People always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But sometimes, you crave breakfast at lunchtime, dinnertime, or even late at night.
On one of those days, a fast-food restaurant that serves all-day breakfast is a true blessing!
No matter what time of day it is, if you’re hungry for breakfast, we’ve got you covered!
We’ve compiled a list of the best fast-food restaurants that serve breakfast all day.
Even after the morning rush has ended, these restaurants still offer their full breakfast menu, so you can enjoy your favorite breakfast foods any time of the day.
11. White Castle
White Castle is a fast-food chain most well-known for popularizing the hamburger slider.
However, White Castle also has an extensive breakfast menu available all day.
The first White Castle was opened by Billy Ingram in 1921. At the time, Ingram sold his hamburger sliders for only five cents apiece.
In the century since White Castle first opened, it has expanded to include nearly 400 locations in 14 states.
White Castle’s breakfast menu is full of variations on hamburger sliders, including the aptly named Breakfast Slider, the Breakfast Toast Sandwich, and the Chicken & Waffles Slider.
One of the most popular items on the White Castle breakfast menu is the Belgian Waffle Slider, made with a freshly cracked egg, bacon, or sausage, and your choice of cheese, sandwiched between two mini Belgian waffles.
Many of the sliders on the White Castle breakfast menu are also available as combos, where you can combine them with a side of Hash Brown Nibblers and a small coffee.
10. Caribou Coffee
Caribou Coffee is a coffeehouse chain well-known for its handcrafted beverages and all-day breakfast menu.
The Caribou Coffee breakfast menu is full of amazing breakfast sandwiches, which are available to order all day long.
Caribou Coffee’s breakfast sandwiches cater to various tastes and dietary needs.
Vegans might want to try the Just Egg Roasted Tomato & Pesto Flatbread, and vegetarians will enjoy the Beyond Meat Sausage, Egg, & Mozzarella.
In addition, gluten-free guests will love the Gluten-Free Bacon & Gouda Souffle or the Gluten-Free Spinach, Artichoke, Egg, & Provolone.
Caribou Coffee also offers more classic breakfast sandwiches, like the Sausage, Egg, & Cheddar and the Ham, Egg, & Swiss Croissant.
Lastly, Caribou Coffee sells a variety of delicious baked goods, including five different kinds of bagels, donuts, cake pops, muffins, coffee cakes, and scones.
9. Jack in the Box
Jack in the Box has one of the most underrated breakfast menus of any fast-food restaurant.
Every one of their mouth-watering breakfast options is worth your time, and thankfully that time can be any part of the day!
The Jumbo Breakfast Platter is a diner-worthy pile of mini pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns.
And the Loaded Breakfast Sandwich is everything you’d want to be piled high on your breakfast plate, only stuffed between two perfectly toasted slices of sourdough bread.
My personal favorite is the Sausage Croissant. The croissant is soft and buttery, while the American cheese is lightly melted over an egg and sausage patty.
8. Sonic
Sonic Drive-In might be known for its nostalgic burgers and shakes, but they’re smart enough to offer breakfast all day, too.
Breakfast lovers with a sweet tooth will love Sonic’s Cinnabon Cinnasnacks, pastries stuffed with a warm cinnamon filling and served with cream cheese frosting for dipping.
Or the French Toast Sticks, which are four thick strips of French Toast served like fries with syrup for dipping.
But the real breakfast showstopper at Sonic is its massive breakfast burritos. Chose between a bacon or sausage breakfast burrito with cheese and eggs, or if you can’t decide, get both with the Ultimate Meat & Cheese option!
7. Bojangles
Bojangles is renowned for its crispy chicken and flakey biscuits, but even these poultry purveyors recognize the importance of an all-day breakfast menu!
It just so happens that biscuits are a perfect complement to any breakfast sandwich, so Bojangles is tailor-made for the most important meal of the day.
Bojangles’ sausage or bacon biscuit sandwiches come with fluffy eggs and melty American cheese along with Bo-Tato Rounds, the restaurant’s take on hashbrowns.
In my opinion, the best way to experience Bojangles’ buttermilk biscuits is by smothering them in gravy.
The Southern Gravy Biscuit Combo is diner-style biscuits and gravy in fast-food form, with country-style sausage gravy covering Bojangles’ classic biscuits.
6. Dunkin’
Dunkin’ is well-known for its donuts, and there isn’t anything like a dozen munchkins or Old Fashioned donuts to spice up a work meeting or late-night cram session.
But often overlooked are the tasty breakfast sandwich options that Dunkin offers all day.
Dunkin’ offers the traditional breakfast sandwich fare with sausage or bacon options on croissants, bagels, or English muffins.
These are mouth-watering options, but in my opinion, the best Dunkin’ breakfasts are the ones with slightly more unique bread options.
The Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich and the Wake-Up Wrap are twists on classic breakfasts.
For a heavier option, the toasted sourdough sandwich with eggs, bacon, and white cheddar will fill you up. For lighter fare, the egg and cheese wrap with your choice of protein is perfect on the go.
5. Denny’s
Denny’s is one of the most recognizable American diners in the world.
Opening as a donut shop in 1953, the brand has grown to over 1,700 locations worldwide. A big reason for this success is their classic, all-day breakfast menu.
Denny’s offers tons of options for breakfast, including their take on biscuits and gravy using fried chicken and the classic eggs benedict.
If you’ve never been to Denny’s, I recommend the crowd-pleasing Moons Over My Hammy.
This simple breakfast sandwich classic is Swiss and American cheese melted over scrambled eggs and ham and stuffed between grilled sourdough.
4. Panera
Panera makes our list even though their breakfast menu isn’t available after 10:30 am, but their delicious bakery items are available all day.
If you do make it in early, be sure to grab their sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich on a pillowy-soft brioche bun.
For those of us that don’t prescribe to the traditional 9 to 5 parameters of mealtime, the sweet and savory options from Panera’s bakery will more than suffice for our after-hours breakfasts.
In my opinion, blueberries are the king of breakfast sweets. Panera’s blueberry scones, muffins, and bagels are all perfect complements to a cup of coffee or afternoon study session.
3. Starbucks
Starbucks is one of the biggest purveyors of caffeine in the world.
Whether you like your coffee covered in whipped cream or black as night, this Seattle chain is familiar to you.
Part and parcel of the coffee experience is breakfast at large. Starbucks’ breakfast menu is full of mouthwatering sandwiches and grab-and-go options that complement your morning, afternoon, or late-night coffee run.
The Sous Vide Egg Bites are quick and delicious bites of protein that come in kale & mushroom, bacon & gruyere, or egg white & roasted red pepper.
However, the menu standout is the Spinach, Feta & Egg White Wrap, a delightfully flavorful left turn from traditional meat and cheddar breakfast options.
2. Waffle House
Waffle House is another of the biggest breakfast restaurant chains in the US, which is especially popular in the American South.
Waffle House’s breakfast menu is available all day. In addition, almost all Waffle Houses are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year!
The first Waffle House was opened in 1955 in Avondale Estates, Georgia, by Joe Rogers, Sr., and Tom Forkner.
Currently, there are over 2,500 Waffle House locations in 25 states, many of which are along major highways.
This means Waffle House is the perfect place to stop and enjoy breakfast on a road trip!
Of course, waffles are the signature item on Waffle House’s breakfast menu.
Waffle House sells four different kinds of waffles: classic, pecan, chocolate chip, and peanut butter chip.
Another extremely popular menu item at Waffle House is hash browns.
Waffle House has its own lingo to describe all the ways that you can order hash browns, including:
- Smothered (with onions)
- Covered (with cheese)
- Chunked (with ham)
- Diced (with grilled tomatoes)
- Peppered (with jalapenos)
- Capped (with mushrooms)
- Topped (with chili)
- Country (with sausage gravy)
1. IHOP
IHOP, which stands for “International House of Pancakes,” is another one of the most popular breakfast restaurant chains in the US, specializing in pancakes.
IHOP’s breakfast menu is available all day. Moreover, many IHOPs are open late or even 24 hours.
The first IHOP was opened by Al Lapin, Jerry Lapin, Al Kallis, and Trudy Kallis in Toluca Lake, California, in 1958.
Nowadays, there are over 1,600 IHOP locations in the US, with at least one in every state.
The signature item on the IHOP breakfast menu is pancakes. IHOP sells over a dozen flavors of pancakes and crepes, from classic buttermilk to double blueberry to chocolate chip.
IHOP also sells breakfast combos, which allow you to combine your favorite breakfast foods on one big platter.
One of the most popular breakfast combos is the Breakfast Sampler.
It comes with two eggs, two strips of hickory smoked bacon, two pork sausage links, two thick-cut pieces of ham, hash browns, and two buttermilk pancakes.
Final Thoughts
I searched far and wide for fast-food breakfast menus that stretch into the evening. It’s a tough job, but if someone has to eat bacon and egg sandwiches for dinner, so be it. I’ll gladly eat breakfast all day.
There’s no need to set your alarm and live by the arbitrary constraints of only eating breakfast before 11 AM.
You can rest easy knowing that the fast-food restaurants in this article offer delicious pastries, pancakes, and sausage links for those of us that realize the most important meal of the day can be at any time of the day.
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