The 5-8 Club and the Quest for the True Home of the Jucy Lucy

I can't go on again about Jucy Lucys - but I must. They are the official burger variant native to Minnesota - I haven't seen them anywhere but here. And why the endless war of attrition on who birthed the marvelous cheese-filled meaty creation? Does it matter? Isn't it enough that it does exist (or we could be eating loose meat sandwiches like our neighbor to the south...)?

But let's talk about the 5-8 Club. This is one the many original homes of the Jucy Lucy. And it's a pretty cool place - a roadhouse (former speakeasy) perched by itself on 58th Street and Cedar in south Minneapolis (here's a map link: http://bit.ly/UoPIN). Outside has a cool sign - "Since 1928 - Home of the Jucy Lucy." The 5-8 also has locations in Champlin and Maplewood.

I had heard about the 5-8 Club for awhile, had been there for a beer later in the evening, but never had a burger. So finally it happened that I had lunch with a burger-loving client - and we agreed to meet at the 5-8 Club to test their Jucy Lucy fame. Lunch was in a sunny spot in a booth by the window. Friendly service and always a good crowd.

On to the burgers. These are big 1/2 pound fellows (1/4 on top and bottom with cheese in the middle). Frankly - I think a 1/2 pound burger is almost too much (from any place). Really a 1/4 lb of meat with cheese inside would do. Regarding the burger, I had a Lucy with blue cheese on the inside. This I actually don't recommend. Blue cheese is hard enough to melt on top of the meat. So while the burger was tasty and well-cooked, the large size combined with the abundant unmelted blue cheese was not my favorite. Also - note in the picture above the amount of sauteed onions. Why the volume? Chopped quickly sauteed onions are great. But these were more like thick, wet strands of carmelized onions. More than I needed on a burger. Finally, the onion rings on the side, while abundant, tasted like the frozen kind (I could be wrong). I like thin crispy piles of onion rings or thick fresh-cut and fried rings (like at Sonny Bryan's BBQ in Dallas). Next time I will try their onion straws. The fresh-baked bun does get a thumbs-up.

I like the style and neighborhood history of the 5-8 Club and their commitment to being a purveyor of great burgers. For that reason, I will go back and try another hamburger (of the smaller persuasion). Check out the 5-8 at: http://www.5-8club.com/. For the curious, here's the menu (Minneapolis) - http://www.5-8club.com/uploaded_media/Mpls_menu.pdf. Burger on.