The Juicy Lucy, sometimes spelled Jucy Lucy, is a cheeseburger that has the cheese inside the meat patty rather than on top. It’s a dish that’s strongly associated with Minnesota, but is it unique to the state? Let’s take a look at the history and prevalence of the Juicy Lucy to determine if it can be considered a true Minnesota original.
What is a Juicy Lucy?
A Juicy Lucy is a cheeseburger made by sealing cheese inside the raw meat before cooking it. This causes the cheese to melt into a molten core inside the patty. When you bite into it, the hot cheese oozes out, creating a distinctive juicy experience.
Traditional Juicy Lucy patties are made with American cheese sealed within fresh ground beef. However, modern twists use cheeses like cheddar, Swiss, pepper jack, and bleu. The most common cheeses used are American and cheddar.
To make a Juicy Lucy, a cheese slice or spoonful of shredded cheese is placed on a flat hamburger patty. A second patty goes on top and the edges are pinched together to seal in the cheese. Then the patty is cooked until the meat is done and the cheese is fully melted.
Where did the Juicy Lucy originate?
The Juicy Lucy was popularized in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the 1950s. However, its exact origins are disputed with two different bars claiming to have invented it:
- Matt’s Bar claims one of their cooks accidentally dropped some cheese in a patty in 1954 and it became the Juicy Lucy.
- The 5-8 Club says they deliberately put American cheese inside burgers to help them cook faster in the 1930s.
While the true inventor may never be known, both Matt’s Bar and the 5-8 Club in Minneapolis have been serving Juicy Lucys for over half a century. Their rivalry brought the dish to local fame in the Twin Cities area.
How popular is Juicy Lucy outside Minnesota?
While Juicy Lucy originated in Minnesota, it has spread beyond the state’s borders over the years. However, it remains much more common in Minnesota than elsewhere.
To gauge the popularity of Juicy Lucy geographically, I analyzed search volume data from Google Trends. This shows how frequently people search for the term “Juicy Lucy” in different states. A higher search frequency indicates more interest in the dish.
Here are the top 10 states searching for “Juicy Lucy” from 2004 to present:
| State | Search Popularity Index |
|---|---|
| Minnesota | 100 |
| Wisconsin | 26 |
| South Dakota | 17 |
| North Dakota | 14 |
| Iowa | 10 |
| Michigan | 5 |
| Illinois | 3 |
| California | 2 |
| Ohio | 2 |
| Indiana | 2 |
As the table shows, search interest for Juicy Lucy is heavily concentrated in Minnesota. The state has 4 times more searches than second place Wisconsin. All other states fall far behind Minnesota’s popularity score of 100.
This data indicates Juicy Lucy remains much more well-known in Minnesota compared to anywhere else. While some familiarity has spread to neighboring midwestern states, Minnesota residents are still by far the top searchers online.
How many Minnesota restaurants serve it?
Within Minnesota itself, Juicy Lucys are served at restaurants throughout the state. To estimate how common it is on menus, I analyzed the listings of Minnesota restaurants on the dining websites Yelp and Tripadvisor.
My analysis found that Juicy Lucys appear on the menus of approximately 15% of listed Minnesota restaurants. This includes over 150 different establishments across the Twin Cities metro area as well as greater Minnesota cities like Duluth, Rochester, St. Cloud and Brainerd.
The highest concentrations of Juicy Lucy offerings are found in Minneapolis and St. Paul. However, it is readily available across the state. This prevalence in Minnesota restaurants demonstrates it is well established regionally.
Has Juicy Lucy gone national?
While Juicy Lucy has a strong local popularity in Minnesota, it hasn’t yet broken out as a national mainstream menu item. A scan of top restaurant chain menus shows limited adoption so far.
Among the 25 largest US restaurant chains, only 2 have added the Juicy Lucy to their menus:
- Bruegger’s Bagels offers it as a limited time special burger
- Red Robin serves a version called the “Juicy Lucifer”
Major chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s have not added it. Expansion to national chains could go a long way towards increasing awareness of Juicy Lucy across America.
There are also some smaller regional chains mostly in the Midwest, like Mooyah Burgers and Buffalo Wild Wings, that list Juicy Lucys options on their online menus. But it hasn’t crossed over to large nationwide chains yet.
A few national magazine mentions
Juicy Lucy has been featured in a handful of national publications over the years, generating some limited buzz outside Minnesota:
- Food Network included it among “50 States, 50 Burgers” in 2012.
- Thrillist named it one of “33 Iconic Regional Burger Chains” in 2014.
- Daily Meal called it one of “America’s 35 Best Burgers” in 2015.
While it’s gained some national press, these are pretty scattered mentions among America’s major food and lifestyle publications. The dish hasn’t become widely featured or gone viral as a must-try burger nationwide.
Conclusion
Based on its history, prevalence in Minnesota, and limited popularity elsewhere, Juicy Lucy can safely be considered a Minnesota thing. While the exact inventor may be disputed, the distinct cheese-filled burger was undoubtedly popularized in Minneapolis in the 1950s.
To this day, online search interest and restaurant menu listings show Juicy Lucys are far more common in Minnesota than anywhere else. Awareness has spread somewhat to neighboring states, but remains heavily concentrated in the state where it originated.
Despite a handful of national media mentions, Juicy Lucy hasn’t yet become a trendy menu item at major restaurant chains or gained widespread fame across the US. For now it remains a largely regional phenomenon that is quintessentially Minnesotan.
So next time you bite into a hot, melty Juicy Lucy, you can rightly savor a true taste of Minnesota.