Every city probably has its sandwich—New Orleans its Po Boy, Philly its Cheesesteak, the Chicago-style hot dog with its neon green relish.  The Twin Cities entry may not be as well known, but it is certainly a highly celebrated entity by Minnesotans: the Jucy Lucy.

A Jucy Lucy at The Nook, St. Paul, MN

Yes, that is “Jucy” minus the “I,” somewhat mysteriously. I had my first one on SOTRU’s trip to the Twin Cities this summer. Minnesotan native (and my friend) Chris Michet, who has spent years cooking in fine dining kitchens, attempted to take me to the supposed originator of the Lucy—Matt’s Bar.

The menu board at Matt's Bar, Minneapolis, MN

It’s a divey little hole in the wall in Minneapolis, so jam-packed with people that they spill out the front door. Inside, a man with a tie-dyed t-shirt and tattoos up his arms flips greasy hamburgers and tosses fries out of the fry basket at a rate so fast that it’s hard to snap his picture without it being blurry.

However, Chris reveals that while Matt’s might be the first, it’s not necessarily the best. We decide to forgo the wait at Matt’s for a Lucy across the river in St. Paul at the Nook. To discover what the heck a Jucy Lucy is, listen to our visit:

The Nook, St. Paul, MN

Tags: Al Letson, jucy lucy, npr, prx, Public Radio, sotru, State of the Re:Union, Twin Cities

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 11:52 am and is filed under Episode Centered, Twin Cities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.