelled correctly, you might be eating a shameless ripoff!"
The unusual burger soon spread like hot cheese down the side of a Twin Cities burger bun.
The 5-8 Club, a former 1920s speakeasy in Minneapolis, also claims to be home of the local inside-out cheeseburger.
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"Though no origination story exists about creating the cheesy conception," EatingMinnesota.com reports, "they maintain they are ‘Minnesota’s Home of the Original Juicy Lucy.’"
The 5-8 Club counters Matt's Bar with: "If it’s spelled right, it’s done right."
Matt's Bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota, claims it invented the Jucy Lucy (not. Juicy Lucy) in 1954. The hamburger with the cheese on the inside is a culinary curiosity in and around the Twin Cities. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
The Jucy/Juicy Lucy done right appears just as difficult as spelling it right, according to Landreville of Sak's Sports Bar.
He cited a laundry list of factors that go into making the perfect special burger.
Many of those factors are secrets closely guarded by each Jucy/Juicy Lucy hamburger hotspot.
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First, he noted, you need the perfect soft, melty cheese.
He did not reveal the cheese used at Sak's. But trusty American cheese seems to be most common in these burgers.
Matt's Bar in Minneapolis, Minnesota is widely proclaimed to be the home of the original Jucy Lucy. The inside-out cheeseburger is a beloved culinary curiosity in and around the Twin Cities. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
American cheese is perhaps even culturally required, given Minnesota's heartland farm history.
"We mix in a little green onion and some seasoning to give ours a little bit of a different spin," said Landreville.
The cheese is packed between 7 ounces of beef – two 3½-ounce patties sealed around the cheese with perfect precision.
"You need to find the perfect chemistry of beef and cheese."
Packing the cheese between the two beef patties is the moment of truth.
The cheese needs to melt perfectly within the beef patties — but not leak out until the customer bites into the burger.
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"You need to find the perfect chemistry of beef and cheese," said Landreville.
"When you bite into a Jucy Lucy, you want that ooey, gooey cheese to smack you right in the mouth."
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