Matt's Bar

Matt's Bar, at 3500 Cedar Avenue South in the Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the restaurant most commonly cited as the originator of the Jucy Lucy — a hamburger variation in which American cheese is packed inside the raw patty before cooking, causing it to melt into a molten cheese core that erupts when the burger is bitten. The spelling 'Jucy Lucy' rather than 'Juicy Lucy' is specific to Matt's Bar and is protected as a trademark; a neighboring competitor, the 5-8 Club, also claims credit for the invention and spells its version 'Juicy Lucy.' The dispute is friendly and ongoing, and both establishments have their partisans among Minneapolis food devotees. Matt's has operated as a neighborhood bar and grill since 1954 and has changed little in the intervening decades: the interior is a genuine South Minneapolis dive bar — low lighting, wood paneling, a long bar with stools, and booths worn smooth by decades of use. Cash only is enforced without exception. The menu is minimal: burgers, fries, and hot dogs, with the Jucy Lucy as the unambiguous centerpiece. Diners are warned by staff that the interior cheese runs extremely hot immediately after the burger is served and that biting in too quickly has burned many an eager visitor. The ritual instruction — 'let it sit for a minute before you bite in' — has become part of the Matt's experience. The burger itself is modest in components: two beef patties fused around melted American cheese, served with or without ketchup, mustard, and onion.