Adrian’s Bar and Grill Jucy Lucy
Last Sunday I was craving a burger, but of course, not just any burger…I wanted a jucy lucy. My first inclination was to head on over to The Nook or Matt’s, as I know how much I love their lucy’s. Instead, in the spirit of trying new things, I decided to hit up Adrian’s instead.

To be honest, I had never heard of Adrian’s. I had even eaten in that neighborhood at Pepito’s and Cafe Levain a few times and had never even noticed the sign before. Given that it isn’t spoken of much in jucy lucy circles, I should have been prepared. But I went in with high hopes…just looking for a grease fix.

We arrived right at noon (opening time), so of course we took them by surprise by immediately ordering up some beer, burgers and fries. We were told we’d have to wait on the burgers, as they were just getting going for the day but that the beer and fries would be right out. No problem. I didn’t mind the wait – the beer was cold and the fries were crinkle-cut and crisp. With the addition of a little salt and my mustard-ketchup mix, I was appeased for the time being.

My jucy lucy was served a short time later with the standard warning to wait before eating, for danger of being burned by the cheese. I used the time to size up the enormity of this burger. The largest jucy lucy I’d ever been served, this was two massive patties of beef, a tall bun and cheese melted on top (not standard issue in the lucy world). At this point I figured I had waited long enough so I tentatively dug in.

Let’s start with the bun which was dry and dense and really didn’t complement the juicy burger in the least. One of my biggest complaints about burgers is the bun, and for good reason…it’s rarely done right. As for the patties? They were cooked perfectly – medium – but unfortunately there was just too much burger and they were packed so dense (maybe needed a higher fat content in the beef?) that, while the cheese was plentiful, the balance was totally off. This did explain the extra slice of cheese melted on top, an attempt to balance out the cheese to meat ratio, but it just didn’t make up for the overload of beef contained in the sandwich.

Overall, I was not impressed with Adrian’s jucy lucy. In the future I’ll be taking my jucy lucy cravings elsewhere.
Adrian’s Bar and Grill
48th and Chicago Ave. South
Minneapolis, MN
Tags: burger, Food, jucy lucy, restaurants, twin cities






March 2nd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
[...] Cannon from Camacho Watcho checked in at Adrian’s while armed with her camera and found the Lucy to be large but underwhelming compared to some of the other options out in the [...]
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:18 am
I’m a huge Jucy Lucy fan, but that just doesn’t look appetizing.
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:30 am
I totally agree. Those burger patties were just way too huge!
March 9th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Good lord that burger is speaking to me.
So upset right now. It’s 10:40 p.m., I’m still at work, and I’ll hate myself if I get a burger on the way home.
This post is just mean. And no, it doesn’t help that you didn’t love the burger.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Sending the love to Portland for you in the guise of a sinful burger! Hope you solved your dilemma (by grabbing a burger)!