Paul Bass Photo
4th-generation Louis' Lunch burgermeister Jeff Lassen tends to lunchtime crowd in between hosting elected officials.
Fresh off planting New Haven’s pizza flag in D.C., Mayor Justin Elicker led an official delegation to Crown Street Tuesday to lay claim to yet another round-and-flat New Haven original.
The scene was jam-packed Louis’ Lunch, where Elicker’s delegation squeezed inside just as the 1 p.m. lunch hour crowd filled every available nook of the squat brick eatery. Tuesday was National Hamburger Day. Elicker brought a proclamation to honor the Lassen family, which has run the business since 1895 and, according to New Haven-supported lore, invented the hamburger in 1900.
Louis Lassen’s great-grandson Jeff Lassen took orders for sandwiches made from a “proprietary blend” of five chopped meats broiled in the preserved original circa 1898 Bridge Beach & Co. cast-iron ovens (pictured) and served on white bread — with cheese and and tomato and onions if preferred, but never with ketchup.
“That’s the way they were invented by my great grandfather. We try to stay true to ourselves and our forefathers for what they did,” said Lassen, who at 64 has worked in the restaurant for 45 years.
Tourists like Joe and Kristina Watkins of Tulsa — pictured above with daughter Peyton — waited 20 minutes or more for their orders. (Joe heard about Louis’ on the Food Network.)
So the delegation, including State Rep. Roland Lemar, State Comptroller Sean Scanlon, Elicker (pictured), and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro staffer Lou Mangini decamped to a back room until Lassen had time to pop in to receive his proclamation. Lassen found five minutes to squeeze in, listening as Elicker read the proclamation and Scanlon offered an economic observation: “It actually is a big deal for our economy — that people will come here knowing this is the birthplace of the hamburger.” You can watch highlights of the exchange in the video at the top of this story.
HAL 9000 Photo
Lassen thanked the visiting pols profusely, then ran back to catch up to the rush. The pols schmoozed for another half hour — after which point the first burger (pictured), then others arrived along with bottles of Foxon Park soda.
Paul Bass Photo
“This is the real deal,” Elicker declared between bites. And New Haven Hamburger Day mission, like last week’s national visit to D.C. declaring New Haven America’s pizza capital, was complete. New Haven round-and-flat-invention-watchers, take note: National Lollipop Day is just around the corner, on July 20. (National Frisbee “Disc Golf” Day doesn’t arrive until Aug. 3.)
