People are only posting half a thought. I move either for proper discussion, or thread closure. There’s too mch misleading info in just the first few contributors.
For eg, the Chabad custom permits breakfast before shacharis – if you won’t concentrate on tefilla from hunger. Of course, you would be saying the preliminary berachos before. And bear in mind as well, our generation is weak – weaker than earlier ones. There are many many facests to the equation.
And furthermore, the Rebbe of Rimanov has some interesting chiddushei Torah on the Jews gathering monn in the desert before davening. Please read it to gain a deeper insight.