Adrian’s Tavern - Juicy Lucy Review

February 2, 2008 – 4:43 pm
It's not uncommon for people to eat more than one Juicy Lucy in a sitting at many restaurants. However, I'm sure that rarely happens at Adrian's Tavern. This Lucy seals a slice of American cheese inside to generous 1/4 pounder patties and is slow-cooked for 20 minutes with a cover over the burger on the fryer. No rush job here. I think this helps cook such a thick, cheese filled, burger thoroughly, since getting the temperature up inside the burger can be a trick without burning the exterior to a crisp. Here's a look inside. Click on the image for larger versions on Flickr. It comes with chips by default but fries are available. Onions - fries or raw - are available. I went with fried onions. Adrian's also has a solid beer selection, including Sierra Nevada, Guinness, Stella Artois, and Delirium Tremens among their tap selections. The woman who prepared the Lucy ...

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A Monster Dines at Matt’s Bar

January 28, 2008 – 6:27 pm
Courtney from "Max & Courtney Make Monsters" shows how monsters dine on Jucy Lucy's at Matt's Bar. A female monster with half a face attempts to sate her inhuman hunger on the Jucy Lucy, the legendary hamburger of Matt's Bar is south Minneapolis. Make up based on a design by Dick Smith from his book "Dick Smith's Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-Up." Check out how Courtney transformed into a Lucy dining monster step by step here. Matt's Bar is the kind of place where monsters are welcome. I'm sure some zombies have eaten there in the past, and I wouldn't be surprised to run into a werewolf during a visit. This video has some of the best Jucy Lucy action shots I've seen. If you haven't had a chance to experience a Jucy Lucy first-hand, this is the closest you'll come to enjoying one first hand. Awesome stuff.

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Jucy Addition: Birchwood Cafe

January 22, 2008 – 5:02 pm
This is quite possibly the most controversial addition to the Jucy Lucy Restaurant Map to date: Birchwood Cafe's Vegetarian Lucy. Yes, that's correct. A vegetarian Lucy. Birchwood black bean burger stuffed with kalamata olives, capers, mozzarella and feta served with red peppers, sundried tomato aioli, bibb lettuce on buttermilk bun. $9 The vegetarian Lucy presents challenges for the cook. Beans, unlike beef, is hard to wrap around meat. And once heated, the cheese has a tendency to be absorbed by the beans. At $9, it's also one of the more expensive Jucy Lucy's I've ever encountered. That price comes with a chips & salsa side. For $1 more, you can get fresh greens. For vegetarians who've always had an interest in trying a Jucy Lucy but not enough to actually eat meat, this is now an option for you. But I can assure you that this is NO WAY a substitute for the ...

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International Renowned Comfort Food

January 17, 2008 – 8:37 am
Iranian-born writer and director, Marjane Satrapi, shared the story of her discovery of Minneapolis' contribution to international cuisine during a recent interview with Rob Nelson. Travel the world over, but you won't find a better burger "The first time I came here, the [cab driver] told me, 'Oh, I will bring you to a French restaurant.' And I was like, 'No, I'm here to eat what you eat. So what do you eat?' And he was like, 'Well, there's something here, it's kind of greasy, but [it's] the Jucy Lucy burger.' I was here three days. For three days, lunch and dinner, I had the Jucy Lucy burger. I tried to make one in France. All my friends in France know the Jucy Lucy burger of Minneapolis. She obviously appreciates the finer things in life.

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A Cool Ketchup Injection?

December 11, 2007 – 1:59 pm
The Fry Poke technique, as previously explained, involves using a French (Freedom?) Fry to release some of the molten cheese's heat through the top of the burger before consuming: As if that wasn't strange enough, senior Jucy Lucy Restaurant dining behavioralist correspondent, Opheliac9, reports on a twist to the fry-poke involving a cool Ketchup injection: A friend of mine, who introduced me to Matt's and Jucy Lucy's a few years ago, has another step: After the "hot fry injection" he squirts ketchup into the burger. His rationale is that it cools the cheese down faster, thus you get to eat faster... however, I think it's disgusting. *shrug* Having not seen this myself, I can only hope that he brings his own ketchup with him. Ketchup photo by tom.arthur

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Bar Abilene Southwestern Juicy Lucy Review

December 10, 2007 – 11:04 pm
I had a chance to check out the Southwestern Juicy Lucy at Bar Abilene over the weekend. As I mentioned before, Carly discovered this gem while reviewing the menu. It took a few days to get over there, but we made a point of checking it out. We started the night with some tableside guacamole, which never disappoints at Bar Abilene. The $5 Tecate cans and $6 Pacifico bottles went down well before we realized how much we were paying for what is otherwise normally Mexican beer. No beer prices on the menu should have been a sign. Here's a refresher on the lucy description: southwestern juicy lucy hand pattied with rajas and cheese topped with jack and cheddar cheese Here's a shot of the presentation: My first thought: what's with all the fixins? I don't need a tomato on a Jucy Lucy. I'm looking for meat and cheese with possibly some onions on top. I'm ...

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Jucy Addition: Bar Abilene in Uptown

December 2, 2007 – 11:45 am
Carly spotted a "southwestern juicy lucy" on the Bar Abilene menu. I've added it to the map and wiki. It looks pretty darn tasty. Give a shout out if you'd had a chance to try it: southwestern juicy lucy hand pattied with rajas and cheese topped with jack and cheddar cheese

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Jucy Lucy Maps Now Community Editable

November 28, 2007 – 6:22 pm
Google added a new feature today that allows creators of custom Google maps to open them up to additional collaborators. This can be done through invitations, or opened wide. I've chosen the latter. If you know of a Jucy Lucy location that's not on the map, go ahead and add it. You'll need a Google account to do so.

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The Nook and Shamrock’s Issue Warning Labels

November 12, 2007 – 12:38 pm
Experienced Jucy Lucy connoisseurs make a point of explaining to their noob guests the dangers posed by taking a big first bite of a burger full of molten cheese that's as hot as the sun. However, some hungry noobs don't listen and chomp away, causing cheese to blow out the backside and down their forearms. Lesson learned the hard way. But what happens when you have a table full of adventurous noobs? If they're at Matt's Bar, I'm sure they'll be find since Matt's is better than any Jucy Lucy restaurant at reminding patrons of the dangers posed by aggressive Lucy chomping. The Nook, along with it's West 7th sister site, Shamrock's, have taken a more formal approach of including a warning label with every Lucy basket: Problem solved. The Freets made a point of asking our Shamrock's server whether he was required to initial the form before digging in, to which he was ...

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Matt’s Bar Field Report

September 20, 2007 – 8:54 pm
A crew of Jucy Lucy afficionados met up at Matt's Bar earlier tonight for a quarterly Lucy event. Kirk and Anne have an ongoing tradition of dining on Jucy Lucy's at Matt's Bar on the spring and fall equinox and winter and summer solstice. I was luck enough to tag along for this legendary event. Sam Adam's Oktoberfest and Summit EPA were the pitchers of choice. Kirk waited patiently for his Lucy: Then Mike got dainty with his burger wrapper: Kirk demonstrated the fry-poke technique where the burger is punctured at the top. I don't fully understand the benefits of this technique and would like to hear more about it: Tyler demonstrated a similar fry-poke technique: I ordered fried onions on mine. Matt's offers a few options. With or without onions. Fried or raw onions. And a first time Jucy Lucy eater obviously enjoyed her experience: That covers it. Thanks to Matt's for another wonder Jucy Lucy ...

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