Bob Dylan spent two crucial years in Dinkytown, at this corner of 4th Street and 14th Avenue Southeast, while he was still Robert Zimmerman. Robert Zimmerman grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota, on the Iron Range, came to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota in 1959, dropped out quickly, and spent his time in the coffeehouses of Dinkytown. He performed at the Ten O'Clock Scholar coffeehouse at 416 14th Avenue, absorbed the folk tradition, reinvented himself as Bob Dylan — the name taken from the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas — and left for New York in late 1960.
The rest is American music history. The Ten O'Clock Scholar is gone, replaced by a burger restaurant, but a marker on the building acknowledges what happened here. Dinkytown has been the bohemian neighborhood adjacent to the University since the 1950s, surviving the usual pressures — chain restaurants, rising rents, development — while retaining grungy independence.
Al's Breakfast, a ten-stool diner at 413 14th Avenue, has been serving cramped, delicious breakfasts since 1950. Look for the line out the door on weekend mornings.