McDonald’s Inches Closer To 24-Hour Breakfast Menu

Some 24-hours McDonald’s restaurants have been offering “Breakfast After Midnight” menus for a while, but now some folks’ dreams of being able to get an Egg McMuffin at 2 a.m. are coming true, with the fast food chain saying it will expand the post-Witching Hour breakfast menu outside of the regions where it’s been being tested.

Additionally, the “Breakfast After Midnight” name is losing the “Breakfast” qualifier and becoming simply “After Midnight,” as customers at the participating franchises will have both a selection of breakfast and non-breakfast items to choose from.

“Our customers want convenience around the clock, and we’re making it easier to eat at McDonald’s with more 24-hour restaurants open than ever before,” reads a company statement.

McDonald’s doesn’t say exactly which markets will get the late-night mixed menu first, but the Chicago Tribune reports that it’s being tested in parts of Delaware, Texas, and Illinois.

Earlier this year, a McDonald’s franchisee explained to BurgerBusiness.com about the difficulties of serving both a lunch and breakfast menu at the same time.

“[T]here are some capacity issues. We only have so much toaster space and so much grill space,” he explained at the time. “Unlike a lot of breakfast QSRs, we still cook our product on a grill. Many of the pretenders are doing a ton of prep in microwaves. For instance, go into a Dunkin’ Donuts or a Starbucks, who are chasing breakfast, and you don’t find a grill or oven or fryer.”

In April, McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson told CNBC that all-day breakfast was not beyond the realm of possibility.

McDonald’s expanding breakfast after midnight [Chicago Tribune]

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