Which Minneapolis burger style puts the cheese inside the meat patty instead of on top? The answer is Jucy Lucy.
A Jucy Lucy is a stuffed cheeseburger associated especially with Minneapolis and the wider Twin Cities. Instead of placing cheese on the cooked patty, cooks seal cheese between two portions of raw ground beef, forming one patty around a cheese center. Grilling melts the filling into a molten core.
The burger’s origin is disputed. Matt’s Bar and the 5-8 Club, both on Cedar Avenue in South Minneapolis, claim to have invented it in the 1950s. Matt’s uses the distinctive spelling “Jucy,” while the 5-8 Club spells its version “Juicy Lucy.” That spelling rivalry is part of the dish’s local identity.
A common mistake is to confuse it with a regular cheeseburger, patty melt, or slider. Those may include cheese, but they do not define the Minneapolis style by hiding the cheese inside the meat. Diners are also warned to let it cool briefly: the melted center can be extremely hot.