MPR’s Connie Goldman visits Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown.
Goldman interviews customers about why they like to eat at restaurant, and owner Al Bergstrom about the changes over the twenty years he's had the restaurant.
MPR’s Connie Goldman visits Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown.
Goldman interviews customers about why they like to eat at restaurant, and owner Al Bergstrom about the changes over the twenty years he's had the restaurant.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Why do you eat at Al's Breakfast?
SPEAKER 2: We especially like the interior appointments.
[LAUGHTER]
SPEAKER 3: Snagel two on the side, with a muffin.
SPEAKER 2: You got a carrot in your ear?
SPEAKER 3: What?
SPEAKER 2: You got a carrot in your ear, Carol.
SPEAKER 3: I can't hear you. I got a carrot in my ear. Here's a waffle.
[DISHES CLATTERING]
SPEAKER 2: It's a greasy spoon. One doesn't go to McDonald's when one can go to Al's. I'm only sorry that my children and grandchildren will not see places like this.
SPEAKER 3: I want them sunny, not runny.
SPEAKER 5: Large apple juice.
SPEAKER 2: Reminds me of home.
[LAUGHTER]
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Could you explain that to me?
SPEAKER 2: Well, I like the sound of having the stove reel nearby and everything, and the frying, and just the general atmosphere. It's pretty loose. You feel comfortable, not formal, I guess, the reason.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: And then there's Al himself, thinking of retiring, but not quite ready to do so yet.
SPEAKER 6: Well, I've been-- Al's Breakfast has been here for-- it'll be 23 years on May 15.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: What's the seating capacity here?
SPEAKER 6: Oh, 14 people at one time.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: What are the physical dimensions of this place?
SPEAKER 6: Well, the dining room part is about 10 feet wide, and 30 feet long, and about 8 feet high. And of course, we wash the walls every Christmas vacations and pick up a couple of inches in all dimensions.
SPEAKER 3: Up with the two breezy bacon, a stack on the side.
SPEAKER 6: I've had the experience of going back somewhere to a place that I liked very much, to find that it was completely changed over. And it's just a sad thing. So I absolutely-- we paint every year. We paint exactly the same color. So everything stays the same. And it looks cruddy. But we spend a lot of time cleaning and cleaning the basics where danger could be.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: How has the menu changed in 23 years?
SPEAKER 6: The only change has been the addition of an omelet menu. And that happened about five years ago.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: How have the prices changed in 23 years?
SPEAKER 6: The basic prices from 23 years ago are up exactly $0.10. I have changed prices three times. And it amounted to a total of a dime, all the way through.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: How come you never thought of expanding, going into big business? There are certainly a lot of students to feed here at the university, and you can only feed 14 at a time.
SPEAKER 6: Yeah, right. But before I came in here, I was in big places. I was a chef in hotels, clubs, big cafeterias, and I just got fed up with the big, big places. Just got fed up with the big, big things. And when this little place opened up, and I bought it because I wanted to get a small place. Of course, I have eaten in other restaurants where it's very cold atmosphere, and I just don't like it. And I think perhaps that is the reason that we do bend over backwards to make it a warm type of place.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: That's the dish on the menu that has no price at all, right?
SPEAKER 6: Yeah, right. That's the dish on the menu that makes it so wonderful to work in a place like this.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Tell me about the people that have eaten here over the many years and how you feel about them, how they've changed, or if they've changed.
SPEAKER 6: They have changed in all these years, only in appearance. Back when I started, it was all crew cuts, the very athletic-looking people. Now, of course, there's long hair and beards. But as far as the people themselves, they have not changed.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: What about the conversation, has that changed?
SPEAKER 6: The conversation has not changed at all. There always has been a lot of lipping off and a lot of kidding around. And everybody seems to get taken up with it. Very seldom, real quiet time here.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: What is there about the chemistry here that makes people talk like the person sitting next to them is their old friend, or yell at the cook, or mouth off to you?
SPEAKER 6: I think it's the people themselves. I don't know, it seems to invite people who like people. And of course, we, on this side of the counter, like people. I think it's 50/50 on this side and on your side there that people are just absolutely friendly. We've had that all these years.
SPEAKER 2: Soggy bacon again, Carol.
SPEAKER 3: Yeah, soggy bacon, how's that? Fake?
[LAUGHTER]
[CHATTER]
Move it down. Move the line down.
SPEAKER 2: Al just treat everybody like their best friend.
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Not much room here.
SPEAKER 2: No, but that makes it nice. The people standing in line behind us are as much a part of what's going on as we are right now.
[CHATTER]
CONNIE GOLDMAN: Al's Breakfast, a nourishing experience, in a lot of ways. I'm Connie Goldman.
[LAUGHTER]
[CHATTER]
Materials created/edited/published by Archive team as an assigned project during remote work period in 2020
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