McDonald’s has always been well known for not serving breakfast any time after 10:30 a.m. every day.

This meant that if a customer were to show up at 10:32 a.m., they’d have to hope that there was an extra breakfast sandwich and hash brown already made, otherwise, they’d be out of luck.

Finally, after years of customer complaints, McDonald’s will finally start serving breakfast all day. But are they too late to the game?

“It comes down to the sheer size of kitchen grills,” McDonald’s stated according to their website. “They simply don’t have the room for all of our menu options at one time–especially considering we use our grill to prepare many items on our breakfast menu.”

In the past, they have used the size of their grill as an excuse not to serve breakfast all day. However, October 6 is the day that all-day breakfast begins, and they will still only offer a limited breakfast menu.

Most of the other major fast food chains already serve breakfast all day with a full menu like Jack in the Box, who’ve been doing this for over 20 years on top of their regular menu.

For some time now, McDonald’s already had a limited breakfast menu available starting at midnight where customers can order some of the more popular breakfast items such as an Egg McMuffin.

McDonald’s prepares its food in advance, and when somebody orders something they put all the pieces together to make the order quickly. Typically if a customer has a special order then they have to wait longer to have their order made fresh. So why can’t breakfast be treated like a special order? Fans of McDonald’s breakfast would probably be willing to wait a few more minutes for a fresh breakfast sandwich.

Breakfast all day is not necessarily about eating breakfast late in the day. People can make home made breakfast sandwiches that are better quality than the McDonald’s breakfast at any time of the day. It’s about having the options and the freedom to order breakfast at any time of the day. If McDonald’s has hash browns in their kitchen past 10:30 a.m., why can’t they make one?

So what does this mean for people who don’t go to McDonald’s for breakfast, and how will this affect the early lunch crowd? If McDonald’s makes breakfast options when people order them and it takes a little longer, then it should have a minimal effect on the burgers being made for the lunch crowd.