Louis' Lunch

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Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut is the oldest hamburger restaurant in the United States. It originally opened as a lunch wagon in 1895, and its contemporary proprietors claim that in 1900 Louis' Lunch became the first place in the United States to serve hamburgers as they are known today. The Library of Congress has material supporting this claim.^[1]

According to Jim Shelton, (New Haven Register), Louis Lassen opened a lunch wagon on Meadow Street in 1895. In 1907, Lassen moved the business to Temple and George Streets. After a decade there, he left his lunch wagon for a square-shaped little building that had once been a tannery. The current location of Louis' Lunch, its fourth location, is 263 Crown Street in New Haven.

Louis' Lunch refuses to sell a hamburger with ketchup or mustard. It's either cheese, tomato, or onion, or not at all. The Louis' Lunch hamburger is served on toast, not buns.

1 History
2 External Links
3 References
4 Sources

[edit] History

The Library of Congress states that the first hamburgers in U.S. history were served in New Haven, Connecticut, at Louis' Lunch sandwich shop established in 1895. ^[2]

Referring to the hamburger, James Trager writes in his "Food Chronology", "the popular sandwich made its American debut in New Haven, Connecticut in 1900: Louis Lassen grinds .07 cent/LB lean beef, broils it and serves it between two slices of toast (no catsup or relish) to customers at his 5 year old three-seat Louis' Lunch." (Trager 1997).

According to family legend, one day in 1900 a businessman dashed into this small New Haven lunch wagon and pleaded for a lunch to go. Louis Lassen, the establishment's owner, hurriedly sandwiched a broiled beef patty between two slices of bread and sent the customer on his way, so the story goes, with America's first hamburger being served.

This tiny eatery that has made such a big impact on the eating habits of an entire nation still broils the hamburger sandwich in the same apparatus that was first used back in 1895. W. Perkins, received U.S. Patent #408,136 for a gridiron to broil meat in 1889 and assigned it to the New Haven Wire Goods Co. Water Street, New Haven. ^[3] Louis' Lunch wagon was opened on Meadow Street near The New Haven Wire Goods Co. (Romaine 1990). In 1939, an American Steel & Wire Co. (formerly The New Haven Wire Goods, Co.) worker named Luigi Pieragostini received his first U.S. Patent #2,148,879 for a hinged broiler ^[4] (Riccio et al 2006). The hinged broilers used today in the 1898 Bridge & Beach Co. cast iron stoves were patented in 1940 U.S. Patent #2,202,537 ^[5] (Elliott 1883).

Jeff Lassen, a fourth generation Lassen, still carries on the family tradition: hamburgers that have changed little from their historic prototype are still the specialty of the house. Each one is hand formed made from beef ground fresh each day, broiled vertically in the original 1898 cast iron stoves and served between two slices of white toast. Cheese, tomato and onion are the only acceptable garnish -- no true connoisseur would consider corrupting the classic taste with mustard or ketchup. (Allen 2004).

More than just another eating place, Louis' Lunch has held a special place in the hearts of New Haveners for generations. When it was threatened with demolition some years ago to make room for a new medical building, scores of people from all walks of life took up the cause for its preservation. Plans for its relocation were finalized just hours before the deadline and in a thirty minute journey by truck, the pocket-size landmark was moved to its present spot on Crown Street. To help in the reconstruction, friends and supporters sent thousands of bricks from every corner of the globe. Each one has its own unique story and Ken Lassen proudly points them out to special visitors as he takes them on a "tour of the walls". It doesn't take long for a lunchtime crowd to fill Louis' as it has most working days for more than 112 years. Since most of the handful of seats are quickly taken, most of the customers just hurry in the door, yell out an order "to go" and hurry out again, taking with them a little bite of history. (Shelton, New Haven Register).

[edit] External Links

Official Site
Video of founder's great-grandson discussing the first hamburgers.
Louis' Lunch: A Local Legacy
New Haven Oral History Project page with audio interview of Ken Lassen
New York Times Op-Ed about Louis' Lunch

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

Allen, Beth (2004). Great American classics Cookbook. Hearst Books. ISBN 1-588-16280-X.
Elliott, Richard Smith (1883). Notes Taken In Sixty Years. R. P. Studley & Co..
Riccio, Anthony V. (2006). The Italian Experience In New Haven : Images And Oral Histories. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-791-46773-2.
Romaine, Lawrence B. (1990). A Guide To American Trade Catalogs 1744-1900. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-26475-0.
Trager, James (1997). The Food Chronology: A Food Lover's Compendium Of Events And Anecdotes, From Prehistory To The Present. Owl Books. ISBN 0-805-05247-X.