“…where the recent love affair with ‘authenticity’ convinces you the food is better than it actually is.”
Ratings:
Jucy Lucy 4
Ambiance: 2.8
“…where the recent love affair with ‘authenticity’ convinces you the food is better than it actually is.”
Oh, the irony! We showed up at Adrian’s last night to review their infamous Jucy Lucy and discovered that the Official Lucy Review Notebook was left at home! A thorough search of the bags at the table only revealed 1 scrap of paper on which to make review notes: Ethel’s pamphlet on “Food Choices to Lower Blood Cholesterol” from her doctor’s office!
review notes from Adrian's
But we at Lucy Labs ™ scoff at the doctor’s evil eye, laugh in the face of nutritionist’s scowls and thumb our noses at endocrinologists in our quest to bring you the deets on the best Jucy Lucy in the Twin Cities! This week’s review brought us to the humble digs of Adrian’s in south Minneapolis where (to quote the ketchup-stained menu) “…the Elite Meet to Eat”.
Decor:
Team Lucy was divided on the ambiance and décor of Adrian’s. Fred and Marion both give the old skool joint high marks (“it’s a little bright, but comfy…baseball on the tube, that’s all I need”). The rest of Team Lucy was not quite as enamored of the Hot Tub Time Machine vibe and definitely took off points for the scary-ass bathrooms downstairs. Ricky Ricardo gave Adrian’s a zero score for ambiance, stating that “they have put no effort into the décor, so I abstain from scoring it to maintain my artistic integrity!” Ms. Carolyn Appleby found the women’s restroom to be smelly, musty, full of holes in the walls with crazy slanted floors and nasty peeling linoleum. These floors would definitely be tough to navigate after a couple of Budweisers at the bar. However, some (but not all) of the grossness of the bathrooms is cancelled out by the awesome old skool video games in the back of the bar. Maybe Ricky Ricardo’s rating was tainted when he lost $3 to the claw machine? It was easy to carry a conversation at Adrian’s despite a fairly busy Friday evening (Team Lucy’s topics this outing included high school shot putting, log rolling, Iron Man 2, and the Lady John)…which is good since our service was sparse and lackluster.
Adrian's classic Juicy Lucy. with 'some' mayo.
Food/Drink:
The beer menu at Adrian’s is your standard “neon beer sign” type fare. The biggest bummer to both Lucy and Ms. Carolyn was that the soda refills (despite the unexpected delight of a frosted mug and bendy straw) are not free. More importantly, the CEF ™ (Cheeze Explosion Factor) from the Jucy Lucy at Adrian’s was pretty lame. The crucial first Lucy bite did not deliver a molten cheeze lava flow at all. Although, everyone on Team Lucy found the burger to be tasty and juicy. In fact, my burger was SO juicy that my burger farted. Yes. You read that right. My burger farted. On the first bite…instead of oozing cheeze, my burger farted so loudly that every table in the back turned to see what had caused such an unholy racket! I went In for another taste and it farted again! In case you are wondering, loudly farting burgers filled with cheeze are funny every single time. You heard it here first, folks!
Team Lucy unanimously agreed that the taste of Adrian’s Jucy Lucy (once you forgive the lack of CEF ™) was fabulous. Lil’ P (special guest Lucy reviewer, age 5 & 1/2) thoughtfully considered his burger rating from 1 to 5 for quite a while before declaring that his Jucy Lucy warranted a 6 because “the cheeze oozed onto the chips on my plate”. The Lucy at Adrian’s is moist, juicy, well cooked with a toasty bun and the thickest, crispiest pickles you have ever seen. So although the CEF™ left us underwhelmed, the burger was delicious.
Added bonus: Save room after your Jucy Lucy for Pumphouse Creamery or Turtle Bread confections while you walk around enjoying the shops in the 48th and Chicago neighborhood…then catch a movie at the Parkway.
Lucy’s burger sez: “ppppppphphpphphpht!!!!!”
Fred sez: “great Lucy construction, fabulous!”
Marion sez: “greasy goodness”
lil P Junior (age 5 & 1/2) sez: “the video games are neat!”
Betty Ramsey sez: “the pickles on this burger are TRULY a delight!”
Ethel sez: (with a provocative wink) “Meat?!……yeah…..”
Mr. Ralph Ramsey sez: “Where is the cheeze?”
Ms. Carolyn Appleby sez: “+1 point for the dulcet tones of Pac-Man and Galaga in the back!”
Lucy sez: “Bacon would cure AIDS if you only gave it a chance!”
Ricky Ricardo sez: “Yeah…Bacon says, ‘I just want to help’!”
