Jan. 28--McDonald's fanatics in Chicago now have reason to envy Tulsa, Okla.
McDonald's is expanding its all-day breakfast to include McGriddle sandwiches in the Tulsa market beginning Feb. 1, after customer enthusiasm for all-day breakfast fueled the fast-food chain's largest quarterly sales growth in almost four years. The McGriddle puts breakfast ingredients like eggs, bacon, sausage and cheese inside two maple-flavored pancakes.
"This is a customer-led initiative," said McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa McComb. "Once we launched all-day breakfast, we've heard from our customers that they would love McGriddles."
The 72 restaurants in the Tulsa area will also test biscuit breakfast sandwiches all day, which are not currently available in that market.
At question will be how adding the McGriddle and biscuit sandwiches strains kitchen operations. The Oak Brook company is attempting to walk the line between giving customers what they want -- an expanded all-day breakfast menu -- and making sure its franchisees and their employees can meet the demand.
In the Kansas City market, 132 restaurants are already serving Sausage McGriddle sandwiches, McComb said.
While McDonald's sales have improved since it launched all-day breakfast under the leadership of CEO Steve Easterbrook, executives have cautioned that its turnaround is far from complete after a sales decline spanning several years.
