(Read the intro post for background on this trip.)

Andrew (24) and I arrived in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota (aka “The Twin Cities”) yesterday. We’re spending two nights here as a bit of a rest plus it’s where I grew up, so I thought I’d torture Andrew taking him to all the random places I spent time as a kid. It’s also the first real burger destination on our trip.

Our first stop was White Castle, the oldest fast food burger chain in the country, founded in 1921. This is a mostly Midwestern chain, so Andrew has never had one (we have stood outside the one in Las Vegas, but opted not to try it then because of the huge line of drunken gamblers). I had built them up to mythical status in my mind. White Castle burgers are unique; they are a small/slider-sized burgers with a super thin, square patty, topped with grilled onions and cheese optionally. The patty is steamed on top of a bed of onions; it has holes so they don’t have to flip the patty over. Each burger is served in a little cardboard holder. This was a disappointment to me; it was not nearly as good as I remembered – bland, too much bun (a little salt or ketchup would have helped though). Andrew actually liked it and came to the same realization that many, many others have: that a bag of these would be good after a night of drinking. The fries were ok, nothing special.

The White Castle burger

We then went back to Woodbury, my home town, and saw my old house, elementary school, junior high, high school, each of my old friends’ houses, my places of employment, the hospital I volunteered in, and the shops I used to go to. Of course, each location included extensive stories and historical context. He was polite and did a good job pretending to listen/care.

For dinner, we went to Casper & Runyon’s Nook, a neighborhood burger and beer restaurant open in since 1938. I tried their Juicy Nookie burger (their take on a Jucy Lucy – see below for more on that), and Andrew had their Triple B (Bourbon Bacon Burger). The Juicy Nookie had the cheese in the meat. The waiter and the menu warn patrons to let the burger cool a bit since the molten cheese will squirt out otherwise. This was a thick patty (really a double) with grilled onions on a toasted bun. It was very tasty – well grilled, well seasoned. Andrew’s Triple B was pretty good, but the bourbon barbecue sauce was too sweet. He didn’t actually finish his burger. We also had walleye fingers (deep fried nuggets of walleye pike: a local freshwater fish and one of my very favorite fish to eat) and “Nook Curds” – honey glazed deep fried cheese curds with bacon – decadent and delicious. The fries were once-fried cut potatoes – very good (but I [refer crunchier fries).

The Juicy Nookie

On Day 8, we needed a break from eggs and burgers, so we had dim sum at Mandarin Kitchen. It was very, very good – nice variety of dishes with good quality. It was better than most in Seattle. We then walked around the Mill District in Minneapolis. This is an area around St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River (the only major waterfall on the Mississippi) that used to have something like thirty flour mills and was the largest producer of flour in the world. It’s now been revitalized with museums, riverside parks, the Guthrie Theater, and walk ways. Andrew found a public piano (pretty broken actually) and gave an impromptu concert. I really like this area.The only bummer (to me at least) is that the Mill City Museum is still closed due to COVID. Fortunately, there are a lot of signs on the walkways nearby, so I learned a fair bit about the history of the area anyway. Andrew was politely patient, although he began mocking me a bit by pointing out signs I missed. I had originally planned to go to the Minnesota State Fair, which I loved as a kid, with special food memories – Pronto Pup corndogs (which I just learned are actually from Oregon), mini donuts, and the best strawberry ice cream ever at the Dairy Building. But, the prospect of being in a huge crowd of mostly maskless people on top of our existing travel risks wasn’t appealing. Oh well.

Andrew in the Mill District, in front of the old Gold Medal Flour mill

The main attraction of this stay in the Twin Cities was the Jucy Lucy burger at Matt’s Bar. This burger is famous enough to have its own Wikipedia entry and has been in the media a lot. President Obama even stopped by and had one. The Jucy Lucy has the cheese stuffed into the burger patty; the cheese is basically stuffed between two single patties. The edges of the patties are sealed to keep the cheese inside. The burger is simple otherwise, with just pickle chips and finely chopped and grilled onions on an untoasted bun. No sauces or condiments. It was perfect. Maybe the best burger of my life. The meat was good quality, well-seasoned, and well cooked. The cheese mixed with the burger juices and kept the burger moist. The finely cut grilled onion were a great complement; they didn’t overwhelm a bite like the bigger slices at the Nook. The bun-to-meat ratio was spot on. Every bite was absolutely delicious. An order of fries is huge, even for two people. They were pretty standard restaurant fries, but of course we ate them all. This dinner was especially special because we enjoyed with with my high school friend Stephanie and her son Soren. Good food is always better with good friends.

The Jucy Lucy – pretty straightforward and not fancied up for Instagram. Note the finely chopped onions.

The cheese and juices started oozing out after my first cautious nibbles.

Matt’s is an unassuming neighborhood joint. The prices are still super reasonable ($8.75 for the Jucy Lucy) despite their fame.