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It’s 8 a.m. and you’re on your way to work. You want breakfast and you want it fast — and flavorful. What do you do? You swing by McDonald’s and snap up an Egg McMuffin. Ah, satisfaction.
Or ... let’s say it’s midnight and you’re heading home after a night out with friends. You’re craving pancakes — or maybe something with several strata of sweet-inflected savory. What do you do then? You roll up to a 24-hour McDonald’s drive-thru, hoping for some late-night Hotcakes or a McGriddle and … record scratch — these days, you may well be out of luck looking for breakfast at McDonald’s at an unusual hour.
To save you that disappointing moment, we’ve compiled the answers to a few common McDonald’s breakfast questions:
McDonald’s breakfast hours and menus actually vary by location — individual restaurant franchisees and co-ops can decide what to serve and when at their own discretion — so if you’re a little confused, that’s totally understandable.
Generally speaking, however, you can probably count on getting breakfast at your local McDonald’s from the time the restaurant opens (in many cases, around 5 a.m.) until about 10:30 or 11 a.m. local time, the company confirmed to Food Network.
Yes. Yes, it did. McDonald’s introduced All-Day Breakfast in October 2015 – and expanded its offerings thereafter, which made anyone who wanted breakfast fare for lunch — or dinner — truly happy.
However, in 2020, at peak pandemic, the company removed All-Day Breakfast from its national menu. The reason the chain has given for the halt of the fan-favorite menu feature: The change simplified operations in McDonald’s kitchens and, as a result, improved speed of service and order accuracy.
McDonald’s hasn’t made any recent announcements that would tip speculation one way or another about a nationwide return to the Golden Arches’ All-Day Breakfast golden age. However, in July 2020, as news spread of All-Day Breakfast’s demise, the company tweeted that it was “evaluating if and how we will bring All Day Breakfast back to our menus.” So … there’s hope.
Probably not. But you’re lucky for sure. There are some exceptions that prove the All-Day-Breakfast-Is-Over rule. (Again, the franchisees have a lot of discretion when it comes to setting their own breakfast hours.) “All Day Breakfast is still available at participating locations,” McDonald’s confirmed in a January 2021 tweet. “Be sure to double check all your nearest ones.”
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By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions (opens in new tab) and Privacy Policy (opens in new tab) and are aged 16 or over.Those craving a mid-morning pick me up might be wondering what time does McDonald's breakfast start and end?
Be it a golden McDonald's hash brown (opens in new tab) or a sausage and egg McMuffin, everyone has their go-to McDonald's breakfast item of choice. And whilst we're aware of the calories in a McDonald's breakfast (opens in new tab) - most of us still can't resist the tasty AM treat once in a while, served fresh and hot from the golden arch stores.
But with McDonald's extending their breakfast hours recently, there's been some confusion on when you can order your morning treat. With this in mind, we've shared the all important start and end times for McDonald's breakfasts to prevent any potential missed McMuffin disasters.
What time does McDonald's breakfast start and end?
In their 24-hour branches and drive-thru's, McDonald's breakfasts start at 5am and finish at 11am. All other McDonald's restaurants also finish their breakfast menu at 11am - though their start time varies from store to store depending on their opening time.
If you're unsure of times, it might be worth checking your local McDonald's operating hours (opens in new tab) before heading out to grab your morning meal.
The 11am cut-off time is a new (and welcome) addition for Ronald McDonald fans. As in the past, the fast food chain finished serving breakfasts at 10:30am.
However, the extra half hour extension came into effect late last year, following a successful trial in their Isle of Wight and Portsmouth branches.
- Breakfast Roll with Ketchup
- Breakfast Roll with Brown Sauce
- Muffin with Jam
- Bacon Roll with Brown Sauce
- Bacon Roll with Tomato Ketchup
- Hash Brown
- Double Sausage & Egg McMuffin
- Sausage & Egg McMuffin
- Bacon & Egg McMuffin
- Double Bacon & Egg McMuffin
- Egg & Cheese McMuffin
- Cheesy Bacon Flatbread
- Pancakes & Syrup
- Pancakes & Sausage with Syrup
There are a total of 14 items that are available to order and enjoy on the McDonald's breakfast menu. Original icons like the McMuffin have been on the menu for years. In fact, the beloved Egg McMuffin celebrated it's 50th anniversary in 2021:
"The Egg McMuffin, the first-ever quick service restaurant breakfast sandwich, joined the McDonald’s menu in 1971 in Santa Barbara, California, and customers have been getting creative with it ever since," says Molly McKenna (opens in new tab), McDonald’s Senior Director of Brand Communications.
It wasn't until 1976 that the item when national in America. And a year later the full breakfast menu launched - including hotcakes, toasted English muffins, scrambled eggs, sausages, hash browns, and danishes.
Products on the McDonald's breakfast menu have chopped and changed over the years. And most recently, two items were ditched from the current line-up.
"Despite specualtion and following a trial separation period, Breakfast Bagels & Breakfast Wraps will not be returning to the menu," said McDonald's on Twitter in a January 2022 statement.
Though sad news for some, one of McDonald's new breakfast menu items (opens in new tab) remains, after being unveiled in October 2021. The Breakfast Roll jam is packed with bacon, cheese, egg, and sausage. Then finished with a choice of brown sauce or ketchup. And it's proved pretty popular with fans.
Can you order normal food at McDonald's during breakfast?
No, you are unable to order McDonald's burgers, nuggets, fries and other non-breakfast foods during McDonald's breakfast operating hours. A spokesperson has confirmed that both menus are not available at the same time as "the demand isn’t strong enough to warrant running the burger grill in the morning."
Richard Widman, a former McDonald's employee provided further reasons at to why McDonald's don't run both menus together. He wrote on Quora (opens in new tab) : "Customers have been requesting burgers in the morning since 1972, when the Egg McMuffin was created. But as the breakfast menu expanded, access to kitchen equipment did not. Thus, the breakfast items and the “regular” menu items had to be cooked on the same equipment, but they couldn’t all be cooked at the same temperature.
(Image credit: Getty)
“There was no way to cook a hamburger at temperatures used for eggs,” he added. Pointing out the obvious that egg cooking times and hamburger cooking times vary considerably.
When will McDonald's serve their breakfast all day?
There's currently no plans to serve McDonald's breakfast menu all day. McMuffin fans for years have been calling on the chain to make this popular item available 24/7 but McDonald's have explicitly ruled this out. Their reasons for this include different cooking times and limited space availability in branches.
A statement on the McDonald's website (opens in new tab) reads: "Items on our breakfast menu are cooked slightly differently and at a different temperature from items on our main menu.
"This means we don't have enough space in our kitchens to accommodate the cooking and preparation of our breakfast and main menus at the same time. The 11am cut off enables us to accommodate our breakfast lovers, whilst allowing the customers who enjoy our main menu to get their food before 11:30am."
How to order McDonald's breakfast at home:
There's good news for those who don't want to leave the house to get their hands on a McDonald's breakfast. Food delivery services Uber Eats and JustEat both deliver McDonald's to your door. And this includes their delicious breakfast menu, so long as you order before the delivery cut off time.
Just Eat (opens in new tab) will deliver until 11am, according to a statement on their website (opens in new tab): "A delicious hash brown is great on its own or as a side at breakfast time. Crispy on the outside and served until 11am, they're what mornings were made for."
Whilst Uber Eats (opens in new tab) has specified that delivery on McDonald's breakfast starts at 5am and finishes at 10:45am. In further good news, one customer has shared a free McDonald's delivery hack (opens in new tab) to help you get your hands on a McMuffin without the extra charge.
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