Culinary Journeys

Kaelin’s Restaurant, opened in 1934 by Carl and Margaret Kaelin in Louisville, Kentucky, is widely recognized as a "birthplace of the cheeseburger," created when Carl added cheese to a burger. The Highland neighborhood spot also holds a place in history as one of the first locations to serve Harland Sanders' Kentucky Fried Chicken 

“Welcome to Kaelin’s” said the yellow menu card that Irma Kaelin Raque handed me in her restaurant in June 2006. The cheeseburgers tasted great. I promised her that I would sketch the history of the place on a return to Louisville.

 Kaelin’s - the legendary restaurant at Newburg Road and Speed Avenue in Louis­ville’s Highlands - was a ­culinary tip in the city and widely known as the birthplace of the cheeseburger. I took along the menu and some small Kaelin’s sweets as souvenirs.

 In 2015, Kaelin’s is already history! In 2009, after 75 years, its doors closed, and the striking blue, white Kaelin’s sign was taken down and sold. Built by immigrants from Einsiedeln, a Louisville institution disappeared; a third generation was interested no more!  In August 2015, therefore, I meet 84-year-old Irma Raque for milk and doughnuts at her nice home at Lamont Road. After the interview she was getting ready to travel to Denver, to her son and grand ­children. Listening to her is pleasant. The cultivated lady is used to entertaining and playing hostess. “We Kaelin's are a proud bunch; I am also proud of having Swiss and Einsiedeln roots.” 

   However, if you mention the name Kaelin’s Restaurant to anyone from Kentucky you will resoundingly here, “the cheeseburger place?” As this angle wasn’t enough Kaelin’s boasts another equally impressive distinction, Kentucky Fried Chicken. In its infancy KFC and specifically Harland Sanders himself cooked and sold his famous chicken within these walls. Kaelin’s will forever be the first business to serve the colonels famous recipe in the city of Louisville. This is history to each and every member of our society and needs a rebirth to retain its former glory.  

In 1934 in a neighborhood community known quaintly as the Highlands a local couple named Carl and Margaret Kaelin decided to open a family restaurant. Kaelin’s Restaurant was born and over the years thrived creating countless memories for generations of Louisvillians. The restaurant became known as the “birthplace of the cheeseburger” serving the first version of this timeless classic for over 70 years. This claim to fame is argued amongst historians and the real origins are unconfirmed for the record books.