The Jucy Lucy, explained
Two bars on Cedar Avenue have spent seventy years arguing about who put the cheese inside the burger. What we actually know, and where to order one.
The Jucy Lucy is a cheeseburger built inside out: the cheese goes between two thin patties that get sealed at the edges, so it cooks into a molten core instead of a blanket. It was invented in south Minneapolis in the 1950s. Beyond that, the city has never agreed on anything about it.
The two claims
The stronger story belongs to Matt’s Bar, at 35th and Cedar. Their version: in 1954 a regular asked owner Matt Bristol to put the cheese inside the patty instead of on top, bit in, and announced "that’s one juicy Lucy." When the bar printed the name, the i went missing, and Matt’s has spelled it Jucy ever since, on purpose, as a point of pride.
Twenty blocks south on the same street, the 5-8 Club, a 1928 speakeasy at 58th and Cedar, claims it too. Their origin story is vaguer, and the bar has been honest about that when pressed. What they have instead is the spelling, and a slogan aimed straight across the avenue: "if it’s spelled right, it’s done right." Matt’s answer, printed on their own merch, is that if it is spelled correctly you are eating a shameless rip-off.
What to believe
No receipt or menu from 1954 has ever settled it, which is probably why the argument has outlived everyone involved. The honest answer is that Matt’s has the better story and the 5-8 has the better patio, and the feud itself is now the real institution. Politicians on the campaign trail get asked to pick a side. Vikings locker rooms have been polled. Nobody stays neutral in this town for long.
How to order one
Two rules apply at both bars. First, wait: the cheese core comes off the flat-top somewhere near the temperature of the sun, and every table has watched a first-timer learn this the hard way. Give it two minutes. Second, do not ask for it well done or deconstructed. The whole point is the seal.
Both originals are on our burger guide, alongside the newer generation of stuffed burgers around the metro. Start with Matt’s, then the 5-8, then argue like a local.