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We’ve compiled all the foods you love, and all the places you need to thank for them in one easy-to-skim list. Story for mental_floss magazine by Streeter Seidell.
1. Louis’ Lunch, New Haven, Conn.
The Hamburger
There are competing claims for the coveted “Inventor of the Hamburger” title, but according to Louis’ Lunch (and the Library of Congress, for that matter), this small New Haven restaurant takes the prize. The story goes something like this: One day in 1900, a rushed businessman asked owner Louis Lassen for something quick that he could eat on the run. Lassen cooked up a beef patty, put it between some bread, and sent the man on his way. Pretty modest beginnings for arguably the most popular sandwich of all-time, huh? If you visit Louis’ today, you’ll find that not much has changed. The Lassen family still owns and operates the restaurant, the burgers are still cooked in ancient gas stoves, and, just like then, there is absolutely no ketchup allowed.
2. The ChipShop, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Fried Twinkie
Sometimes what counts isn’t being the inventor, it’s being the innovator. Take the fried Twinkie, for example. The Twinkie—in all its indestructible glory—has been around for ages, but when ChipShop owner Christopher Sell had the brilliant idea to freeze the snack, dip it in batter, and deep-fry it, the Twinkie took gluttony to new heights. Even The New York Times raved about how “something magical” happens when you taste the deep-fried Twinkie’s “luscious vanilla flavor.” Sell, who was trained in classical French cuisine, didn’t start with the Twinkie, though. In his native England, he fried up everything from M&M’s to Mars bars.
3. Myers Avenue Red Soda Co., Cripple Creek, Colo.
Root Beer Float
If you thought what happened up on Cripple Creek only happened in song, you’re sorely mistaken. In August of 1893, a failed gold-miner-turned-soda-company-owner named Frank J. Wisner was drinking a bottle of his Myers Avenue Red root beer while looking up at Cow Mountain. Just then, a full moon illuminated the snowcap on the otherwise black mountain, and Wisner had a brilliant idea—float a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass of his root beer. The new drink was christened the “black cow” and became an instant classic. Today, of course, most of us call it a root beer float.
4. Cozy Dog Drive In, Springfield, Ill.
Corn Dogs
In 1946, Ed Waldmire, Jr., revolutionized the stick-meat world when he debuted the Cozy Dog—the first corn dog on a stick. At first, he wanted to call his creation the “Crusty Cur,” but his wife convinced him to change the name to “Cozy Dog.” She felt people wouldn’t want to eat something described as “crusty.” Good call, Mrs. Waldmire. Shortly after the Cozy Dog’s inception, the Cozy Dog Drive In opened alongside old Route 66 and has been serving up corn dogs ever since.
Not only do the grease trucks have a Fat Darrell sandwich, they also are home to the Fat Bastard and the Fat Bitch as well…….ummmmm deicious.
posted by QT314159265 on 12-4-2007 at 10:36 am
Have to defend my hometown. Philadelphia has at least 3 of the top 50 restaurants in the US, (Vetri, Le-Bec Fin, Striped Bass, and I could argue for Lacroix too) and fine dining IS its forte. Come to philly, and I will take you out and show you guys on me :) Then we’ll have a few (or many) drinks and get a cheesteak at 3 am.
posted by phillygirl on 12-4-2007 at 11:13 am
Please tell me you’re not going to start forcing us to click 10 times to read a list just to up your ad prices. It’s turned me off Sports Illustrated, and will stop me visiting here.
posted by Charles on 12-4-2007 at 12:04 pm
i don’t know what kind of crazy display you get charles, but i don’t get any ads on this site except mentalfloss merchandise (which is to be expected). but i do agree, having to load 10 pages with 1 item per pages is pretty annoying, especially when it would have been just as easy to put the info on 2-3 pages if 1 seemed too long or large.
posted by tami on 12-4-2007 at 12:45 pm
Phillygirl,
You gonna cover the drinks and the chessesteaks too? I’ll be on the next flight if you do :-).
posted by John on 12-4-2007 at 12:53 pm
Great fun article, but I agree, if I have to click on 10 pages, I will go elsewhere too.
posted by Simon on 12-4-2007 at 1:13 pm
streeter seidell? from collegehumor.com?
posted by sd on 12-4-2007 at 1:22 pm
Lombardi’s is the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. They still use the same coal oven that has been around since 1905.
Highly recommended.
posted by Kang on 12-4-2007 at 1:31 pm
I used to live in Springfield, IL, and the Cozy Dog drive-in has by far the best corn dogs I’ve ever had. Also, extremely good donuts, believe it or not. I usually tried to save my indulgence for Illinois State Fair week.
posted by Bre on 12-4-2007 at 1:58 pm
Hey guys: Thanks for the comments… we’re still experimenting with this stuff (splitting up articles in particular), but we’ll definitely take this all into account as we keep tweaking. /m
posted by Mangesh on 12-4-2007 at 2:16 pm
Sorry, but I have to draw the line at a fried Twinkie! And I thought deep fried turkey at Thanksgiving was wrong…
posted by Lisa on 12-4-2007 at 2:27 pm
Good article but yes, 10 clicks is too much. Not to mention the fact that clicking the back button doesn’t get you back to the main page. It takes 10 clicks or retyping mentalfloss.com. Too annoying.
posted by Fran on 12-4-2007 at 2:31 pm
The click through thing also screws up in RSS feeds. I only get the first page. I was left thinking that two items in a list made a pretty lame article!
posted by Nicole on 12-4-2007 at 2:39 pm
it’s pretty sad when we are not only reading articles on the lazy mans food but we are to lazy to click our mouse.
great article!
posted by Annaleah on 12-4-2007 at 3:35 pm
not a fan of 4 clicks for 10 items (as it was apparently revised) –
and to get back to the top, ugh.
please — go back to your format of an intro on the home page, and the rest of the article (complete) after the jump.
please
thank you
posted by WizardBoy on 12-4-2007 at 3:38 pm
Uhh…derby pie? What about the f***ing chicken wing? Invented at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY in 1964.
posted by Jarrod on 12-4-2007 at 3:39 pm
As a Kentuckian, I’m proud to have visited one of these establishments… the one in Philly. Awesome cheesesteak by the way - highly recommended. Sad, but I live really close to Prospect and have only ever eaten (apparent) counterfeits of Derby Pie. Speaking of which, Jarrod, don’t knock it till you try it! Chickens had wings way before ‘64. ;-) Kidding, btw.
posted by Roger on 12-4-2007 at 3:56 pm
Oh, forgot to mention - the multiple links were a little annoying, but by far not the worst thing I’ve had to put up with today. :-) As far as getting “back” to the main page, I usually just click on the big blue mental_floss logo anyhow.
posted by Roger on 12-4-2007 at 3:59 pm
FAT DARRYLS!!!
I went to school at Rutgers, New Brunswick, and Fat Darryls were the ultimate go-to food when we were hungover. It truly is the most delicious heart-attack-on-a-bun a person can eat, it only costs about $5, and you don’t need to eat for about a day afterwards.
Excellent choice.
posted by Rachel on 12-4-2007 at 3:59 pm
Listen to your readers guys.
Great article.
Hugely irritating layout.
Pop-up ads - just dumb.
“Grease trucks” calling up and ad for “Grease” the musical ?! cummon!!
posted by DJ K e v v y Kev on 12-4-2007 at 5:04 pm
I don’t mind clicking to get to the different sections of the article, but the pop-up ads are really annoying. I’m not clicking on the little “x”s to close them, which means I have to scroll down past the ad, and then back up to where I was to get rid of them. Come on, I know you need ad revenue, but I’m not going to click on those things. Maybe side bar ads? They’d be much less intrusive.
posted by gibson8tor on 12-4-2007 at 6:38 pm
I would like to personally thank Myers Avenue Red Soda Co. for inventing the Root Beer float :)
-Diana Moneymaker
posted by Diana Moneymaker on 12-4-2007 at 8:03 pm
Anchor Bar, darn right! Their wings far, FAR eclipse any Hooters or any of the multitudes of wing chains. Anchor Bar also has an amazingly delicious beef on wick sandwich. Dang, I want to fly there now and get one.
posted by Jenny on 12-4-2007 at 10:39 pm
Pat’s Steaks? Seriously? Their dubious claim to having invented the cheesesteak notwithstanding, there are much, much, much better places to get steaks.
posted by fixedgear on 12-5-2007 at 5:34 am
Mostly the same info as from the Travel Channel programs. Good article though.
Get Firefox as a browser! No pop ups and clicked 4 pages only although I would have enjoyed it all on 1 page.
posted by Owen on 12-5-2007 at 8:11 am
Ok, I live in buffalo and it a bsic requirment that in buffalo,you eat at anchor bar.and eat chicken wings. I mean, we have the biggest wing fest every year! Yeah,Buffalo wings should deffinitly be up there.
posted by Fran on 12-5-2007 at 10:09 am
Ok…..now I’m hungry!
posted by Kay on 12-5-2007 at 11:50 pm
Thanks so much for including Cozy Dog Drive In as one of the 10 Greatest Birthplaces on the Great American Food Trail! For Bre: thank you for your comments about Cozy Dog and the homemade donuts, but I’m sorry to say that we had to discontinue the donuts due to the fact that the company no longer makes the donut mix.
posted by Sue on 12-6-2007 at 10:07 am
Wow, I’m surprised by this comment board. I thought for sure there would be a lot more petty squabbling over which place was the first to put jelly in a donut, etc… :) Maybe mentalfloss readers are a little more intelligent than normal posters.
posted by Vitajex on 12-6-2007 at 4:22 pm
How come POUTINE isn’t on this list !?
posted by Zachary on 12-6-2007 at 6:02 pm
what bout he garbage plate or the buffalo wings of buffalo?
posted by yoo on 12-7-2007 at 1:11 am
oh dont you jus love the way you americans invent such nutrional foods, nearly everyone of them is full of fat, no wonder 66% of you is obese
posted by Andy on 12-7-2007 at 10:49 am
I order take out from ChipShop all the time and I never knew that!
posted by Corey on 12-7-2007 at 10:50 am
BUFFALO WINGS???
posted by JJ on 12-7-2007 at 10:58 am
where is buffalo wings? or the new orleans mufaletta?
posted by jordan on 12-7-2007 at 6:03 pm
I went to school at Rutgers as well, and the grease trucks were by far the best thing there. The Fat Darrell, and all the sandwiches there are so amazing. They’re so bad for you, but there’s no better drunk food. The grease trucks are the place to be at 2am when the bars get out.
posted by Diana on 12-7-2007 at 9:26 pm
You failed to mention that the Big Mac from McDonalds was invited in Pittsburgh. Also, for the Pittsburgh fans, the Primanti Brother Sandwich. It was voted one of the best sandwiches by Travel Network. Both big contributions to American food.
posted by Libby on 12-28-2008 at 9:33 pm