Here's Where To Satisfy Your Burger Cravings During Fast Food Breakfast Hours

It's an often-overlooked fact that not everyone is a breakfast person. Meatloaf was once a breakfast food, and, in the population, there are definitely those who would prefer a chunk of beef over pancakes for the first meal of the day. To that end, if convenience compels you to hit the drive-thru for breakfast, you might wonder if anyone is serving up burgers during the time period that is traditionally dedicated to McMuffins and Breakfast Baconators, which are not regular burgers.

Take heart, burger buffs! There are, indeed, some fast food chains that will happily dish you up a burger in the morning. Sonic, for instance, serves its entire menu all day, so you can indulge in a breakfast burrito or a burger. White Castle has specific breakfast burgers, which you could order without egg and enjoy just like regular sliders. Jack in the Box goes both ways: Not only can you have burgers for breakfast, but it also offers all-day breakfast (something that McDonald's controversially decided to stop). And, at Del Taco, attempting to place a pick-up order early in the morning on Pacific Time proves that you can access its full menu all day, including yummy burgers.

There are a few reasons why fast food outlets might elect to not serve burgers all day. Of course, this is rooted in speculation, but we know a few key facts that inform our thinking. McDonald's, which never offered morning burgers, famously ended all-day breakfast because the promotion made operations difficult, according to insiders. Basically, there's only so much grill space, and it's difficult to physically cook up breakfast items alongside lunch and dinner ones. If drive-thrus are open during breakfast hours, they may choose to dedicate their limited cooking space to the breakfast items that are in highest demand during those times. Of course, some burger specialists like BurgerFi or Smashburger jump straight to lunch menus and open later than other places, eliminating the question entirely.

There's also the fact that the majority of the public likes eating breakfast foods, and limited demand for breakfast beef burgers simply may not compel fast food joints to spend the time and money to deliver this option early in the morning. If more folks wanted to crush a cheeseburger with their morning coffee, it makes sense to reason that more fast food chains would offer them. It's good to know that there are a handful of options for the "burger for breakfast" crowd, however, even if that's definitely not a mainstream option.