NEW ORLEANS — For Christopher Reed and his girlfriend Vienna, stopping at Café Du Monde is a tradition. “It’s an important part of New Orleans,” Christopher Reed said. “It’s a real old custom. Anytime I come to New Orleans, I have to have coffee and beignets there.”

New Orleans' world-famous beignet and coffee shop Cafe du Monde abruptly closed Friday afternoon (Dec. 13) over city inspectors' concern for a sagging attic roof in the French Mar