The Hamburger: Louis' Lunch, New Haven, Connecticut
Legend has it that Louis Lassen was dishing up hot lunches for local factory workers for five years before the fateful day in 1900, when a businessman in a hurry asked for something he could eat on the run, inspiring Louis to broil up a special blend of ground steak trimmings and serve it between toasted slices of white. Just like that, the world's first hamburger was born.
When you go: Jeff, the grandson of the original Louis, is still broiling burgers on the same 1898 cast iron grills. While you can order a "double cheeseburger and potato salad", you'll be ten times cooler if you order it in their lingo: "two cheeseworks and a salad".