McDonald's all-day breakfast menu may be gone for good
McDonald's Breakfast (Photo illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - The most important meal of the day may no longer be served all day at McDonald’s.
The fast-food chain stopped serving its coveted all-day breakfast menu at the end of March during the height of the coronavirus pandemic as more franchisees pivoted to drive-thru and delivery only to curb the spread of the virus. But customers are hungry to learn whether or not beloved breakfast offerings like hotcakes, egg muffins and the chain’s signature hash browns will be available later in the day once again.
“Why did McDonald’s take away all-day breakfast?!?!? Why do they act like they don’t have a McGriddle in the back they can make me?!?!” one fan recently tweeted.
A spokesperson for the chain told Fox News it removed the all-day breakfast menu “to simplify operations in our kitchens, which we say provided better speed of service and order accuracy.”
However, the rep did not specify if and when the offering will ever return.
“As McDonald’s and franchisees evaluate if and how we bring All Day Breakfast back to our menus, we want to ensure these improvements will remain consistent for our customers. Any final decision will be made in partnership with our franchisees, based on consumer demand, and designed to drive the business while minimizing operational disruptions,” the spokesperson said in an email.
And while customers are pleading for the return of all-day breakfast, a number of franchisees are rallying against bringing the promotion back, suggesting it creates more work and backs up the kitchen. A franchise operator told Business Insider only serving the meals in the morning help free up employees and the grill later in the day to increase output.
Get breaking news alerts in the FOX5NY News app. Download for FREE!
“I absolutely do not think we should bring it back,” the employee told the outlet, adding: “It makes us faster, and gives the grill less to worry about.”
When dining rooms temporarily closed from March to May across much of the country, some fast-food franchise operators reduced menu items to speed up service for drive-thrus and found that the downsizing was more efficient.
"The limited menu and ease of operations are allowing our teams to focus and provide blazing fast service," Blake Casper, chairman of the National Owners Association at McDonald's independent franchise association, said in an update to the association’s members as reported by Restaurant Business Online in June.
McDonald’s also cut menu items like salads, grilled chicken sandwiches and chicken tenders to streamline operations. Wendy’s followed suit, downsizing its menu, cutting back on serving hamburgers and other meat-based items at 18% of its locations, according to an analysis of online Wendy's menus by financial firm Stephens.