In the grand scheme of the genius of humanity, the Juicy Lucy (a burger stuffed with cheese) must fall somewhere on the spectrum of wonder and destruction as the atomic bomb. Unlike the atomic bomb, however, there can never be too many and there is a bit of confusion about who invented the thing. I already reviewed Matt’s Bar, which spells it without the “i” and with a recent visit to Minneapolis I decided I had to try the 5-8 Club, the other claimant to the origin.

After a chat with my waitress, I opted to get my Juicy Lucy stuffed with Amablu blue cheese (unlike Matt’s Bar, the 5-8 Club has more than one option) and without pickles on top. The waitress recommended fried onion strings on top and I took her up on that, then upgraded my fries to jojos (potato wedges).

The burger took a surprisingly long time to arrive and then my waitress disappeared before I had the chance to let her know the onion strings were missing. Nonetheless, I pressed on and did my best not to scald my mouth with the molten cheese. I found the cheese to be nicely distributed as far as such burgers go, but the beef itself was utterly lacking in flavor. It was almost as if the place relied on the cheese to carry the burger and unfortunately it couldn’t. Couple that with the fact that such a burger needs to be cooked all the way through and this was a recipe for disappointment.

The jojos were a nice addition and had been cooked to a soft brown on the outside and an even softer inside.

Truthfully, the 5-8 Club’s Juicy Lucy can hardly be labeled bad. If it was my first, I likely would have left impressed. But having taken down Blue Door and Matt’s Bar in the past, the 5-8 Club just couldn’t hold up. It sure is pretty though!

The Twin Cities may have a few claims to their name, but none so big as the Jucy Lucy. This burger stuffed with cheese may have originated at Matt’s Bar, but many other Lucy spots have grown from there and tried to make improvements to an already incredible creation. Despite my desire’s to visit Matt’s Bar, I was convinced by a lawyer (typical) to head to Blue Door instead, as Blue Door is one of those places that supposedly took the Jucy Lucy to the next level.

The idea behind Blue Door is fancier cheeses than American cheese and some different toppings. They also call them Blucys, either from the name of the restaurant or from the fact that they love blue cheese. Or both. Alas, for my Blucy I picked The Merriam Park, named for the neighborhood in St. Paul that Blue Door hangs in. This guy was stuffed with bacon, blue cheese and garlic, then topped with red currant jelly. For my side I chose tater tots.

The result was a snazzy-looking burger with blue cheese doing its best to escape from the confines of meat. If nothing else, this at least meant the seal was already broken and I wouldn’t have to bite into an explosion of molten cheese. As a lover of all things stuffed within this burger, I was certainly a fan. While the garlic flavor didn’t really stick out, everything else did and it was all tasty. The tots were a nice addition, but tasted just like any good tots anywhere.

Having not eaten the original Jucy Lucy at Matt’s Bar, it is hard to make a comparison, but it is nice to know that there is a future for Jucy Lucys beyond the confines of a dive bar in Minneapolis.

Ever since I learned of the existence of the Juicy Lucy, my life goal has been to chomp down on one myself. Just to tear it open with my teeth until the insides flowed out was something I thought would give me great pleasure. You see, a Juicy Lucy is something special and not-surprisingly comes from the Midwest. Minnesota to be exact. Rather than being content with the old ways of the cheeseburger, the innovative Minnesoootans decided to stuff their burgers with cheese, giving the burger a molten core of cheese just waiting to be unleashed. That is the essence of the Juicy Lucy and although I assumed I would have to make one on my own because I live far from Minnesota, I managed to find it on the menu at Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood.

At first I was caught off-guard. I longed for it for so long, yet here it was. I ordered it as soon as I could. It came with lettuce, tomato and onion, but I ordered mine bare, and juicy. It also came with fries for $9.50. A small sum to pay for a mythical burger. But when it arrived, it looked just like an ordinary burger. No fanfare, but a surprisingly small patty on a bun with no sign of what lay inside.

I grasped it in my hands and took a bite, only to find my face dripping with some of the cheesy goodness that had been sealed inside. But no sooner than I licked my lips did I realize the true damage I had just done. Apparently the burger had been sealed air-tight and my bite unleashed cheese upon more than just my face. My hands and shirt had taken a blow and I knew my next Juicy Lucy would be eaten with a much cheaper shirt and with much more care.

Yet, despite the liquid explosion, that first bite had been pretty dry and not very cheesy. I assumed the burger had to be cooked longer than usual to ensure meltiness inside, but I still hadn’t reached the gooey cheese core I was hoping for. The next bite, though, gave me just what I wanted. This time the cheese really flowed. I had expected the molten core to burn the crap out of my tongue, but it was actually a safe temperature and I immediately devoured the rest of the burger.

So now I’m sure you’re wondering if the Juicy Lucy beats out a regular cheeseburger. The answer is yes. And no. The cheese itself is far better, but being cooked into the core, it doesn’t quite span the entire burger, leaving some cheeseless quadrants. Then you have the meat itself. It seemed that the burger had to be cooked extra long to make the cheese inside melt, which had the unfortunate side effect of a slightly overcooked burger. I’ll have to try some more Juicy Lucys before I decide whether that was just Barney’s fault or if that is really just how the burger has to be cooked. One thing is for sure, though, the Juicy Lucy is a legitimate burger and not just some novelty. Given time, I expect to see this burger of the north invade reputable and sketchy burger joints everywhere. My shirts, however, would certainly prefer I stick to regular cheeseburgers.