Chongqing 24-hour restaurant earns family four houses

Jiang Tao's mother, Wang Yunxiang, blends seasonings for noodles. [Photo/VCG]

"In order to make more money, we opened the restaurant around the clock from the very beginning when we took over the business in 2007," Jiang Tao told The Chongqing Morning Post. He is one of bosses and employees of the restaurant, whose name, "No Closing Time for Jiangyu(江渝不關(guān)門)", also indicates the restaurant's distinguishing feature.

According to Jiang, the idea of shutting down at night has never crossed his mind. "It is too hard to give up the booming business in the evening.”

As one of favorite restaurants for taxi drivers to grab something if they are hungry at night in Chongqing, its name has spread over the internet, "People like drivers and those who hang out at night order from about 11 pm to 4 am next day," said Jiang, adding that night revenue is sometimes even better than that in the daytime.

Apart from the delicious food, reasonable prices also help Jiang keep his regular customers. Spicy slices of poached pork, the specialty dish of Jiang's father, costs 14 yuan ($2.15) per plate; and pickled peppers fried with shredded pork costs 13 yuan per dish.

About 7 pm every day, Jiang Tao starts to run his Midnight Diner after his parents and wife go back home. As to the future, he hopes things keep getting better and better.