Downfall of a Breakfast Shop Legend: Once-Crowded Shop Now Deserted

[Staff Report / Reporter Chou Shih-chang, North District]

The Lai Lai Breakfast Shop on Zhongshan Road in the North District, which drew long queues after a TV report in March this year, has seen its customers drop sharply in recent months. When this reporter visited at a little after 6 a.m. yesterday, only three customers came in over the course of an hour.

After the program aired in March, the morning queue outside the shop once stretched to the end of the lane. Now most of the six tables in the shop sit empty, and only one scooter was parked under the arcade.

The shop was the subject of a suspected food poisoning case in July. It passed re-inspection on August 4, but the health department has not yet closed its investigation. Even so, the crowds seem unlikely to return.

An office worker nearby said he had not been back since the news in July. "It is not like anything really happened. Everybody just stopped going."

A Mr. Wang, who has run a soy milk shop across the street for many years, said: "It is hard to say with these things. Customers know what they know."

The owner did not respond when this reporter asked for comment at the shop.

Buyouts for the Zhongshan Road urban renewal project are continuing, and construction is expected to begin next year.