Fried Cheese Curds
Name: 5-8 Club
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Meal: Fried Cheese Curds, Juicy Lucy Burger, and Beer
Type: Burger Joint
The Midwest knows how to eat. Maybe it is the cold winters, the strong tradition of physical labor, or just the abundance of readily available ingredients. Whatever the reasons, there are many foods found here that honestly scare the rest of the country. I made the great choice to try two of these foods on a single evening. The 5-8 Club in Minneapolis is one of the two leading restaurants that claim to make the best Juicy Lucy. “What is a Juicy Lucy?”, you ask. It is a burger cooked with a big hunk of cheddar cheese cooked INSIDE. When you bite into the burger you are met with a spillage of hot molten cheddar; it really is quite nice.
One might think a burger was the extent of the gluttony for one night. No, you’d be wrong. My meal actually began with one of Minnesota/Wisconsin’s proudest foods, the fried cheese curd. Cheese curds are the individual globs of cheese are later formed together to make the familiar blocks and wheels. In the Midwest the natural progression is to take these curds, bread them, fry them, and serve them with marinara sauce. The molten, salty, crunchy bits of cheese are so delicious that you know that they are bad for you yet you know you’re going to eat them all. When you’re in Minneapolis, go to the gym, the go to the 5-8 Club but leave yourself time to get back to the gym. Your guilt will thank you.
The Juicy Lucy looks normal
Juicy Lucy holds a surprise
