Wendy’s to go national with its breakfast menu

Wendy’s is taking its breakfast menu nationwide in 2020 and will hire 20,000 new employees to support the morning meal, the company announced.

The fast-food chain, which has been a holdout in the breakfast area among major national chains, currently has breakfast in 300-plus restaurants.

Items on Wendy’s breakfast menu include the Breakfast Baconator, Frosty-ccino and Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit.

“Launching breakfast in our U.S. restaurants nationwide provides incredible growth opportunities,” said Todd Penegor, Wendy’s president and CEO, in a news release. “We are well-positioned to pursue it. We believe we have the right team and structure in place, and we put Wendy’s fan favorites on our breakfast menu to set us apart from the competition.”

This is not the first time Wendy’s has tried out a national breakfast menu.

In the mid-1980s, the chain’s morning menu included omelets, French toast and toasted sandwiches. But because the items took too long to make, it was discontinued, and there have been small tests going on across the nation for several years.

The battle for breakfast has been in full force for a couple years with chains including Burger King, Taco Bell, Sonic and Starbucks continuing to grow their morning-inspired menus.