Al's Breakfast
Encyclopedia
At a width of ten feet (3 m), Al's Breakfast is reportedly the narrowest restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
in the city of Minneapolis. Al's Breakfast (Dinkytown Branch) is crammed into a former alley
Alley
An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane found in urban areas, often for pedestrians only, which usually runs between or behind buildings. In older cities and towns in Europe, alleys are often what is left of a medieval street network, or a right of way or ancient footpath in an urban setting...
way between two much larger buildings and is located in the city's Dinkytown neighborhood near the University of Minnesota. The restaurant's 14 stools have seated generations of local students, along with notable figures such as writer James Lileks
James Lileks
James Lileks is an American journalist, columnist, and blogger living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.- Career :Lileks has had a wide-ranging career as a columnist, radio personality, author, and prominent blogger....
and humorist Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
, all of whom consider the tiny diner to be a significant icon of the state.
History
The restaurant as it is today came into being in 1950 when Al Bergstrom parted ways with another neighborhood restaurateur. Bergstrom had gained experience at the griddle and in kitchen management in the 1940s while working for John L. "Jack" RobinsonJohn L. Robinson
John Larne Robinson was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born near Maysville, Kentucky, Robinson attended the public schools.He moved to Rush County, Indiana.He engaged in the mercantile business in Milroy, Indiana....
during summers at a popular Minnesota State Fair
Minnesota State Fair
The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its slogan is "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." It is the 2nd largest fair in the United States, and the largest state fair in the United States in terms of average daily attendance, though the State Fair of Texas runs...
cafeteria. The Dinkytown building he purchased dates back to 1937 when a neighboring hardware store
Hardware store
Hardware stores, sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware including: fasteners, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, cleaning products, housewares, tools, utensils, paint, and lawn and garden products directly to consumers for...
erected a shed
Shed
A shed is typically a simple, single-storey structure in a back garden or on an allotment that is used for storage, hobbies, or as a workshop....
in the alleyway to hold sheet metal
Sheet metal
Sheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat pieces. It is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and can be cut and bent into a variety of different shapes. Countless everyday objects are constructed of the material...
and plumbing
Plumbing
Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...
parts. This was eventually rented out and was a Hunky Dory hamburger
Hamburger
A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
stand by the time Bergstrom took it over. The new owner renamed the diner to Al's Café and first opened the doors on May 15. Initially, he produced three meals a day, seven days a week, but scaled back the operation to simply be a breakfast outlet after one year.
Bergstrom retired and passed the restaurant to his nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
Phil Bergstrom in 1973–1974. Doug Grina and Jim Brandes eventually took over around 1980, and have continued to operate the diner in the same way. The recipe
Recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describe how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish.-Components:Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components*The name of the dish...
s and short-order cooking style that Al Bergstrom developed remain the same to this day.
The restaurant
Customers who visit the tiny space experience something that is not duplicated anywhere else in Minneapolis. Guests must first stand in line along the building's back wall as they wait for others to finish their meals. It is commonplace to be instructed to move down the counter to allow newly seated customers to be seated together. Veterans of Al's are used to the instruction and keep their attitude extremely flexible as you may sit on 2 to 3 different stools during the duration of a standard breakfast.Frequent customers can purchase "meal books" and pre-pay for their food. (this practice dates back to the 50's, when Al Bergstrom would accept prepayment from railroad workers that were only paid once a month) Hundreds of such books line the opposite wall, where two griddles are also situated. A number of unusual trinkets line the front area of the diner. The stools and a linoleum
Linoleum
Linoleum is a floor covering made from renewable materials such as solidified linseed oil , pine rosin, ground cork dust, wood flour, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canvas backing; pigments are often added to the materials.The finest linoleum floors,...
countertop run down the middle of the building. The menu
Menu
In a restaurant, a menu is a presentation of food and beverage offerings. A menu may be a la carte – which guests use to choose from a list of options – or table d'hôte, in which case a pre-established sequence of courses is served....
is considered to have a number of superb selections including buttermilk
Buttermilk
Buttermilk refers to a number of dairy drinks. Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. It also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates where unrefrigerated fresh milk otherwise sours quickly...
pancake
Pancake
A pancake is a thin, flat, round cake prepared from a batter, and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. Most pancakes are quick breads; some use a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Most pancakes are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side...
s, bacon waffles, hash browns, and eggs prepared in a number of different styles including omelette
Omelette
In cuisine, an omelette or omelet is a dish made from beaten eggs quickly cooked with butter or oil in a frying pan, sometimes folded around a filling such as cheese, vegetables, meat , or some combination of the above...
s. There are also some seasonal items.
Awards and popular mention
A University of Minnesota music professor, David Baldwin, composed some special tunes in celebration of the restaurant's 50th anniversary in 2000. These were played in front of the building on May 15 by a local brassBrass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
band. Al Bergstrom died in 2003 at the age of 97.
In 2004, Al's Breakfast won a James Beard Foundation
James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Foundation is a New York-based national professional non-profit organization named in honor of James Beard that serves to promote the culinary arts by honoring chefs, wine professionals, journalists, and cookbook authors at annual award ceremonies and providing scholarships and...
award in the "America's Classics Restaurants" category. The award medal now hangs behind the counter at Al's, blending quickly into the explosion of toys, old foreign currency, and other assorted memorabilia that covers every surface.
In 2007, Laurie Lindeen, Minneapolis author, wife of ex-Replacements member Paul Westerberg
Paul Westerberg
Paul Westerberg is an American musician, best known as the former lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter of The Replacements, one of the seminal alternative rock bands of the 1980s. He launched a solo career after the dissolution of that band...
, and former bandleader of Zuzu's Petals, chronicles several years of working at the "Hi-Lo Diner," described in her book Petal Pusher as a "famous fourteen-stool breakfast joint" near the U of M campus that has narrow walls "covered in grease-preserved foreign money." While the name may have been changed to protect the innocent, it's clear she worked at Al's.
Al's Breakfast appeared on the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is an American food television series that premiered in November 2006 on the Food Network. Produced by Page Productions, the program stars and is hosted by Guy Fieri...
, in the episode "American Cookin'" in 2007.