Is McDonald’s All-Day Breakfast Ever Coming Back?

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:

What are McDonald’s breakfast hours?

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.

Wait, didn’t McDonald’s previously serve breakfast all day?

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.

So, is All-Day Breakfast ever coming back?

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.

I could swear my local McDonald’s is still serving breakfast all day. Am I imagining things?

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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