(Credit: Jerry Holt/The Star Tribune/AP Photo)

MINNEAPOLIS-President Obama kicked off his "day-in-the-life" visit to 36-year-old mother Rebekah Erler with a stop at Matt's Bar, a landmark dive here that's home to the "Jucy Lucy."

What's the "Jucy Lucy" you ask? A world-famous local two beef-patty burger melded together around a hunk of cheese before hitting the griddle. The result is gooey, cheesy goodness that's washed down well with a mug of Pabst Blue Ribbon or other local brew.

(Note for the foodies out there: The Lucy is worth the trip!)

The bar, a dimly lit dive with gold pattern wallpaper and classic neon beer signs, was packed to the gills with lunch-goers when Obama's entourage arrived. Roped Christmas lights hung over the long wooden bar as "M*A*S*H." reruns played on TV.

The president shared a booth with his host, Erler, who was seen enjoying a glass of beer. Obama, per the White House, opted for iced tea.

The lunch was the start of a planned day-long presidential visit in Minneapolis with Erler, a working mother with two preschool aged boys. Erler wrote the president a handwritten letter earlier this year describing her financial struggles from the recession and housing market downturn.

From student loan payments to her first mortgage, Erler's story is "representative of the experience of millions of Americans," the White House says, and one Obama wants to connect personally with.

"It'll be an opportunity for the president to get a good sense of what Rebekah's typical day is like… and I'd think Rebekah herself is probably pretty excited," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said of the visit, which will last well short of a full day.

"Our goal here is not to stage manage something. Our goal is to give the president an authentic opportunity to see at least part of the world through the eyes of this one working mom in Minnesota," he said. "It's an opportunity as president that when he's inside the gates of the White House or behind the heavy doors of the beast in the limo that he doesn't get to see."