If you love McDonald’s breakfast, I want you to know that I’m right there with you.
I mean, Sausage Egg McMuffins with hash browns! Their hotcakes platter is an old favorite, and the McGriddles were a great update, too.
But let’s face it, McDonald’s is under tremendous pressure.
Seemingly everyone has a breakfast menu these days, and, honestly…
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The competition is quite fierce.
(And it doesn’t help that McDonald’s has discontinued plenty of crowd favorite dishes over the years.)
Are these competitors better?
Or does McDonald’s still hold the breakfast crown?
I’ll let you decide, starting with a huge competitor…
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Where they’re located: Chick-fil-A is in 48 states (missing just Alaska and Vermont) and has over 3,000 locations.
All about the breakfast: Fried Chicken + Biscuit + Hashbrowns = perfection. If you’ve got a few extra minutes, grab the Hash Brown Scramble Bowl instead. (The burrito’s good too.) Grab a hot coffee or Chick-fil-A lemonade with it, and you’re set.
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Where they’re located: Taco Bell is in every state, with over 8,000 locations.
All about the breakfast: It’s hard to believe Taco Bell only entered the breakfast race in 2014. It’s done such an amazing job coming after McDonald’s. One example: The Sausage Breakfast Crunchwrap continues to be one of the absolutely best breakfast foods ever. It’s thick, it’s delicious, and it’s a great boost of energy for the rest of the day. (Also, it’s less than $5.) Or if you’ve got a sweet tooth, go for the Cinnabon Delights.
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Where they’re located: Jack in the Box is mostly on the West Coast, but with over 2,000 locations, you know they’re in a few other places too – they’re actually as far east as North and South Carolina!
All about the breakfast: The meat lover burrito combo is absolutely the best breakfast burrito I’ve ever had from a chain restaurant. Grab the French toast sticks if you want a nostalgic throwback.
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Where they’re located: 47 states – they’re everywhere aside from Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
All about the breakfast: I know everyone knows Sonic for their cherry limeades and tater tots, but their breakfast is actually quite good as well. Get the bacon or sausage breakfast toaster, or one of their burritos for a quick and filling breakfast on the go. Get the SuperSONIC breakfast burrito if you’re really hungry.
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Where they’re located: 17 states with about 800 locations, mostly centered in the American South. (Headquarters is in North Carolina.)
All about the breakfast: Bojangles biscuits got me through a really tough internship when I was in college, and ever since then I’ve turned to Bojangles whenever I need a delicious breakfast to power through.
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Where they’re located: Just about everywhere (aside from the Pacific Northwest and some of the northern Plains states).
All about the breakfast: Everyone knows Dunkin’s donuts, of course, but they’ve actually got a great set of savory breakfast options too – like the sausage egg and cheese croissant and their sourdough breakfast sandwich. Plus, you can grab a few donuts while you’re there, why not?
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Where they’re located: There are over 17,000 Starbucks in the US (and plenty more internationally), with many locations in every state.
All about the breakfast: Starbucks isn’t going to do the huge portions you’ll expect at some of these other places, but their bacon, cheddar, and egg sandwich is one of my personal favorites – and if you’re a vegetarian, they’ve got plenty of options for you too (like the spinach, feta, and egg white wrap, or the Impossible breakfast sandwich).
McDonald’s has Starbucks beat on the food part, but Starbucks still has the coffee advantage. And the bagels are underrated.
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Where they’re located: Krispy Kreme has over 350 stores across 42 states. They’re only missing from New England (Dunkin’ territory) and the upper plains states like the Dakotas and Wyoming. (Plus Minnesota.)
All about the breakfast: OK, this one is for sweet tooths only (sorry, savory seekers!). Krispy Kreme doesn’t have a ton of donut flavors, but they execute each of them incredibly well. If you’ve never had a hot Krispy Kreme donut, you are genuinely missing out.
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Where they’re located: There are over 2,200 Paneras nationwide – covering every one of the lower 48 states. (Sorry Hawaii and Alaska!)
All about the breakfast: From the bagels (especially the Asiago cheese bagel) to the breakfast sandwiches to the oatmeal…everything at Panera is good and feels pretty wholesome. (Although, obviously, if you slather a cinnamon crunch bagel in tons of cream cheese, you know it’s not exactly the healthiest thing in the world.) Plus, it’s got a nice atmosphere if you want to sit down – or you can pick up your order for breakfast on the go!
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I couldn’t leave without giving McDonald’s some love. So here goes…
Where they’re located: McDonald’s is just about literally everywhere. It has over 41,000 locations worldwide, including over 10,000 in the US alone, with plenty in all 50 US states.
All about the breakfast: McDonald’s Sausage Biscuit with Egg (+ coffee and hashbrowns) continues to be an absolutely timeless breakfast, and the hotcakes and McGriddles are excellent complements. (I’ve never loved the McMuffin, but I know plenty of people do.) There’s a reason McDonald’s is the yardstick against everyone else’s breakfast is measured!
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So there you have it – nine restaurants that have a reasonable case to make that their breakfast is better than McDonald’s.
Certainly each of them has fans who would claim that!
But the real question is:
What do YOU think?
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Does McDonald’s have the best fast food breakfast?
Or has one of these competitors dethroned it?
Let us know in the comments!
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