11 Regional Fast Food Chains That Serve Breakfast

Ever since McDonald’s launched its wildly popular all-day breakfast, there’s been something of an arms race among national fast food chains to serve up the most over-the-top fast food breakfasts at even the most unlikely hours. But regional fast food chains have long been masters of the breakfast domain, serving up platters of waffles and hash browns, breakfast sandwiches on housemade biscuits with several slices of country ham, even breakfast burritos stuffed with chorizo at all hours of the day and night (if you’re lucky enough to live near one, of course). And since the range of these restaurants is limited, sometimes to only a couple of states, these regional fast food chains garner huge fan bases full of local pride. They become symbols of a hometown, a feeling that just can’t be replicated if these beloved brands go national—even if that would mean more amazing fast food breakfast options for the rest of us.

But if you’ve ever been looking for an excuse to go on a breakfast-themed road trip, now’s your chance, because here are 11 regional fast food chains across the United States that serve up some of the best breakfasts around.

Chick-fil-A is a primarily Southern chain of fast food restaurants, though it does have a few restaurants in New York City these days. The chain’s newest breakfast offering is an Egg White Grill, but there’s also the classic Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit for breakfast.

Located in only two states—North Carolina and Virginia—Biscuitville specializes in, well, biscuits. Biscuitville serves both breakfast platters and sandwiches, like the Ultimate Country Ham Biscuit, which comes with two slices of ham, a fried egg, and two slices of American cheese.

All of Bojangles' breakfast options are served on a biscuit. There’s a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, a steak biscuit, a country ham biscuit, a gravy biscuit, even a Cajun Filet Biscuit.

With 550 locations in 16 states across the western United States, Del Taco serves breakfast burritos, tacos, and even quesadillas, along with hash brown stick. But the monster on the breakfast menu is the Half Pounder, which can be made with carne asada, bacon, or chorizo, and comes with scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese.

At Steak ‘N Shake, breakfast is served from midnight to 11 a.m. Though there are breakfast sandwiches and decadent skillets, the breakfast highlight has got to be All You Can Eat Pancakes. Seriously. For $3.99, you start with three pancakes, and then your waiter will keep serving them to you, two at a time, until you say uncle.

The Texan fast food chain Whataburger has 340 restaurants in ten states across the southern tier of the United States, from Arizona to Georgia. Whataburger serves breakfast from 11 p.m. to 11 a.m., and with options like a Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit and a Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuit Sandwich, I wouldn’t blame you if you went for both late-night munchies and breakfast the next morning.

At Jack in the Box, a chain that’s based out of San Diego and primarily serves the Western half of the country, you can get breakfast all-day, including a Jumbo Breakfast Platter for $2.99. There’s also biscuit sandwiches, croissants, and breakfast burritos.

White Castle was founded in Kansas, but today, there are no White Castle restaurants in Kansas. There are, however, a lot of them in New York City, as well as throughout the Midwest, and breakfast at White Castle is surprisingly dope, like the Breakfast Waffle Slider, which comes with either American or jalapeño cheese.

At Sheetz, a fast food chain located in the Midwest, everything is made to order, including breakfast. There’s the Schmonster Breakfast Platter, Shmagelz, Shmiscuits, and Shmuffins, all fully customizable on a touchscreen kiosk.

You can get a Sizzli breakfast sandwich, freshly baked doughnuts, bagels, and muffins, and some pretty decent coffee at Wawa, the beloved mid-Atlantic chain of convenience stores.

Do I even need to explain how wonderful the breakfast offerings at Waffle House, the 24-hour home of breakfast foods that’s scattered across the southern United States, are? It’s literally called Waffle House. There are waffles, because duh, as well as bacon, eggs, and hash browns that you can get smothered or covered or even chunked.