Eating

Louis' Lunch

263 Crown St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 562-5507

For nearly 11 decades -- that's about 110 years -- one place and one place only has had the distinction of being the birthplace and home of the hamburger sandwich. While claims may filter in from here or there, the establishment now located in the endearing and unassuming little brick building on Crown Street has the honor of being noted in the Library of Congress as THE home of the 'burger.

Hear that Texas and Wisconsin?

Following the credo of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," Louis' hasn't changed much in its monumental place in world-wide food history. The same motto of "no ketchup" that has been issued for many years is still strictly observed and the vertical cookers that were used way back when are still used today. Ninety-one-year-old Kenneth Lassen, who has overseen the burger production of his family business for the past forever, lets the world in on his business longevity.

"If I had to do it all over again," Lassen smiles, "I'd do it all the same." That ethic was, is and will be in full effect, firmly securing the Lassen family's burger business longer life in the stomachs of New Haveners and in the history books of the world.