14 Fast-Food Restaurants That Offer All-Day Breakfast (2024)

Breakfast is an important meal no matter what time of the day you eat it. According to Food Insight, 93% of people believe breakfast is at least somewhat important to a healthy diet. The science backs this up, as Fast Company and Massive Health report that breakfast eaters make 12.3% healthier food decisions throughout the rest of their day and night. Furthermore, people who eat breakfast eat 6.8% less food over the day than people who skip it.

But while most people eat breakfast in the morning, not everyone can. A July 2022 report by the U.S. Census Bureau found about one in four American employees have a nonstandard work schedule, which means they work evenings, nights, split shifts, or rotating shifts. Additionally, SWNS Digital notes that 69% of Americans like eating breakfast foods for dinner and want to be able to indulge in a stack of pancakes or a bagel sandwich whenever the mood strikes.

Whether your breakfast time is 7 a.m. or 7 p.m., you deserve something tasty. We're looking at the biggest fast-food and fast-casual restaurants that offer all-day breakfast for people who eat outside "normal" hours or just want to change things up.

Believe it when we say a burger and taco chain named after a children's toy is a fast-food breakfast pioneer. In fact, according to Hatch, Jack in the Box was the first true quick-service restaurant to introduce a breakfast sandwich back in 1969. The original offering is still on the Jack in the Box menu along with many other sandwiches, croissants, breakfast burritos, platters, and mini pancakes served from open to close.

Interestingly, it's not clear exactly when Jack in the Box went to all-day breakfast. A 2014 Business Insider article says they'd been offering it for more than 20 years but doesn't give specifics. Regardless, fast-food breakfast connoisseurs are glad they did. And they do mean all day — many Jack in the Box locations have 24-hour drive-thrus and delivery service.

Breakfast isn't the only way the company has been a fast-food innovator, either. As detailed in the book "Orange Roofs, Golden Arches: The Architecture of American Chain Restaurants," Jack in the Box was an early experimenter with drive-thru windows. Among other things, they were one of the first drive-thrus to install two-way intercoms. The only downside? ScrapeHero data shows the 2,100-plus Jack in the Box U.S. locations are limited to 25 states and territories.

When most people visit one of around 38,000 worldwide Starbucks locations (via Statista), they typically have coffee on their minds. But the Starbucks menu also includes plenty of breakfast and bakery items that are available all day. Although the exact offerings depend on the location, options can include breakfast sandwiches, wraps, egg bites, oatmeal, bagels, muffins, and donuts — all of which, as noted by Breakfast Offers, are served as long as the doors or drive-thru window are open.

It's been a long journey for Starbucks to become a coffee and breakfast household name. When the company opened its first store in Seattle's Pike Place Market in 1971, it was simply a coffee bean roaster that also offered tea and spices. It was after New York businessman Howard Schulz became involved — first as director of marketing in 1982 and then as CEO in 1987 per The Guardian — that Starbucks transformed into a coffee house and expanded around the globe.

If you want to experience fast-food breakfast all day with classic car-hop service, Sonic Drive-In has you covered. While Sonic was founded in 1953 as Top Hat Drive-In — the name was changed to Sonic in 1959 — it's a relatively newer player in the breakfast arena. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, Sonic began offering breakfast items as part of the "Sonic 2000" 5-year plan introduced in 1995. This was part of a larger initiative to unify the restaurant chain, whose franchises had become fractured with inconsistent menus and branding.

Whatever the reason for it, breakfast enthusiasts can order their favorites anytime Sonic is open. That means customers can try an assortment of breakfast burritos and Breakfast Toaster melts along with French toast sticks, bagel sandwiches, and hot or cold brew coffee whenever their body clock says it's breakfast time. Conversely, since the entire Sonic menu is served all day, you can have a hot dog and milkshake at 8 a.m. if you like. This versatility has made Sonic a major player in U.S. fast food with more than 3,500 locations as of April 2024 (via ScrapeHero).

White Castle is widely credited as America's first fast food chain (via Smithsonian Magazine). But while this burger icon has been serving lunch and dinner since 1921, The Columbus Dispatch observes they didn't start offering breakfast until 1986. It quickly became a hit, though, and in 2015, White Castle made all-day breakfast standard. Even back when it stopped serving breakfast at 10:30 a.m., it made up 15 to 20% of total sales, so it's easy to see why it's now available all the time — which means 24/7 at most locations according to Finding Hours.

What can you order off the White Castle breakfast menu? Not surprisingly, there are several variations on the restaurant's ubiquitous sliders — including breakfast sandwiches that use mini Belgian waffles as buns. You also can get toasted sandwiches, standalone wafflers, hash brown bites, and other goodies.

Unfortunately, with just 350 locations in 15 U.S. states and territories as of March 2024, the chances to enjoy White Castle breakfast are limited (via ScrapeHero). This low number is because, as Franchise Help notes, all new restaurants must be located near the supply facilities. Although this maximizes food quality and per-store profits, it makes it much harder to find a chicken and waffle slider.

Tim Hortons is more than just a coffee and donut shop. As described by the British Sociological Association, the brand is part of Canada's national identity. The real-life Tim Horton was an Ontario native named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players." In 1963, he partnered with Montreal businessman Jim Charade, and while the duo opened several restaurants together — including several hamburger joints — it was Tim Horton Donuts that caught on (via "The Donut").

As of 2022, there are nearly 5,400 Tim Hortons franchises worldwide (via Restaurant Brands International). At all these shops, you can savor a fast breakfast anytime. The Tim Hortons spread features sandwiches, wraps, hash browns, and homestyle oatmeal. Or check out baked goods such as muffins, bagels, pastries, donuts — and, of course, their iconic Timbits donut holes.

Although Tim Hortons is building a profile in the U.S., with ScrapeHero reporting more than 600 stores in 11 states and territories, Canada is where their all-day breakfast truly flourishes. In fact, according to ScrapeHero, Tim Hortons is Canada's largest restaurant chain, beating out global giants such as Subway, McDonald's, and Starbucks. With approximately 3,600 Canadian locations, it's easy to spot north of the border.

The road to Denny's becoming "America's Diner" and a short-order, all-day breakfast stalwart had several twists and turns. It began life in 1953 as a chain called Danny's Donuts in Lakewood, California (via Denny's). After co-founder Richard Jezak left in 1956, the remaining founder Harold Butler changed the name to Danny's Coffee Shops. Then in 1959, Butler pivoted to Denny's Coffee Shops to prevent mix-ups with another restaurant named Coffee Dan's. Finally, in 1961, he switched to a diner format and shortened the name to Denny's, which now has nearly 1,600 worldwide eateries.

Two things haven't changed in all that time. One is their commitment to breakfast. The flagship of the entire Denny's menu is the Grand Slam, a baseball-themed breakfast that was created at an Atlanta location in 1977 (via GoUpstate). The restaurant also serves omelets, grilled sandwiches, steak and eggs, and other diner favorites. And since the days of Danny's Coffee Shops, everything on the menu has been available 24/7/365. Denny's is so synonymous with around-the-clock service that, when corporate decided to close for Christmas Day in 1988, most franchises needed to get locks installed for the first time (via The Morning Call).

To its loyalists, Caribou Coffee is where to get a specialty breakfast all day with personal service. It was founded in 1992 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Caribou Coffee headquarters and roasting facilities are still located in the area. You need more than just coffee and tea to get you going, though, which is why the Caribou Coffee all-day menu also includes alluring creations such as the maple waffle sandwich, breakfast burritos, soufflés, bagels, muffins, donuts, and even apple fritters.

With a concept inspired by a backpacking vacation in Alaska, per Funding Universe, Caribou Coffee Company has established a worldwide presence. The gourmet breakfast brand now has nearly 500 U.S. locations, according to ScrapeHero, and also claims franchises in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Bosnia. In fact, company spokesperson Kayleen Tecker tells CCX Media that Caribou Coffee is the no. 1 coffee shop in Kuwait. The company initiated a new U.S. franchising program in 2021 to further grow the brand (via Franchise Wire). And if you're not located near a Caribou Coffee shop, you can still get their coffee in all 50 states everywhere from grocery stores to hotels.