The humble cheeseburger quietly celebrated a landmark anniversary this year as Kaelin’s declared Wednesday, Oct. 12, the 70th anniversary of the day that restaurant founder Carl Kaelin allegedly had the bright idea of draping a slice of cheese atop a sizzling grilled burger, and a great new sandwich was born. (For a long time I doubted this story, figuring such a simple idea surely must have occurred to someone centuries earlier; but extensive Web searching suggests that Kaelin’s claim is true.)

By happy coincidence, I dropped by Kaelin’s that day to meet some buddies for lunch, not realizing that it was a red-letter day. In honor of its birthday, the cheeseburger platter was on sale for just $5.95, two bucks off its regular price. Naturally I ordered one, with onion “straws” and a cup of Kaelin’s chili on the side.
Continue reading Fine burgers: Kaelin’s and Primo →

UPDATE: After only a few months, Benny’s new place has gone out of business. We’re back to one Impellizzeri again, but happily, brother Tony recently celebrated his 11th anniversary in business at Vieux Carre. Ardent fans of the Impellizzeri style of pizza – and they are legion – have been bereft since early this year when Benny Impellizzeri abruptly shut down the familiar pizzeria on Bardstown road that his father had founded a generation ago.

The fact that Benny’s brother, Tony, had gone off on his own 10 years ago and was producing virtual clones of the family pie from the identical recipe failed to soothe them, because Tony’s new spot was way the hell out in the suburbs, a long trek through traffic for hungry Highlands residents.

Now there’s good news and bad news: The good news is that Benny is back in business, so the city now has the option, somewhat colored by sibling rivalry, of choosing either Benny’s version (“The Original Impellizzeri’s”) or Tony’s spot (“Tony Impellizzeri’s Italian”). Continue reading Impellizzeri Impellizzeri!
Now there are two →