Breakfast Fast Food

Breakfast Fast Foods During the 1920s, White Castle chains were open 24 hours a day but they had no special breakfast offerings-just their normal menu of hamburgers and beverages . During World War II, meat was rationed and fast food chains experimented with different types of food. Bruce LaPlante, a White Castle manager in the St. Louis, Missouri, area, invented a fried egg sandwich, but it was not adopted systemwide and it was discontinued after the war. Th is changed with the arrival of doughnut shops, such as Winchell's Donut House (1948) in Los Angeles and Dunkin' Donuts (1950) in Quincy, Massachusetts. Th ese establishments sold mainly coffee and doughnuts before noon. Over the years, they have increased their breakfast off erings by including buns, biscuits, croissants, bagels, and egg dishes.

Most hamburger, chicken, and hot dog fast food chains did not serve breakfast until the 1970s. Jack in the Box began serving breakfast in 1971 with the introduction of its Breakfast Jack, and its breakfast menu was expanded to include omelets and an Eggs Benedict sandwich. McDonald's developed a version of Jack in the Box's Egg Benedict and created the Egg McMuffi n in 1973. At the time, English muffins were not big sellers nationally. Th e Egg McMuffi n popularized and created a major new market for muffi ns. Th e Egg McMuffi n was followed by a complete breakfast line at McDonald's in 1976, that eventually included the Breakfast Burrito and the Big Breakfast. Th is created a second wave of fast food breakfast foods as many other chains began off ering diff erent breakfast foods. Burger King championed the Croissant Breakfast Sandwiches, French Toast Sticks, and Cini-Minis; Carl's Jr. created the Breakfast Burger; and Jack in the Box now sells breakfast combos and they rolled out its Meaty Breakfast Burrito in 2005. In addition to the breakfast foods served at fast food chains, a whole series of fast breakfast foods have been commercially produced for serving at home. Tang, for example, was a fast food substitute for fresh-squeezed orange juice. Fast breakfast foods, such as Kellogg's Eggo Frozen Waffl es (launched in 1954) and Pop-Tarts (1964), have been important breakfast foods since the 1970s. Ready-to-eat breakfast and cereal bars, such as Kellogg's Special K Breakfast Bars and Nutri-Grain Bars, and General Mills's Milk ‘n Cereal Bars, became an important fast foods in the early twenty-first century.