Lucy's Original

Minneapolis has given us so many wonderful things, from the Coen Brothers, who made the totally underrated Burn After Reading, to Jesse Ventura, who wrote I Ain't Got Time to Bleed (see previously mentioned film title). Selling Twin Cities magic from a truck that's all PDX: Lucy's Origina

A latenight-friendly 1986 Chevy Step Van operated by the crew behind dearly departed Little Red Bike Cafe, Lucy's is named after the booze-absorbing, Minneapolis-bred burger (introduced to them by Midwest pals) known as the Jucy Lucy, which is spelled correctly, and pronounced like Ricky Ricardo asking if you've seen his wife. Heaped high with fixins, the basic offering is wonderfully inelegant: a char-grilled patty stuffed with American, a hand-missile that must be allowed to cool lest said cheese ooze out and burn when bitten, also why Paula Deen is safe from vampire attacks. Left Coast variations on the standby include the Tiny Naylor (stuffed w/ Swiss, topped w/ more Swiss, and rockin' grilled o's and Thousand Lakes Island on English muffin 'n rye swirled bread from Tulip Pastry Shop), the potato-bun'd Bistro (stuffed w/ bleu, topped w/ bacon, crisp fried onion strings, balsamic fig jam, and arugula), and a multi-grain-bun'd, Daiya-"cheese"-stuffed job with parsnip "bacon", green peppers, sprouts (these are real), and special sauce, dubbed the Yacht, a vegan alternative to T-Painted Hills beef

While the menu's currently a brief read, future plans include truck-made shakes and possibly a towable fry shack. Happily, Lucy's has taken to parking in tandem with the Captured by Porches mobile beer truck -- take down both of their offerings often enough, and pretty soon the body will be too unsightly to Ventura outdoors. Photos by Hannah Olavarria