Breakfast at Chipotle?

This photo was just posted to Reddit:

Could it be true? We hope so.

We'll try and find out more and update this post.

Here's what we've found out...

The Chipotle menu board in the photo above is in Terminal B of Dulles Airport (Washington, DC).

You can read all about it at Dic Tailgate - A Virginia Tech Hokies Blog.

Basically, we've been informed that vendors in the terminals at Dulles must sell some form of breakfast. In order to comply and have a location there, Chipotle decided to experiment.

And evidently during Chipotle's last investor's call the possibility was left open to bring this concept to other locations!

As you can see on the menu board, there are 3 breakfast item choices:

Breakfast Tacos - "Three soft corn or flour tortillas with scrambled eggs, meat, salsa and cheese or sour cream."

Breakfast Burrito - "Flour tortilla with crispy herbed potatoes, black or pinto beans, scrambled eggs, meat, salsa and cheese or sour cream."

Breakfast Bowl - "Crispy herbed potatoes, black or pinto beans, scrambled eggs, meat, salsa and cheese or sour cream."

The 3 meat choices are Chorizo (naturally raised spicy pork sausage), Carnitas, or Barbacoa. The Chorizo being a new choice.

Three of the salsa remain the same, but the corn salsa is replaced with a spicy onion-jalapeno salsa.

We can just hope that this breakfast menu spreads to other, non-airport Chipotle locations soon!

Jack's Chorizo Sausage Breakfast Burrito

Jack in the Box has introduced a new breakfast menu item: the Chorizo Sausage Breakfast Burrito.

It is scrambled eggs, crumbled Chorizo sausage, hash brown sticks and Cheddar cheese sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla and served with a side of salsa.

“Chorizo has been a popular breakfast choice for years, but it’s hard to find on the menus of our major competitors,” said Teka O’Rourke, director of menu marketing and promotions for Jack in the Box Inc. “With Latin flavors gaining in popularity and breakfast such an important daypart for our business, we thought this was the perfect time to add more south-of-the-border flavor to our menu. As with our full menu, our new Chorizo Sausage Breakfast Burrito is available all day, every day.”

The Chorizo Sausage Burrito is priced at $2.99.

And it would be hard to imagine a healthier way to start your day! This baby weighs in with almost 700 calories, 35 grams of fat and 138% of your recommended daily value of Cholesterol! Not to mention 3 healthy grams of Trans Fat! </end sarcasm> Here's the complete nutritional info:

Free Mocha Mondays at McDonald's McCafe

As McDonald's continues to try and take away customers from Starbucks with their McCafe concept, they've now introduced Free Mocha Mondays.

On Mondays from July 13 through August 3, 2009 (that's 7/13, 7/20, 7/27, and 8/3) between 7am and 7pm you can get a free sample (7 oz. cold or 8 oz hot) Mocha.

The McCafe Mocha is "the sweetheart of the coffe drinks:  freshly ground espresso beans coupled with steamed milk (whole or nonfat), indulgent chocolate syrup, and capped with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle."

Since we're on the topic and haven't done so yet, here's a look at the complete nutritional data for a few McCafe drinks:

As you can see the Medium Caramel Latte packs 280 calories and 8 grams of fat:

The Medium Iced Mocha has 310 calories and 13 grams of fat:

And the McCafe calorie champ (and granted, it is a large) is the large Mocha, coming in at 400 calories, 14 grams of fat (and even a half gram of Trans Fat) and 49 grams of sugar:

By way of comparison, here are some of Starbuck's highest calorie drinks.

Dunkin's Donuts Intros Breakfast Wrap

Dunkin's Donuts has expanded their breakfast food line-up with their new Wake-Up Wrap.

The Wake-Up Wrap is a five-inch round tortilla served toasted with scrambled egg (half an egg) and a slice of American cheese. It is priced at 99¢. A slice of cherrywood smoked bacon can be added for 30¢ more.

The Wake-Up Wrap is listed on Dunkin' Donuts' DDSMART menu of better-for-you foods and beverages. It has 170 calories and 10 grams of fat. Here's the complete nutritional data:

The Wake-Up Wrap coincides with Dunkin's new advertising campaign and slogan "Breakfast NOT Brokefast." The new advertising campaign "declares that in these challenging times, a fast and delicious breakfast needn't cost Americans more than pocket change."

Part of the new ad campaign will be display ads at public fountains in NY, Chicago & Boston... the displays will have legs sticking up from the water with nearby signs stating, "Please Do Not Remove Change for 99¢ Items at Dunkin' Donuts." Like this:

This photo was supplied by Dunkin' Donuts ad agency behind the campaign, Hill Holliday. It was taken today at Copley Mall in Boston.

UPDATE: A review of Dunkin' Donuts Wake-Up Wrap is already available at Grub Grade.

Dunkin' Donuts Shamrock Donut

Dunkin' Donuts has a special "Lucky Dozen Donut" coming up for you this St. Patrick's Day with green shamrocks and yellow and white sprinkles.

Maybe if you bring these to the office you won't have to wear that one article of green clothing you hate but break out every year for St. Paddy's day.

Dennys Superbowl Ad: Free Breakfast

Denny's bought their first Superbowl ad during Superbowl 43 (sorry, XLIII) yesterday.

And they didn't advertise fast food... they advertised Free Food!

That's right!

A Free Grand Slam breakfast for all tomorrow (Tuesday 2/3/09) from 6am to 2pm!

Fine print: "Dine-in only. Offer limited to Tuesday, 2/3/09, 6am to 2pm in all Denny's restaurants in the United States, Canada and Puerto while supplies last. With exception of 350 Baker Blvd., Baker, CA.

Here's the TV ad, below that is a shot of their website after the ad ran.

Panera to Celebrate Breakfast (Free Samples!)

On Wednesday, January 28, Panera Bread locations will be presenting their new "breakfast experience" to customers with free cups of their new Light and Dark Roast coffees and free samples of their grilled breakfast sandwiches and new Strawbery Granola Parfait.

Panera will also be inviting customers to donate a dollar on Wednesday to help support their Operation Dough-Nation Community Breadbox program.  In 2007 Panera donated a retail value of over $40 million worth of bread and baked goods to charitable organizations through this program.

“We are very proud of what we have achieved at breakfast at Panera,” said Ronald Shaich, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Panera Bread. “We’re looking forward to celebrating breakfast with our customers and joining them in supporting our local communities.”

Panera Bread has been working for more than two years to perfect its two unique new coffee blends — a Light Roast and a Dark Roast. The Light Roast Coffee is a new blend of some of the finest South and Central American beans, roasted lighter for a smooth, classic taste. The Dark Roast Coffee is a new blend of top Costa Rican beans, created for customers who prefer a robust, balanced, full-bodied coffee. All Panera Bread bakery-cafes will continue to carry its current Hazelnut and Decaffeinated coffee blends, as well as a selection of specialty Espresso and Espresso-based drinks expertly prepared by trained baristas.

By the way, Panera's Strawberry Granola Parfait (that they'll be giving free samples of on Wednesday) has 310 calories, 110 calories from fat, and 12 grams of fat.  The full nutritional information is below.  They use Stonyfield Farm organic low-fat vanilla yogurt.

Hardee's New Breakfast Items

Hardee's is trying to give America's traditional breakfast diners a run for their money with 2 new breakfast items: The Ham & Three Cheese Breakfast Burrito and Country Potatoes side item.

“Hardee’s has had a great deal of success in the past by bringing sit-down restaurant-quality food to fast-food consumers, most notably with our award-winning line of 100% Black Angus beef Thickburgers,” says Brad Haley, EVP of Marketing for Hardee’s. “Our famous Made from Scratch, buttermilk biscuits have always been very popular as well but we still had a few opportunities to further narrow the gap with sit-down restaurants on our breakfast menu. So, we have taken a very popular breakfast omelet and made it easy to eat on-the-go with our new Ham & Three Cheese Breakfast Burrito. And, what better complement to a great diner-style breakfast entrée than our new Country Potatoes, which were created to match the kind of potatoes served at most sit-down restaurants.”

The Ham & 3 Cheese Breakfast Burrito is 2 folded eggs with diced ham and melted cheddar, American and Swiss cheeses wrapped in a flour tortilla. It has 590 calories and 39 grams of fat. (Full nutritional info is below.) It is priced at $2.69 or as part of a small combo for $4.29.

The new Country Potatoes are "are cubed chunks of whole potatoes, with the skin left on, that are lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, like those served in most sit-down diner restaurants." A small order of the Country Potatoes will run you $1.09. The small order has 200 calories, the medium has 290, and the large has 480. Complete nutritional info for the medium is below.

Here's Hardee's new TV ad for the Burrito:

Since I mentioned Chick-fil-a in my post about helping out kids this season, I wanted to let you know that Hardee's does their part during the holidays, too. Jenna at Hardee's corporate office in St. Louis let me know that their office usually adopts a needy family in the St. Louis area via the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery and that this year she was able to solicit multiple departments and districts at Hardee's and help almost 20 families. Jenna is looking forward to dropping off all the goodies tomorrow!

Carl's Jr.'s Big Country Breakfast Burrito

Carl's Jr. has introduced their Big Country Breakfast Burrito.

Appropriate for their "Breakfast As Big As Our Burrgers" campaign, this new breakfast item offers a complete country breakfast wrapped in a burrito.

The Big Country Breakfast Burrito has eggs, crumbled bacon and sausage, diced ham, shredded cheddar cheese, has rounds and "a generous ladle of sausage gravy," in a flour tortilla.

Wow. That's a big breakfast burrito alright. She weighs in at 2/3 of a pound, has 770 calories (420 from fat), 47 grams of fat and 165% of the daily value of Cholesterol (495 mg)!  Here's the rest of the nutritional info:

The Big Country Breakfast Burrito costs $2.69, or $4.49 for a combo which includes has rounds and coffee.

This the TV ad supporting the Big Country Breakfast Burrito, it's called "Not Much"

Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Beats Starbucks

Dunkin' Donuts has been promoting their coffee as an alternative to Starbucks for some time now.

When they promoted their Latte with a TV ad, they spoofed Starbucks' odd names for small, medium and large. I enjoyed that, because when I rarely find myself in a Starbucks I can never remember what they call a medium. (It's "Grande" by the way, I looked it up!)

Now an independent study has found 58%, of 476 people tested that had a preference, prefered Dunkin' Donuts "Original Blend" coffee to Starbucks' "House Blend" coffee.

And Dunkin' isn't being shy about letting everyone know that they beat Starbucks and are going head-to-head with them to compete for their morning coffee business.

The first TV ad promoting this is below. And they've set up a new site, www.DunkinBeatStarbucks.com, to tell the world and let you spread the word, too.

About the test: The double-blind taste test involved 476 adults, each of whom had consumed regular, hot brewed coffee within the past week. For the test, A&G Research used fresh packaged coffee purchased in each brand's stores, tested each brand's most popular flavor (Dunkin' Donuts Original Blend versus Starbucks House Blend), brewed the coffee using equipment recommended by each brand and served it black.

Hardee's Pork Chop 'N' Gravy Breakfast Biscuit

Hardee's has announced the return of their Pork Chop 'N' Gravy Biscuit. And now they've added gravy.

It follows the Southern cuisine popularity Hardee's found with the success of their Chicken Fillet Biscuit.

"We first introduced a pork chop biscuit a few years ago and, even though we stopped selling it last year, we still get many requests from people asking us to bring it back," said Brad Haley, Hardee's Executive Vice President of Marketing. "And, since we had many reports from our restaurants that people were ordering a side of our famous sausage gravy to dip the biscuit in, we decided to re-test it with sausage gravy already on it and it was more popular than ever. So, I guess the old saying among our test kitchen people is true: 'The only way to make it better is to add gravy to it!'."

The Pork Chop 'N' Gravy Biscuit features a breaded, boneless pork chop and sausage gravy on a 'made from scratch' biscuit. It is priced at $2.99, or in a small combo for $4.59 (with hash rounds and a drink).

It has 680 calories (370 from fat) and 42 grams of fat. Complete nutritional information:

Fast Food Biscuits

J. Scott Wilson at WPBG-TV, the ABC affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida has written an article about and review of the various fast food biscuits.

As Wilson says in his article, "In the South, making good biscuits is almost a religion." Which means fast food biscuits have a lot to live up to in the South in order to draw customers to their breakfast menu.

Wilson rated the fast food biscuits as follows (from best to worst): Chick-fil-a (A+), Hardee's (A-), Burger King (C+), McDonald's (C), and Jack in the Box (D).

Of Chick-fil-a's biscuit (pictured above) he wrote that they are "light, fluffy, lightly buttery marvels that taste like they're produced by an army of highly experienced grandmothers living somewhere in the back of the restaurant. The crust is perfect, lightly brown and slightly crispy, and the middle simply melts in your mouth."

read it all: What Chain's Biscuits Beat Grandma's?

For what it's worth, I love biscuits, I like them more than English muffins, but I continue to order an Egg McMuffin at McDonald's solely because McDonald's biscuit just doesn't cut it. I'm glad someone else agrees.

BK Wrappers on value menu

New additions to the BK Value Menu are 2 BK Wrappers. They sell for $1.39.

The Cheesy Bacon BK Wrapper is made with hash browns, crispy bacon, egg and smoky cheese sauce.

The Spicy Chicken BK Wrapper is made with spicy, crispy chicken, three blended cheeses and a southwest sauce.

Their move to the Value Menu will be promoted with TV ads showing the King as a "reverse pickpocketer," stuffing cash back into customers' pockets. (watch it below)

Review and 'real-world' photos at The Impulsive Buy.

Fast Food Critic also has a great review with photos.

The Cheesy Bacon BK Wrapper has 390 calories, 24 grams of fat, 8 grams saturated fat, 1.5 grams trans fat, 150 mg cholesterol, 1080 mg sodium, 29 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber, 2 grams sugar, 14 grams protein.

Starbucks healthy breakfast upgrade

Starbucks has had a secret project ("Morning Source") to develop healthier breakfast items for their stores.

It will be unveiled today, and be available at your local Starbucks (if it's still open) on September 3.

"Food has been our Achilles' heel," says corporate founder and CEO Howard Schultz. He calls better-for-you food, part of Starbucks' evolving health and wellness program, a "billion-dollar" idea. "This is as big an initiative as anything we can do."

The new breakfast menu items include (fat, fiber & protein totals are in grams):

• Apple Bran Muffin: 330 Calories, 8 fat, 7 fiber, 7 protein.
• Starbucks Power Protein Plate (w/ peanut butter): 330 calories, 16 fat, 5 fat, 16 protein.
• Starbucks Power Protein Plate (w/o peanut butter): 260 calories, 9 fat, 3 fiber, 13 protein.
• Baked Berry Stella: 280 calories, 9 fat, 6 fiber, 6 protein.
• Multigrain roll: 280 calories, 6 fat, 6 fiber, 7 protein.
• Chewy Fruit & Nut Bar: 250 calories, 10 fat, 4 fiber, 4 protein.
• Perfect Oatmeal: 140 calories, 2.5 fat, 4 fiber, 5 protein.

My wife will be devastated if they eliminate their Pumpkin Loaf! (330 calories, 16 grams fat, btw)

Starbucks plans to improve their lunch and dinner menus in 2009.

from USA Today, via The Consumerist.

Carl's Monster Breakfast Sandwich

Have you got a big mouth and want a quick 730 calories and 47 grams of fat first thing in the morning?

Then Carl's Jr. has something new for you. The Monster Breakfast Sandwich. Yup, 47 grams of fat. That's the fat equivalent of 5 glazed donuts or 5 McDonald's hamburgers. Take your pick!

The Monster Breakfast Sandwich has two eggs, two strips of bacon, a sausage patty and Swiss and
American cheeses between grilled sourdough bread.

"As we looked for compelling ways to make Carl's Jr. breakfast menu
stand out from the crowd, our consumer research revealed that many
people felt that typical fast-food breakfast items really didn't fill
them up, so much so that they often ordered two sandwiches at a time to
get enough food," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of
marketing for Carl's Jr.

Thanks for thinking of us Brad! But we would have to eat four, yes 4, Egg McMuffins to get the amount of fat your offering us in your new breakfast sandwich!

Don't get me wrong, it's not Carl's Jr.'s fault...artery clogging menu items like this ARE what American's want!

The Monster Breakfast Sandwich has:

• 730 calories
• 420 calories from fat
• 47 grams of fat
• 17 grams saturated fat
• 530 mg cholesterol
• 1210 mg sodium
• 39 g carbs
• 2 grams fiber
• 5 grams sugars
• 37 grams protein.

If you feel you've spent enough time in this crazy world (with these crazy, gluttonous sandwiches) and want to hasten your departure you can get a coupon for $1 off the Monster Breakfast Sandwich (thru 9/30/08).

The Monster Breakfast Sandwich is $2.89 a la carte or $4.49 as part of a combo.

Giant Egg Signals Breakfast at McDonald's

McDonald's and their ad agency Leo Burnett have come up with another creative way to advertise and in this case announce when breakfast is being served. (Remember McDonald's sundial billboard and their living salad billboard?) This giant 3D robot egg cracks open from 6am to 10:30am...the hours that McDonald's is serving breakfast.

from a+.29:

"Leo Burnett Chicago created this awesome beyond words Giant Egg billboard for McDonald’s. It was installed last week across from Wrigley field in Chicago. The giant egg billboard starts cracking and opening up in the wee hours of morning. By breakfast time, the egg has already hatched, and you can see “Fresh Eggs Daily” written on the egg’s yolk. The egg stays open from 6:00AM till 10:30AM, to indicate the availability of fresh eggs during that time. Once the breakfast time is finished, the egg billboard shuts and stays closed as a whole egg till the next morning. The mechanical engineering of the billboard was handled by Prop Art Studio."

see more photos of the egg at A+.29

via psfk and DVICE

DIY: Custom Brunch at McDonald's

[Warning! The language in this video is NSFW. We try to keep things family friendly here at Fast Food News, but this video drops the F-bomb quite a few times.]

The guys over at Internet Celebrities have produced a video demonstrating their solution to McDonald's policy of serving breakfast only before 11am and lunch only after 11am (these times may vary by location.) After expressing their displeasure over this policy, they create their own McDonald's "Brunch" by ordering just before and just after 11am.

"You have just traveled to the future. It is a place where eggs come together with premium LUNCH chicken meat as well as Swiss cheese, Canadian bacon, French fries and a marvel of American engineering… Syrup-injected bread. This my friends is how you travel on an international spaceship. Don’t forget to add the premium honey mustard sauce to keep all the parts well lubricated and don’t you dare let anyone ever tell you how to eat your food."

Internet Celebrities via BoingBoing

Denny's "B-FST 2GO" fast food breakfast

Denny's has come up with something that really looks like it can compete with other fast food breakfasts. They call it "B-FST 2GO"and the bonus feature is the "portability factor." Denny's proprietary container (or Dome) keeps the breakfast items separate and warm for up to 30 minutes. So if you like Denny's breakfasts better than fast food drive-thru breakfasts in a clamshell container or a soggy wrapper, this just might be the b-fst ticket for you.

"The dome is designed to carry a full breakfast....pancakes, sunny-side up eggs, hash browns, or any other Denny's meal, in one container while maintaining overall quality. The base of the Dome is divided into a ventilated area to keep crispy foods like hash browns, french fries and bacon crisp, and a closed area to keep moist foods like eggs and sausage, moist. On top of the base, an insert plate holds French toast or pancakes in an ideal environment, while sealing in the foods below it. Topping it off, a clear lid allows customers to see their order at a glance."

'With Denny's B-FST 2GO in our proprietary Dome, consumers don't have to settle for fast food in clamshells or wrappers anymore,' says Mark Chmiel, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer. 'We know that Americans love breakfast....all day long.... but it has not been an easy meal to carry out. Who wants cold eggs, a soggy biscuit in a wrapper or wilted pancakes from fast-food restaurants? We know that the demand for our signature real fresh breakfast is there. The challenge has been perfecting the portability factor that our competitors haven't been able to do."

Carl's Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito

Carl's Jr. has added a staple Mexican dish to their breakfast line up and wrapped it in a burrito.

There new Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito has features refried beans, scrambled eggs, shredded jack and cheddar cheeses, and Ranchero sauce, topped with corn tortilla strips, and wrapped in a warm flour tortilla.

"While originally starting out as a traditional Mexican breakfast, Huevos Rancheros has become a menu favorite at diners and sit-down eateries throughout the western states," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Carl's Jr. "However, eggs, beans, melted cheese and Ranchero sauce don't make for a very portable breakfast. At Carl's Jr., we rolled it all up in a flour tortilla so it can be eaten as a burrito when you're on the go."

Carl's Jr.'s Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito has 660 calories, 34 grams of fat, 10 grams saturated fat, 490 mg cholesterol, 1550 mg sodium, 60 grams carbohydrates, 30 grams protein.

The Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito is priced at $2.39 or $3.89 as part of a breakfast combo meal, but you can save a dollar with this coupon.

Hardee's Country Breakfast Buritto

We were 'impressed' by the calories in Hardee's Steak 'N' Egg Burrito (560 calories) and Loaded Breakfast Burrito (780 calories)... now we're just overwhelmed!

Hardee's new Country Breakfast Burrito has a heart-stopping 902 calories and 60 grams of fat!

Hardee's is proud of this gut-busting breakfast and doesn't make any excuses for it's colossal calorie count. CNN quotes Hardee's marketing chief Brad Haley, ""We don't try to hide what these are," he said. "When consumers go to other fast-food places they feel like they've got to buy two of their breakfast sandwiches or burritos to fill up. This is really designed to fill you up."

Hardee's Country Breakfast Burrito has 902 calories, 60 grams of fat, 540 calories from fat, 23 grams saturated fat, 51 grams carbs, 500 mg cholesterol, 1970 mg sodium, 42 grams protein and is priced at $2.69.

from Epicurious: "That's more than half the daily recommended caloric intake for many Americans, and more fat than most of us need to eat every three days."

Hat tips: Slashfood, Epicurious, & CNN

Taco Bell test markets breakfast menu

Thanks to a tip from Nancy's Fast Food Maven blog on Myspace, I've been reading about Taco Bell's test-marketing of a breakfast menu.

Taco Bells in the Toledo, Fresno, Tucson and Omaha markets started serving breakfast Saturday.

There are eight items on Taco Bell's new breakfast menu including a guacamole bacon grilled burrito, a sausage and bacon grilled burrito, a bacon and egg taco, Cinnamon Toastadas, and Bell breakfast potatoes.

"You can get a bagel or croissant and egg sandwich anywhere - our menu is unique and differentiated," said Toledo franchisee Don Unruh. "We got Grilled Stuft Burritos, breakfast Crunchwraps and Cinnamon Toastadas."

The menu will be offered from 6 AM to 10:30 AM.

from: Fast Food Maven, BG News, and KETV.

Carl's Breakfast Burger

Somehow I hadn't noticed this Carl's Jr. breakfast item before... the Breakfast Burger. With a mere 830 calories and 47 grams of fat you can get your morning's supply of beef, egg, bacon, cheese, potato and bread.

By comparison, Carl's 'Big Burger' has 520 calories and 18 grams of fat.

The Breakfast Burger is "a charbroiled all-beef patty, fried egg, crisp bacon, american cheese, hash brown nuggets and ketchup on a sesame seed bun."

It has 830 calories, 65g carbs, 37g protein, 47g fat, 15g saturated fat, 275mg cholesterol, 1580mg sodium.

BK Breakfast value meal

Burger King will roll-out the BK Breakfast Value Menu on Feb. 19. The value menu will include two new menu items, the Hamlette sandwich and Cheesy Tots.

The value breakfast menu will include 10 offerings, starting at $1 each. Offerings include: Cheesy Tots; three-piece French Toast Sticks; Sausage Biscuit; small Hash Browns; Cini-minis; small BK Joe coffee in regular, decaf and turbo-strength; white or chocolate 10-ounce milk; 16-ounce soft drink; orange juice; and the Hamlette.

The new Hamlette sandwich has thinly sliced ham, melted American cheese and egg, topped with honey butter and served on a sesame seed bun. Another breakfast addition is Cheesy Tots, bite-size portions of melted mozzarella and cheddar cheeses inside a crispy potato crust. Cheesy Tots will be available all day in six-, nine- and 12-piece portions.

BK fans might also want to check out the BK Super Bowl bobble heads and the bobble head game. 8 different BK Superbowl bobbleheads are available in BK Kid's Meals.

Starbucks edges closer to fast food

Starbucks has announced that it will start selling warm food at 200 NY locations.

"We are responding to our customers' requests to be able to purchase a warm breakfast sandwich or pastry along with their Starbucks beverage, and we are confident that these new offerings will enhance their Starbucks experience," said Gretchen Bartkus, Starbucks regional food manager.

Starbucks expanded menu includes breakfast egg and meat sandwiches served on English muffins and available all day, as well as lunch sandwiches that can be served warm or cold -- including a tomato, mozzarella and basil sandwich and a chicken-cheddar club.

Starbucks has been expanding their breakfast menu for awhile, but this development certainly moves them even closer to becoming a fast food restaurant. And the fast food players have been improving their coffee.

Does this mean the coffee house and the fast food joint will gradually morph into some new hybrid?

Or does it just mean that Starbucks is turning into a fast food joint?

Hardee's new, huge breakfast buritto

Hardee's has re-introduced their 780 calorie Loaded Breakfast Burrito. It has 51 grams of fat. If that doesn't fill you up until lunch, nothing will!

And for Hardee's size is all that matters!

Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing for Hardee’s, says the burrito's popularity "stems from its sheer size, since most fast-food breakfast burritos are small, skinny things that don’t represent much of a meal. The Loaded Breakfast Burrito is a delicious, satisfyingly big burrito that truly is ‘loaded’ with eggs, ham, sausage, bacon, cheese, has rounds and salsa.”

The Loaded Breakfast Burrito sells for $2.49.

This new burrito is different from Hardee's 550 calorie Steak 'N' Egg Burrito that was introduced earlier this year.

The Loaded Breakfast Burrito is loaded with 780 calories, 459 calories from fat, 51 g fat, 20 g saturated fat, 38g carbohydrates, 40 g protein, 495 mg cholesterol, and 1620 mg sodium.

McBreakfast all day?

Jim Skinner, Chief Executive Officer of McDonald's Corp., has announced the possibility of migrating the current breakfast menu into an all day item. The chain's breakfast menu has apparently been instrumental in its recent economic turnaround.

According to Skinner, items such as its McGriddle sandwiches and a revised blend of coffee have boosted sales, and the company is looking to expand upon that success. The CEO notes that some changes to the franchise would be necessary, however.

It would require the introduction of a new, more flexible operating platform, one which is being prepared for the company. "It's not compatible with our current operating system. But with this [new] system, that could be possible," said Skinner.

via Reuters

Dunkin D's Sausage Omelet

Dunkin' Donuts has been expanding their breakfast menu for sometime. They've added an array of breakfast menu items that go beyond donuts, and they've expanded their coffee offerings to better compete with Starbucks and the like.

The most recent example of Dunkin' Donuts' breakfast menu improvements is the Sausage Supreme Omelet. It is eggs scrambles with vegetables, a sausage patty and American cheese on a baked bagel.

Carl's Jr. intros new breakfast sandwich

Carl's Jr. has expanded their breakfast menu with the new Smoked Sausage Breakfast Sandwich.

The sandwich is "a split Hillshire Farm smoked sausage link, a warm, folded egg and a melting slice of American cheese served on a flaky croissant."

"Developing the breakfast menu at Carl's Jr. has been a key emphasis for us over the past few years – and it shows. We've now got an impressive line-up of early-morning offerings and we don't even carry English muffins," said Brad Haley, executive vice president of marketing. "The Smoked Sausage Breakfast Sandwich, along with our line of big, delicious burritos, helps give Carl's Jr. the kind of great-tasting breakfast menu you can't get anywhere else."

The Smoked Sausage Breakfast Sandwich has 610 calories, 45 grams of fat, 18 grams of saturated fat, 29 grams carbs, 295 mg cholesterol, 1330 mg sodium and 23 grams of protein.

Jack adds new breakfast biscuits

Jack in the Box has added two new Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwiches to their breakfast menu: the Bacon, Egg and Cheese and the Sausage, Egg and Cheese.

They both feature an egg, American cheese and a choice of either bacon or sausage tucked into a buttermilk biscuit. Guests can also order Buttermilk Biscuits á la carte with a side of butter and jam.

“With new players entering the breakfast market and long-time competitors building up their breakfast menus, it’s important that we continue to offer high-quality products that appeal to a variety of consumers,” said Teka O’Rourke, director of menu marketing and promotions for Jack in the Box. “Our Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwiches offer something for everyone – they’re loaded with hearty ingredients, have great flavor and are easy to eat while sitting in rush hour traffic.”

Jack in the Box claims to be "the first fast-food chain to offer a breakfast sandwich way back in 1969."

Jack in the Box has also added Minute Maid Orange Juice to its breakfast menu. And unlike most other fast food restaurants, Jack offers their breakfast menu all day long, not just in the morning.

Unfortunately, both breakfast biscuit sandwiches are loaded with trans fat. The Sausage version has significantly more calories and fat; 310 more calories and 30 more grams of fat.

The Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit has 430 calories, 220 calories from fat, 25 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 5 g trans fat, 220 mg cholesterol, 1100 mg sodium, 34 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugars, 17 g protein. The Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit has 740 calories, 490 calories from fat, 55 g fat, 17 g saturated fat, 6 g trans fat, 280 mg cholesterol, 1430 mg sodium, 35 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 3 g sugars, 27 g protein.

Jack’s new Buttermilk Biscuit sandwiches are $1.99 and Minute Maid Orange Juice is $1.49.

Del Taco's Maple Sausage Roll Up

Del Taco has introduced a new breakfast menu item.

The Maple Sausage Roll Up is maple flavored sausage, hand rolled in a soft flour tortilla and then dipped in a luscious French Toast batter.

I have to say when I first saw a photo of these roll ups on Del Taco's web site, I was frightened and confused. They didn't look like food; at least not in the traditional sense. But without Del Taco's in Texas, I have no way to find out what they're really like... maybe they're great! (I doubt it though!)

All those seemingly unrelated layers (maple sausage, tortilla & french toast) remind me of the Taco created in SNL's Taco Town skit. But the Maple Sausage Roll Up is real.

Mornings at Del Taco also include a variety of breakfast burritos and a bacon and egg quesadilla.

By the way, breakfast is served at Del Taco until 11 AM.

Spicy new menu items from Sonic

Sonic Drive-In has added 3 new spicy menu items for the hottest month of the year.

The new side item (pictured) is the Crispy Jalapeno Strips. Sonic didn't give a detailed description in their press release, so we're left to assume that they're deep fried strips of Jalapeno peppers...makes sense. They come with a dipping sauce of your choice.

The Crispy Jalapeno Strips are an essential part of the other 2 new items, because they, along with a new chipotle sauce, are being added to a couple Sonic standards.

The new burger is the Spicy SuperSonic Burger: two beef patties, two slices of pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, some of the aforementioned crispy jalapeno strips and chipotle sauce.

Finally, the new spicy breakfast offering is the Southwest Breakfast Burrito. You guessed it, it's the regular breakfast burrito with Crispy Jalapeno Strips and chipotle sauce added!

Coffee chains expand breakfast menus

Coffee house chains (Starbucks of course, but other ones, too!) continue to expand their food menus especially for breakfast.

For breakfast you can now skip the Egg McMuffin and $1.50 cup of coffee at McDonald's and opt for a $7 cup of coffee and Starbucks 500 calorie ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich with 24 grams of fat, or the Coffee Beanery's 670 calorie smoked ham and egg breakfast sandwich with 31 grams of fat. By the way, the Egg McMuffin has 300 calories and 12 grams of fat.

Despite the additional cost (and sometimes calories) these coffee house breakfast items are bound to cut into fast foods' breakfast business, because I guarantee you that there are folks that have hit McD's for an Egg McMuffin and then Starbucks for their Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccino Blended Coffee. And despite the fast food joints upgrading their coffee, Starbucks will always win the coffee war, while people will happily trade their Egg McMuffin for something even bigger at their coffee place of choice.

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And since I've mentioned Starbucks, I'll include this just for the heck of it, a press release issued by Starbucks on the 21st of this month:

You may have seen a rumor or web posting about Howard Schultz, Starbucks and the Israeli army. The rumor and web posting are factually inaccurate. Neither Chairman Howard Schultz nor Starbucks fund or support the Israeli Army. Starbucks is a non-political organization and does not support individual political causes.

McMuffin inventor honored

McDonald's has honored the Egg McMuffin's inventor with their Lifetime Achievement award.

Herb Peterson invented the McMuffin when he was a McDonald's franchise owner in 1971 when he decided his restaurant was missing out on breakfast business by not opening until 11 AM (like all McDonald's at the time).

Peterson's personal favorite breakfast, Eggs Benedict, served as his inspiration. A local blacksmith forged the metal rings to fry the right sized eggs for the hand-held sandwich.

more: Chicago Sun-Times

CA Pizza Kitchen in Chicago with breakfast

California Pizza Kitchen has opened their first CPK/ASAP location in Chicago.

California Pizza Kitchen has 195 total restaurants; 26 are of the CPK/ASAP variety that are specifically for 'on-the-go' customers.

The Chicago opening coincides with CPK/ASAP's new breakfast menu which offers a "selection of hearth-baked breakfast pizzas including: Warm Apple Pie Pizza; Florentine Pizza; and Applewood Smoked Bacon and Italian Sausage Pizza topped with Mozzarella and Cheddar Cheeses." Omelets, bagels, granola, juice, Tazo teas and specialty coffees are also available.

Jack adds healthy summer items

Jack in the Box has added a fruit cup and bottled water to their menu this summer.

The fruit cup is a 7-ounce serving of cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple and red grapes served in a sealed cup.

“When the summer heat kicks in, consumers crave something that tastes light and refreshing,” said Teka O’Rourke, director of menu marketing and promotions for Jack in the Box.

“Our Fresh Fruit Cup is cool and crisp and makes a great side for a Breakfast Jack in the morning or a ciabatta burger at lunch or dinner.”

Jack has also begun selling Dannon bottled water.

The 'Fresh Fruit Cup' is priced at $2.29 and the Dannon bottled water is $1.29.

New BK breakfast items

Burger King has added 2 new items to their breakfast line-up: the French Toast Sandwich and Cheesy Tots.

The French Toast Sandwich features two slices of cinnamon and maple-flavored French toast bread, one folded omelet egg, American cheese and a choice of thinly sliced ham, sausage or bacon. Price: $2.19.

New bite-size "Cheesy Tots" feature a crispy outside and smooth, melted mozzarella and cheddar cheeses with potato bits inside. Cheesy Tots can be added to a value meal for 50 cents, or purchased individually for between $1.29 and $1.79.

No nutrition information has yet been released for these items.

Breakfast cereal as fast food

Our most basic comfort food is now becoming the latest fast food trend: breakfast cereal.

The 'cereal as fast food' concept started three years ago on the campus of Arizona State with the Cereality Cereal Bar and cafe.

The idea is simple: offer a wide variety of breakfast cereals, toppings, and milk in a to-go container. It's simply an astute commercialization of what you can see during any major city's morning commute; people eating their breakfast cereal out of a tupperware-type container while they sit in traffic or on public transport.

Cereality, started at ASU, now has 3 locations. They offer 33 cereals and 34 toppings served in a "milk-tight container" that looks like a Chinese take-out carton. It's served by cereologists in pajamas. Cartoons, of course, are shown on flat-screens and milk is dispensed from the Moo Machine.

A second chain based in Ohio, Cerealicious Cafes, will open locations in Columbus and Cleveland next month.

New products from McDonald's

McDonald's will begin selling a premium spicy-chicken sandwich next month and an Asian salad in May hoping to attract consumers seeking healthier fast food. They will also start selling a "more robust" coffee in March; the coffee will be served with the popular raised lids that open and close like those used by Starbucks. Also in development at McDonald's is a "drinkable breakfast" like enriched yogurt.

New Steak 'N' Egg burrito at Hardee's

Hardee's introduced a new item to their breakfast menu yesterday, the Steak 'N' Egg Burrito. They describe it as including "strips of real grilled steak, plus a blend of Swiss and cheddar cheeses, with two eggs, all wrapped in a large, warm flour tortilla." It comes with salsa.

My question, regarding their description, is about "real grilled steak." What other kind of "grilled steak" is there? Wait, stop, don't answer that, I don't want to know.

Hardee's says this burrito represents their "continuing emphasis on food quality, by featuring steak as an ingredient." Want quality? Put some "real grilled steak" in your food!

The Steak 'N' Egg Burrito has 550 calories, 28 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 38 grams of carbohydrates, 32 grams of protein, 455 mg of cholesterol and 1330 mg of sodium.

Pizza for breakfast

I've been surprised in the past with what the fast food chefs could come up with to provide their chain with a breakfast menu, and after Subway and Chick-fil-a pulled it off I knew anything was possible.

Now it's the pizza guys' turn. Papa Johns and Happy Joe's have both tested 'speciality' breakfast items. Happy Joe's is testing their Omelet Pizza in four sizes. Papa John's has tested pizza omelets and pastry pies (shown), with the pastry pies being more popular.

Interestingly, Domino's tried the breakfast food delivery thing 20 years ago and decided the world wasn't ready (or awake) yet. But rest assured if America starts answering their doors in their bathrobes at 6am to welcome a pizza omelet into their home, Domino's will be back in the game.

[more: USA Today & Courier-Journal]

Healthy food fails to catch on

An article in today's Washington Post further explores the trend among many restaurants to eliminate the healthy items they added a few years ago and replace them with high-calorie, high-fat items. We've already noticed this trend in many fast food restaurants. "One of Burger King's best product launches recently was its widely derided but oft-ordered Enormous Omelet breakfast sandwich." McDonald's seems to be sticking to their guns with healthy menu items (probably to avoid potential 'fast food' lawsuits), but that doesn't mean anyone orders them!

McDonald's has won much praise for adding healthful menu items, but only a tiny fraction of customers order them. The fast-food giant promotes the fact that it has sold 400 million premium salads since they were introduced more than two years ago, but that number is dwarfed by the chain's total customer count. McDonald's serves 23 million people a day in the United States alone, or roughly 16.8 billion people in the past two years — meaning just 2.4 percent of customers have ordered salads since they were added to the menu."The most popular item on our menu continues to be the double cheeseburger, hands down," said company spokesman Bill Whitman.

Selling healthy vs. selling what people want

Burger King and McDonald's seem to have completely different opinions on the future of the fast food industry. While McDonald's is making a big show of caring about your health, Burger King is creating increasingly fatty menu items because their research shows that's what customers want. Burger King's breakfast business is up 20% since their introduction of the "Enormous Omelet Sandwich" with 46 grams of fat. Meanwhile McDonald's is claiming to be merica's No. 1 distributor of apples, thanks to its new Apple Dippers and a new Fruit & Walnut salad -- a bowl of apples, grapes and yogurt advertised in Vogue magazine with illustrations of lithe young women. Burger King discovered that although fast-food fans made up only 18 per cent of the population, they accounted for almost half of the company's profits. So Burger King is going to cater to these customers and not fear tobacco-style litigation against fast food outlets. But McDonald's isn't taking any chances.

Here's two good articles on the marketing perspectives of McDonald's and Burger King.

Chick-fil-a introduces gourmet coffee

Chick-fil-a is following its breakfast menu expansion of earlier in the year with the introduction of the Cafe Blends Coffee line; fast food's first premium coffee program to offer three blends of coffee. Cafe Blends Coffee is available in three specialty blends, Coffeehouse Light, Bistro Dark and Expressly Decaf. Chick-fil-a is also introducing the Cinnamon Cluster, a fresh-baked mini swirl, filled with sweet cinnamon, cream butter and whole eggs, with creamy vanilla icing.

Jack's new breakfast burrio

Jack in the Box’s new Meaty Breakfast Burrito features a warm flour tortilla filled with ham, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, shredded cheddar and pepperjack cheeses and served with a side of fire-roasted salsa. It supplies 480 calories and 29 grams of fat for $1.99.

BK's new breakfast sandwich is a monster

Here's the Enormous Omelet Sandwich blueprint: one sausage patty, two scrambled eggs, two slices of American cheese and three strips of bacon on a fluffy sesame-seed submarine roll.

Total calories: 730. Fat grams: 47. Dietary fiber: 2 grams. Carbs: 43 grams.