Is Louis' Lunch Still Open? Best Thing I Ever Ate Update (New Haven, CT)

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 3, Episode 5

"The Best Thing I Ever Ate" (episode "Burgers") featured Louis' Lunch's original hamburger, a beef patty broiled vertically in a century-old cast iron gas broiler and served on white toast rather than a bun, with the option of cheese, tomato, and onion but no ketchup. According to Wikipedia (revised 2026-09-02), Louis Lassen opened the business as a small lunch wagon in New Haven, Connecticut in 1895, and the restaurant claims to have invented the hamburger in 1900 for a customer who needed a fast meal to go. Louis' Lunch's own website, checked 2026-09-08, returned an HTTP 200 response, listed the restaurant's current hours, Tuesday through Saturday, and showed a working phone number, 203-562-5507, matching the located record. Per Wikipedia, the building itself was once a tannery before Louis Lassen converted it for restaurant use in 1917, and the same 1898 broilers and a 1929 toaster remain in daily use.

Food Paradise, Season 1, Episode 1

"Hamburger Paradise" featured Louis' Lunch, which according to Wikipedia (revised 2026-09-02) opened as a small lunch wagon in 1895 under Louis Lassen and, according to Louis' Lunch, created the hamburger in 1900 for a customer in a hurry. Wikipedia reported that the business moved into a brick building in 1917 and, in 1975, relocated four blocks to 261 Crown Street, where it still uses cast iron broilers from 1898 and a 1929 Savory Appliance radiant gas toaster. A 2026-09-08 check of the restaurant's website, louislunch.com, found current Tuesday-through-Sunday hours posted.