Earlier this year, McDonald’s dangled the idea of serving breakfast all day, a much-demanded change that the fast-food giant has tried and failed to make in the past. But even if anytime McMuffins remain out of reach, it looks like the company is committed to extending breakfast hours. This month, an undisclosed number of 24-hour McDonald’s restaurants across the country will start offering a selection of breakfast items from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m., at which time normal breakfast hours are generally under way. “This is not a test,” says spokeswoman Danya Proud in an e-mail.

 

A “McDonald’s After Midnight” menu reviewed by Bloomberg Businessweek shows such breakfast items as Egg McMuffin, Sausage McMuffin, Egg White Delight McMuffin, Fruit ’n Yogurt Parfait, Hotcakes with Sausage, Fruit & Maple Oatmeal, Sausage Burritos, and Hash Browns alongside such regular late-night fare as burgers, McNuggets, and fries. McCafé beverages will also be available.

 

“Breakfast After Midnight,” offered in markets across the country over the past couple of years, “was the inspiration for the new menu,” Proud says. McDonald’s has been testing the new nocturnal menu, which allows customers to mix and match breakfast and dinner items into a customized “Midnight Value Meal” in northern Delaware and College Station, Texas (home to Texas A&M University). Nearly half of the chain’s restaurants are open 24 hours, according to the Associated Press.

 

The new menu is another effort to lure consumers at other times besides lunch and dinner. It’s why Sonic Drive-In has a Happy Hour and Taco Bell has a late night Fourth Meal menu. But what about all-day breakfast? “There are lots of possibilities!” Proud says. “However, there are no immediate plans to make breakfast available all day.”