Review: Louis' Lunch

A bit over a month ago, I stretched a weekend and drove to Mashantucket, CT to meet up with a friend to play some poker. When I reminded my team at the office that I was going to be out that friday, one cow-orker mentioned, "Going to stop by Louis' Lunch?"

Honestly, I'd completely forgotten about it. I'd read about Louis' Lunch a few years before, and I had wanted to check it out, but I'd completely forgotten I'd be driving through the area this time. It looked like the timing for my passage through New Haven would be good; when I'm traveling solo, I don't mind a late lunch, so I figured, "Why not?"

Which, I suppose, gets to the other question: "Why?" There are a half dozen places in the United States that claim to have invented the hamburger, but Louis Lassen has one thing to back his claim that the others don't: The Library of Congress believes that he's the one who invented the hamburger sandwich, which is probably as official as anyone's going to get-- and thus, probably incorrect, as well. 

This wasn't the only reason I wanted to try the place, though. I'd also heard of their unique way of grilling hamburgers. The burger patties are held in baskets much like one would use to grill fish, and they go vertically into a device that resembles a sideways toaster more than it does a grill. From there, gas flames from the sides of the device cook the meat.

Louis' Lunch is not a large place.

When I arrived there, around 2PM on a Friday afternoon, the place was still packed. The line to order was only three people deep, so it wasn't quite "out the door", but the place is so small that it wouldn't take many people at all for that. I considered it a good sign that there were plenty of people stopping in for lunch even at that relatively late hour. 

The menu is pretty simple: They sell hamburgers and cheeseburgers. Either can be served with onions, tomatoes, or both. Onions get cooked in with the burger patty, which made for a tasty effect. The burger is served on toasted white bread. 

After ordering, I threaded my way to a wooden lunch counter that'd seen more than a few knives carving into it over the years and awaited my meal. The dining room of the small brick building is almost entirely made from custom built-in wooden furniture, the sort of wood work you simply don't see in a modern place. It really gave a feel of stepping back in time (as did the "we don't take anything but cash" policy), to an earlier era of things being crafted locally rather than built in a far away factory.

Louis' Lunch oddball grills

I went with a cheeseburger, all the way. The burger was sufficiently juicy that the lack of condiments (or perhaps simply my lack of noticing where they were) wasn't a problem at all. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it if you're ever in the neighborhood.

The side dish menu is also quite spartan. Your options are a bag of chips or their homemade potato salad. The potato salad is interesting; it's served warm and the texture reminds me as much of chunky mashed potatoes as it does potato salad-- but the flavor is more what you would expect from potato salad. While the potato salad is very tasty, my modern burger-eating tastes find they still want a good french fry. As small as the kitchen is, though, fries would be almost impossible.

Drinks were Pepsi products and local Foxon Park sodas; Foxon Park's birch beer is excellent. 

If you're in the neighborhood, I'd recommend it. It's not far off of I-95 in downtown New Haven. I have no idea if there's free parking nearby, though; I wound up in a deck a few blocks away.


[EDITOR'S NOTE: Yeah, I said "barbecue" in the blog title. I also considered "breakfast", and in this case, "burgers." I wound up picking one to cover everything, because I didn't have another good "B" option to carry me through to "F" for "Food", besides, I had to stop somewhere. Fair warning: I'll probably talk about a pizza sometime, too. You get what you pay for.]