# I wonder why Mcdonald's breakfast hours always ended at 11am? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246 "2014-08-10T16:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/41 "2014-08-11T16:00:19Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Jack in the Box serves their full menu 24/7. It’s rather nice. So does Sonic, as long as we’re giving a shout-out to that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/42 "2014-08-11T16:06:44Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Has anyone here ever worked at McDonalds? I bet customers argue with them every day over the breakfast/lunch switchover. I’ve worked at a similar place. Yes, people do occasionally argue about it, sometimes quite forcefully. We sigh and bring up a few breakfast stuff from the fridge but nobody’s happy about it ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/43 "2014-08-11T16:37:10Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Grill(s) and other equipment must be cleaned and changed over for lunch menus and quantities. I never understood this excuse. If they have to clean the grill and change temps and all of that then how can they instantly switch between the two menus? They don’t shut down completely to do all that so it must be possible to cook both items at the same time? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/44 "2014-08-11T16:54:07Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I never understood this excuse. If they have to clean the grill and change temps and all of that then how can they instantly switch between the two menus? They don’t shut down completely to do all that so it must be possible to cook both items at the same time? It’s done in stages. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/45 "2014-08-11T17:02:28Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I never understood this excuse. If they have to clean the grill and change temps and all of that then how can they instantly switch between the two menus? They don’t shut down completely to do all that so it must be possible to cook both items at the same time? Are you under the impression that McDonald’s breakfast items are cook to order? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/46 "2014-08-11T17:11:29Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > So does Sonic, as long as we’re giving a shout-out to that kind of thing. I wish we had one closer. Nearest one is about 30 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/47 "2014-08-11T17:18:25Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I never understood this excuse. If they have to clean the grill and change temps and all of that then how can they instantly switch between the two menus? They don’t shut down completely to do all that so it must be possible to cook both items at the same time? There’s a bunch of specialized equipment and supplies (hotcake batter, eggs, bacon, canadian bacon, sausage patties, , biscuits, english muffins, McMuffin egg molds, etc. versus hamburger buns, Big Mac buns, Quarter Pounder buns, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, special sauce, tartar sauce, mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, 10:1 meat patties, 4:1 meat patties, chicken patties/nuggets, fish filets, etc.) that have to get swapped out between breakfast and lunch; **there’s not enough room in the kitchen to simultaneously accomodate a breakfast setup and a lunch setup.** They cook one last wave of breakfast food shortly before the changeover, then spend a few minutes swapping out the necessary items. Along the way they throw a round of meat on the grill and in the fryer so it’s ready to serve at 11AM. As for why the changeover happens at 11AM? The short answer is because McDonald’s figured out that that’s what makes them the most money. Between 11AM and noon, more people want lunch food than breakfast food. Call it the tyranny of the majority. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/48 "2014-08-11T17:20:48Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Has anyone here ever worked at McDonalds? I bet customers argue with them every day over the breakfast/lunch switchover. I’m sure they do. Once or twice I’ve had a late start and am disappointed that the breakfast menu is done for the day but I’ve never argued about it. What’s the point? I don’t take it personally. And to the OP, it’s not written in stone that lunch begins at noon and lasts for a hour. I’ve always figured lunch “hour” starts at 1100 and ends at 1300. Some places of employment shut down for and hour’s lunch and some don’t shut down and stagger lunches so they can still be open for business. Why make a casino out of it? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/49 "2014-08-11T17:38:54Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Has anyone here ever worked at McDonalds? I bet customers argue with them every day over the breakfast/lunch switchover. Worked at McD’s in high school. Occasionally, yes, we’d get someone who was bitchy about the fact that we had just changed over and they had arrived a few minutes too late. Not all the time, but it happened. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/50 "2014-08-11T18:32:41Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > That summary leaves out some interesting details, at least the way I have heard the story. McDonalds talked to my mother’s cousin in 1970 or so about an invention he had a patent on, for cooking hamburgers quicker. They chose not to license it, and then shortly thereafter started selling Egg McMuffins cooked with substantially the same device. He successfully sued them for patent infringement. I’m not sure what that device could have been, when I made Breakfasts in the 80’s in McD’s. The “device” we were using was a handle with 8 circles arranged in two banks of four. The egg was broken over the ring and the bacon/ham was fried separately. The buns themselves, were toasted in the same toaster that the big macs, Quarters and Regs were made. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/51 "2014-08-11T18:57:56Z")
Never said I thought everything was cooked to order. I don’t think those things can be completely cooked and put together in the couple minutes it takes to pay at one window and drive to the next one. But I also doubt they cook all their mcmuffins at 5am, stick them in the warmer and then never make any more the rest of the morning. Just saying, as a late sleeper, it would be nice if I could hit McD’s at 1130 am and get a mcmuffin. So it would be nice if at least some limited breakfast items were still available later in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/52 "2014-08-11T19:30:12Z")
I remember going on a road trip and we stopped at Hardees at switchover time. My buddy was a big coupon guy and he ordered something from the Lunch menu and they told they were not serving Lunch yet. He pouted, got out of line, starting digging in his wallet for a Breakfast coupon. by the time he found a coupon for a sausage and egg biscuit and got back in line they told that they were no longer serving breakfast! He was fit to be tied!! ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/53 "2014-08-11T19:32:45Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > There’s a bunch of specialized equipment and supplies (hotcake batter, eggs, bacon, canadian bacon, sausage patties, , biscuits, english muffins, McMuffin egg molds, etc. versus hamburger buns, Big Mac buns, Quarter Pounder buns, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions, special sauce, tartar sauce, mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, 10:1 meat patties, 4:1 meat patties, chicken patties/nuggets, fish filets, etc.) that have to get swapped out between breakfast and lunch; **there’s not enough room in the kitchen to simultaneously accomodate a breakfast setup and a lunch setup.** They cook one last wave of breakfast food shortly before the changeover, then spend a few minutes swapping out the necessary items. Along the way they throw a round of meat on the grill and in the fryer so it’s ready to serve at 11AM. Along with this, in most McDonald’s there’s a clamshell grill (think a giant George Foreman grill) and a flat grill (like a griddle at a diner). The clamshell is used for cooking the various burger sizes, sausage patties, bacon and other grilled meats… The flat grill is used mostly for cooking other breakfast products, particularly the eggs. After the breakfast period, the flat grill is cleaned and shut down. Now sure, it could be kept up if someone wants and Egg McMuffin, but eventually the costs of keeping it on all day long is going to outweigh the occasional profit of someone coming in just to get breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/54 "2014-08-11T20:08:34Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > I’m not sure what that device could have been, when I made Breakfasts in the 80’s in McD’s. The “device” we were using was a handle with 8 circles arranged in two banks of four. The egg was broken over the ring and the bacon/ham was fried separately. The buns themselves, were toasted in the same toaster that the big macs, Quarters and Regs were made. It is very possible (even probable) that the story has been mangled over the many years that have passed. I looked up the inventor and found three patents, two for a burger-cooking device (4,170,933 and 4,217,819) and a different one for an egg-cooking device (4,681,027). It looks like the earliest date on the egg cooker is 1978, though, and the hamburger cooker is 1976. I don’t know any details on the litigation, including whether he actually filed suit or just threatened to and then settled. I was two years old in 1970, and was not personally consuming Egg McMuffins at that time as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/55 "2014-08-11T20:17:28Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I love to go the McD’s at 11:00 and watch people fight over the few remaining breakfast items. Are you one of those people? ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/56 "2014-08-12T04:03:07Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I love to go the McD’s at 11:00 and watch people fight over the few remaining breakfast items. You mean like [this guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eREiQhBDIk)? ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/57 "2014-08-12T12:59:47Z")
McDonald’s is open to the idea of serving [breakfast all day](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/24/mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-later_n_4846763.html). ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/58 "2014-08-12T18:37:43Z")
> [@7e42](#): > > I mean what’s wrong with 12pm since the 11am hour is still considered morning time? And on the weekends it should be extended to 1pm since it’s a day where most people are off from work > Just something pointless I needed to share Yeah I prefer their breakfasts to drinking their hamburgers. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/59 "2014-08-12T18:55:47Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > McDonald’s is open to the idea of serving [breakfast all day](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/24/mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-later_n_4846763.html). Thanks, I read that and looked at the slideshow at the bottom of the article and now I want a bacon potato pie, too. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246/60 "2014-08-12T19:36:35Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > So it would be nice if at least some limited breakfast items were still available later in the morning. So go to McDonald’s website and submit a comment to that effect. If enough people feel the same way (and feel strongly enough to bother letting McD’s know it), then maybe they’ll accomodate you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-why-mcdonalds-breakfast-hours-always-ended-at-11am/695246.md?page=4)