cD’s Golden Arches are staying lit well into the early morning hours, says McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson in a CNBC interview.A limited “night owl” menu will available at select locations from midnight to 4 a.m., building on a “Breakfast After Midnight” initiative the fast-food giant has been testing.
The menu items offered will be a mixture of both dinner and breakfast foods, appealing to those with a craving for a burger or a breakfast sandwich.
According to the USA Today, customers will be able to purchase items like Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets from the lunch or dinner menus, but also Egg McMuffins and hot cakes from the breakfast menu.
A mix and match from both menus will be allowed. Currently, McDonald’s stops serving breakfast foods at 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. in most U.S. locations. Now, folks will be able to, for example, order hash browns with a Quarter Pounder or french fries with a Sausage McMuffin.
All McCafe beverages and dessert items will also be on the late menu as an option.
“Our customers want convenience around the clock,” McDonald’s said in a statement released earlier this week.
CEO Thompson noted that McDonald’s is looking to improve its performance in the highly competitive fast-food arena. The combination of expanding hours comes at a time when breakfast food choices are in increased demand.
“Breakfast is still a growing category and a driving category,” Thompson said.
The choice of menu items was based on the company’s most popular sellers. The limited items offered should allow overnight workers staffing the restaurants to still get the food out quickly to its hungry customers.
Currently, approximately half the burger chain’s 14,000 U.S. locations are open 24-hours a day. Most overnight locations offer dinner items until 5 a.m. and then transition over to breakfast for the morning crowd. Now those breakfast foods will be available starting at midnight.
“We're making it easier to eat at McDonald's with more 24-hour restaurants open than ever before,” the company said.
After midnight breakfast foods will be available “in participating 24-hour restaurants in select local markets across the country,” according to the statement.
Late-night breakfast is already available in parts of Delaware, Texas and Illinois. The roll-out also has been tested in parts of Ohio and Southern California.
