Hibbing, Minn. may not be a point of destination for hot commodities and carnal pleasures, but if you wanted to pay homage--with a 20 percent tip included--to Bob Dylan, you could have visited Zimmy's Dylan-themed restaurant, which will close its doors after 30 years of catering to Dylanologists across the world.
The times are a-changin' for the small Hibbing dwelling, due in part to months of tax and liquor license problems. But what's most sad is the lack of good PR for the restaurant because, as Heeb points out, a Bob Dylan tribute restaurant is too cool to not have taken up and gone the distance to dine at.
According to the Hibbing Daily Tribune:
In an announcement posted on Facebook Thursday, management of the long-standing restaurant said that they are "forced to close" and are hoping that the closure is "only temporary" as they continue to seek a solution that will allow them to reopen "as quickly as possible."
Zimmy's is a true destination restaurant, one that put Hibbing on the map. It attracted visitors from across the world--many annually during the Dylan Days celebration each May.
"The hardest part about losing this place is that it's the only place that honors Bob Dylan and does so loudly," said Zimmy's chef Audrey Johnson. "Another hard part is that people from Hibbing don't like Bob Dylan as much as people not from Hibbing like Bob Dylan."
So, while Robert Zimmerman's only sit-down dinner hotspot shuts its doors, probably forever, one can only hope that the restaurant, like its gravelly voiced namesake, will resurface...probably after an eight-year absence from the limelight (sans motorcycle crash).
Take what you need. Classicalite say farewell to a wonderful idea.
Here's Dylan to take us out.
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