A new year’s breakfast in the suburbs of Chicago

So my NYE was enjoyable but rather uneventful. It was a nice evening spent watching the entire last season of House MD.

New Year’s day, however, is a different story.

It was started off on the right foot, with a hearty breakfast at the International Mall in Westmont suburbs of Illinois.

The International Mall isn’t really a mall. It’s more like a Chinese snacks outpost, as you can see from the picture above.

And it’s this little gem that has the freshest You Tiao that I’ve had in a while.

And there’s normally a line on the weekends/holidays for breakfast…

But, it’s worth the wait…


You tiao and a helping of fresh soymilk (you can get savory soymilk too) is one of my favorite breakfasts. Of course, this doesn’t compare to what you could get in China, but it’s the closest you’ll get in Chicago.

The you tiao are pretty big.

I was full after eating one pair and only drank about half of my soymilk before I wanted to burst.

Side note, did you know you can buy napa cabbages the size a baby in Westmont?

9 lb cabbage^