Wendy’s House of Soul has a unique take on the Juicy Lucy. The Mogul Burger features two pre-baked, quarter-pound patties with a center of American, pepper jack, house, and provolone cheeses, plus green pepper, onions, and turkey bacon. The whole thing is encased in a gluten-free wrap and deep fried, then served with pepperoncini, a pickle, and fries. Grab a deep-fried Soul Roll to go while you’re here.

Crooked Pint runs a chain of restaurants across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, and the Dakotas, and offers a number of respectable Juicy Lucys. One you likely won’t find elsewhere in the Cities is the Poutine Lucy, which is stuffed with American cheese, then topped with more American cheese, plus chopped bacon, pub fries, cheese curds, and beef gravy.

Matt’s, one of the Twin Cities most essential restaurants, claims (along with the 5-8 Club) to have invented the Jucy Lucy. (To distinguish its Lucy from other Twin Cities renditions that have since proliferated, Matt’s spells its burger without the “I.”) The legend goes that in 1954, a Matt’s customer ordered two patties with a slice of cheese in the middle — after taking the first molten bite, he declared “That’s one juicy Lucy!” Matt’s Lucy is classic and unadorned (in the best way), flavor-dense and charred at the edges. The American cheese takes on a particular liquid quality compared to some oozier others.

A popular, baseball-themed sports bar in Minneapolis’s Longfellow neighborhood, Peppers and Fries serves a notable Juicy Lucy. The stout patty is packed with a dense pocket of American that doesn’t entirely liquify (though prepare for the cheese to leak onto your plate on first bite). Peppers and Fries serves its Lucy with an extra slice of American on top — a “spare tire,” the menu explains, “in case of a blow out.”

The Blue Door Pub’s signature Lucy is actually a “Blucy” — it’s stuffed with blue cheese. That said, you can order a classic American rendition here, plus a number of other cheese-stuffed variations. The Longfellow Blucy is an herbed goat cheese and blackberry sauce combo, and the Mount Blucuvious comes with ghost pepper cheese, fried avocado, spicy bacon, and cilantro-lime sauce. Blue Door has another Minneapolis location on Como Avenue.

The Nook’s infamous Lucy is called the Juicy Nookie. This burger, a local cult favorite, is classic and unassuming: Gooey American cheese well-distributed throughout the not-too-thick patty. The Nook is a Twin Cities gem in terms of ambiance, too — downstairs from the restaurant space is a small bar papered in signed dollar bills, and a bowling alley with arcade games. Note that you can get this same burger at sister restaurant Shamrock’s on West 7th in St. Paul.

Jersey’s Bar and Grill isn’t officially in the Twin Cities proper, but Inver Grove Heights is just a stone’s throw from St. Paul. A popular neighborhood bar with frequent live music and DJs, Jersey’s serves some of the best Juicy Lucys in the east metro. Choose between seven Lucy offerings, from the French Onion Juicy to the Jalapeno Popper Juicy, which comes breaded, deep fried, and topped with jalapeno cream cheese.