McDonald’s to test its expanded all-day breakfast with McGriddle

Basking in the fanfare over its all-day breakfast menu, McDonald’s is pushing its operational limits by testing the addition of another morning favorite to the lineup: the McGriddle.

The world’s biggest burger chain plans to start offering an expanded allday breakfast menu that adds McGriddle and biscuit sandwiches in 72 restaurants i n Tulsa, Okla- homa starting Feb. 1. The test comes after customers complained about the absence of the McGriddle when McDonald’s launched a limited all-day breakfast menu in October.

McDonald’s expects the test to last for two to three months before deciding how to proceed.

McDonald’s is r iding high from its biggest quarterly U.S. sales jump in nearly four years. The Oak Brook, Illinois company said this week that sales rose 5.7 percent in the last three months of year, boosted by all-day breakfast menu and unseasonably warm weather.

Now, McDonald’s restaurants in Tulsa will try offering the more expansive breakfast menu around the clock. Currently, restaurants offer breakfast sandwiches made with either biscuits or English muffins, depending on regional preferences. About 80 percent offer “McMuffin” sandwiches, with some areas in the South offering biscuits.

The addition of McGrid- dles and biscuits in the afternoon could prove to be too much of a strain, especially at a time when McDonald’s has said it’s trying to simplify operations to improve order accuracy and speed.

The syrupy pancake buns for McGriddles and biscuits would need to be warmed up in ovens, which are also used to heat up apple pies, cookies and mozzarella sticks during lunch hours, said LeAnn Richards, a McDonald’s franchisee who led a task force on all-day breakfast.