JSLALALAND

THE HUNGRY HOURS

The LA Taiwanese breakfast map | How far do you drive for shaobing youtiao in LA?

In Taipei, a shaobing and youtiao set is two minutes downstairs; in LA, it's a 40-minute drive. One spot per page, with menu translations, days off and three SGV breakfast routes, for anyone who sometimes badly misses the breakfast shop on the corner.

Translated from Jasmine’s original Chinese. The illustrated slides are on the interactive reader.

Key points

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  1. 01 | Why is Taiwanese breakfast so hard to find in LA?

    Sesame flatbread and crullers were immigrants' breakfast to begin with; lots of Taiwanese immigrants later moved east from Monterey Park to Rowland Heights. Old shops change hands and names and are hard to keep track of; looking for Taiwanese breakfast is really following a migration route.

  2. 02 | Ordering, translated

    鹹豆漿 is savory soy milk, 飯糰 is fan tuan, 蛋餅 is an egg crepe to some and an egg tortilla to others, and 碗粿 is written 'rice pudding' in English but it's savory. 'Same dish, three shops, three English names.'

  3. 03 | 4 rules before you go

    Bring cash (Huge Tree is cash only), go early (the signatures sell out before noon), check closing days first (Huge Tree and the Alhambra Yung Ho are closed Wednesdays, Miopane Mondays), and on weekends, expect to circle the strip mall lot.

  4. 04 | Huge Tree Pastry

    Inside a Monterey Park strip mall, the one most like an old Taipei breakfast shop: an old man sitting with his newspaper, and food out in no time. Rice rolls in white or purple rice, flatbread and crullers with soy milk; cash only, closed Wednesdays.

  5. 05 | Four Sea

    The Ma family has run it in Hacienda Heights since 2002, with another one in Irvine. Flatbread and crullers dipped in sweet soy milk, savory rice rolls, scallion egg crepes, and very Taiwanese savory rice pudding; lines form on weekends after 10.

  6. 06 | Yi Mei

    The San Gabriel one has a sign that says Since 1978 and is open 7 to 4; there's also a Yi Mei Deli in Rowland Heights. I can't confirm whether they're the same family, so check their menus and hours separately.

  7. 07 | Yung Ho

    In Taiwan, Yonghe is a place name; in the SGV, it's the name of several different shops. The Alhambra one's savory soy milk comes with vinegar and dried shrimp; closed Wednesdays.

  8. 08｜Pine & Crane DTLA

    No need to drive to the SGV: Downtown has rice rolls, flaky scallion pancake wraps and pan-fried buns 8 to 11 a.m.; breakfast is DTLA only, and the Silver Lake location doesn't open till noon.

  9. 09｜Miopane

    Taiwanese soft bagels opened in Old Pasadena on the first day of 2026. Matcha streusel bagels, black sesame bagels, with a pillow latte; popular flavors sell out around 9:30, closed Mondays.

  10. 10 | 85°C, JJ Bakery: Taiwanese bakeries

    85°C opened its first store in Taipei County in 2004, its first US store in Irvine in 2008, and its 100th in September 2026; many JJ Bakery locations have egg crepes with crullers in the morning. Grab a tray for tomorrow's breakfast.

  11. 11 | When you don't want to drive to the SGV

    Liu's Cafe in Koreatown has braised pork rice and pineapple buns, and opened in Westwood in February 2026; Ryla in Hermosa Beach does breakfast fried rice with Chinese sausage. More brunch than breakfast, but pretty close to home.

  12. 12 | Three breakfast routes

    West SGV: Huge Tree → Yung Ho → Yi Mei (not on Wednesdays). East on the 60: Four Seas → Yi Mei Deli → JJ Bakery. No freeways: Pine & Crane DTLA → the A Line → Miopane.

  13. 13 | Two-city mirror

    At the breakfast shop on your Taipei corner, the owner remembers your soy milk is iced, half sugar; in LA you drive 40 minutes and race to get there before it sells out at noon. 'The same breakfast is everyday life in Taipei, and a road home in LA.'

In this series

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An original JSLALALAND field guide by Jasmine Chang (@jslalaland).