Wendy’s has taken its third stab at fast-food breakfast with the March 2 nationwide introduction of a new breakfast menu and morning hours.
Wendy’s new menu, led by the Baconator sandwich, is designed to tap into the growing breakfast market, as more and more Americans grab biscuits and the like on the way to work in the morning.
Though March 2 was the official launch day for Wendy’s breakfast, franchisees, including ones the Triad, were given the option of introducing the menu up to a week earlier.
The core of the menu is three types each of croissants, biscuits and sandwiches — basicially all sandwiches with slightly different breads.
Among the classics are:
- Breakfast Baconator ($3.99, 730 calories): six pieces of bacon, sausage, egg, American cheese, plus a Swiss cheese sauce on what is essentially a round burger bun
- Classic Sausage, Egg & Cheese Sandwich ($3.39, 500 calories): the same square sausage patty, egg and cheese as the Baconator, but with no bacon, and on a slightly smaller, different roll
- Classic Bacon, Egg & Cheese Sandwich ($3.39, 320 calories): bacon, egg and cheese on the same roll as the Classic Sausage.
People are also reading…
The three biscuits are:
- Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit ($3.19, 500 calories), featuring a fried chicken breast.
- Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: $2.99, 610 calories)
- Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: $2.99, 420 calories).
The three croissants are:
- Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant ($3.99, 560 calories), with a fried chicken breast and maple butter
- Sausage, Egg and Swiss Croissant ($3.59, 600 calories)
- Bacon, Egg & Swiss Croissant ($3.59, 410 calories).
The cheese used in the biscuits and sandwiches is American cheese. Swiss cheese is used in two of the croissants. All of the sausage is square patties, a nod to Wendy’s signature burger. Wendy’s says that all of the eggs are “hand-cracked fresh eggs,” not liquid egg product.
All nine core items are available as combo meals.
Sides include an oatmeal bar ($1.39), seasonal fruit ($1.39) and seasoned potatoes ($1.39 to $1.99), which are wedges that more closely resemble steak fries than hash browns- but which may be one of the more successful items on the menu.
Customers also can order a sausage biscuit ($1.39); honey butter biscuit ($.99); or sausage, egg & cheese burrito ($1.39).
Drinks include Coca-Cola products, tea, milk, water, orange juice, flavored lemonades, hot coffee and cold-brew iced coffee.
Perhaps the most eye-opening item on the menu is the Frosty-ccino ($2.49 to $2.79), inspired by Wendy’s famous Frosty. This combines cold-brew coffee with ice and a choice of vanilla or chocolate Frosty — all blended together. It’s a clear grab for some of Starbucks’ Frappuccino business — though Wendy’s has not invested in espresso machines or a broad coffee menu.
All in all, the menu for Wendy’s, the No. 2 burger chain, strives to simultaneously imitate and distinguish itself from No. 1 McDonald’s, which leads in breakfast as well as burgers. The egg, cheese and meat combos in several of its sandwiches echo the various types of McMuffins at McDonald’s while offering a different bread. Wendy’s biscuits also are very similar to McDonald’s.
The croissants are something McDonald’s doesn’t have, but Wendy’s version is not likely to be confused with a true croissant; it’s more like a flaky bun.
McDonald’s still maintains an edge with the offering of pancakes, as well as the variety of coffee drinks at McCafe locations.
Perhaps most notably, Wendy’s is trying to distinguish itself with the two chicken items — probably in hopes of getting some of Chick-fil-A’s morning business. Wendy’s fried chicken sandwiches do quite well at lunch and dinner, and the presence of chicken on the breakfast menu could help entice its lunch customers to come in earlier.
It’s anyone guess whether all this will be enough for Wendy’s to succeed where it has failed twice before. Wendy’s tried offering French toast, breakfast sandwiches and omelets in the 1980s, and briefly tried breakfast again as recently as 2013.
Wendy’s has designed breakfast mainly for takeout. The new menu is offered through the drive-thru from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., but it is offered in the dining room from only 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
