I was talking with a teacher, and this question popped up. We’ve never seen a Chinese restaurant open for breakfast. But why not? What are all the Chinese food entrepreneurs doing in the morning?
Gee, I don’t know.
Why aren’t all the pizza places open for breakfast? Why can’t I get the local steakhouse to open for breakfast?
Sorry, but it seems like a silly question. MOST non-diner/Denny’s type restaurants aren’t open for breakfast. Many of your nicer ones aren’t open for LUNCH, either.
Resting from serving food the night before? Preparing the ingredients for lunch? Having a break because there’s not enough demand for Chinese breakfasts to justify the additional expense?
I don’t see Indian or Mexican restaurants (to name but two) open for breakfast. Why would Chinese restaurants be any different?
do you really want chop suey for breakfast?
Impressive - only 22 minutes to find out I did a double post - and when I checked the thread at 18 after it said that no one had replied.
Have you ever eaten Dim Sum? Many Chinese restraurants are open for breakfast, but it is different than you may be used to. And most restaurants aren’t set up for Dim Sum.
And actually, my ORIGINAL post shou;ld have said most diners, etc. ARE open for breakfast.
I am sitting here next to a Chinese restaurant that is open for breakfast, there are two pizza places within one block that aren’t open for breakfast though. I suspect there isn’t enough profit on breakfast to be worth staying open, most people who go out for breakfast tend to stay in motels and hotels and stick around them for breakfast, they don’t go looking for a good restaurant for breakfast.
Keith
On a related topic, what do Chinese people eat for breakfast (besides dim sum on special occasions)? I’ve never seen a Chinese cookbook with a breakfast recipe in it, and I’ve read quite a few cookbooks.
And please don’t tell me “cold leftover Chinese food, from the cardboard carton.”
i always had shi fan or jook as the cantonese call it… boiled soupy rice porridge with bits of preserved vegetable, meat, or other stuff.
I was about to question your skills of observation regarding Mexican restaurant breakfast hours, but then I noticed that you’re in London and I’m in Austin (Land of 10,000 Breakfast Tacos). Must be hell finding good Migas there!
Also: I seem to recall a thread a while back about what Chinese folks eat for breakfast, but it may have been lost…
As others have noted, there are Chinese restaurants that open for breakfast – most of them tend to be dim sum places, because (a) Westerners dig dim sum, and (b) it’s yummy. 
For “traditional” Chinese breakfasts, jook (porridge), fun (flattened rice noodles), and mien (either ramen noodles or thin rice noodles) tend to be common.
Then again, I had a bowl of cold cereal this morning, so what do I know? 
We don’t get much Mexican breakfast here in the northern U.S., either. McDonald’s used to have a breakfast burrito, though.
Around here the Chinese breakfast is some of that tofu soup with the Chinese long donut-thing (you tiao, I believe they are called). Also you can get pigs ears, chicken feet, tripe, all sorts of wonderful stuff during breakfast. For many places (in San Mateo, CA), it’s definitely the most popular time of day for many of the Chinese restuarants.
Y’all are making me hungry! I love dim sum, but even here in Chicago, with a decent Chinese population (I live 2 blocks from the smaller of 2 Chinatowns), dim sum only happens on weekends. Too bad! If the Chinese places near my house were open during commuting hours, I’d far rather do dim sum than Dunkin’ Donuts. Even the bakeries don’t open until 9 am.
On the bright? side, I get to cross paths every morning on my way to the train with the guy delivering the whole, dead, naked pig, slung over his shoulder, to the Chinese barbeque place. Quite a wakeup.
Eva, did you know that the little bakery place under the El tracks at Argyle has some dim sum things? Specifically I have seen wide rice noodles with BBQ pork and shrimp, sticky rice, and a few kinds of buns (bean paste, pork, and chicken IIRC). I wonder if you couldn’t stop in the before heading upstairs and get a nice treat for breakfast.
Re: the pig, I assume you are referring to Sun Wah, the Treasure of Chinatown North! You have to try their steamed dover sole- it is simply the best I’ve ever had and everyone I’ve ever given it to has been blown away. Oh, and the Hot sour soup is the best I’ve had on three continents.
I have no idea what ‘migas’ are … it’s that bad.
Think of migas as a Mexican omelet with tortilla chips crunched in.
My personal preference is huevos rancheros.
Then there’s the hangover medicine of Menudo. It’s an acquired taste, but when ya gotta have it ya gotta have it.
There are lots of examples of Mexican breakfasts, and most of them are hardy.
Let’s get back to Chinese.
In my experience, the traditional chinese breakfast from up north is a big bowl of chinese porridge with an assortment of small spicy things (pickled vegtables, pickled meats, boiled eggs) and maybe some kind of bready thing to mop up with. And hot milk to drink. Although, my breakfast is usually leftovers from last night