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3 Tips for Capturing Your Share of Breakfast Traffic
Published: May 6, 2025
Explore our suggestions for growing your breakfast business all day long
Breakfast consumption at restaurants has changed markedly in recent years. We have insights to help you appeal to consumers’ current preferences and work routines—to help get your breakfast business flourishing.
The New Workplace Has Had a Profound Effect on Breakfast
For years, commuters of the U.S. workforce leaned on breakfast away from home to kick start their days. However, the lingering effect of COVID—with less workers making daily trips to the office—has made it more challenging than ever for restaurants to maintain their breakfast business.
75% of employed adults work hybrid—meaning less breakfast-stop opportunities on weekdays.1
Consumers Are Waiting for the Weekend
For many customers who are on a budget, out-of-home breakfast is the easiest meal to cut out—especially during busy weekdays when they can choose quick, at-home options.
So it’s no surprise that breakfast transactions are shifting toward weekends, when customers typically dine out in larger groups and spend more per check. In other words, consumers are swapping their usual $4 coffee or $6 breakfast burrito on the weekdays for a more substantial sit-down breakfast experience on Saturday mornings.
Responding to this decline in weekday breakfast traffic, some QSR brands have scaled back or cut their breakfast offerings altogether—while other chains are doubling-down and dedicating a higher share of ad dollars to the breakfast daypart.
So what’s your best way forward? We have three tips to help you say, “Breakfast is back!” at your operation.
2024 featured fewer breakfast menu promotions and breakfast prices actually increased2
Sunny Side Up Breakfast Sausage Pizza
Tip #1:
Entice Customers with Indulgent Offerings They Can’t Make at Home
Though making breakfast at home is the easiest option for consumers, it’s not always the most satisfying. At some point, the home routine gets old and consumers crave something more novel and indulgent—even for breakfast, which has historically been viewed as a more traditional, functional meal occasion.
With 49% of consumers saying they go out to have breakfast at a restaurant because it feels “like a treat”3, you want to make sure your breakfast menu includes offerings that can’t easily be replicated at home.
50% of consumers dine out to treat themselves3
46% want to enjoy new experiences3
51% try a new item at a restaurant “most” or “all of the time”3
Breakfast Empanadas
Tip #2:
Ensure There’s Something for Everybody
You’ll want to make sure your menu includes plenty of options featuring bold, innovative flavors that capitalize on the adventurous palates of today’s consumers—along with a strong selection of comfort classics that appeal to more traditional diners.
Tip #3:
Keep Breakfast Menus Flexible and Convenient
With the rise of remote and freelance work, traditional mealtime boundaries are starting to blur. As a result, you’ll want to keep your breakfast hours flexible—and make it convenient for customers to enjoy breakfast on their timeline.
All-day breakfast options like Chicken and Pancake Breakfast Tacos and Chorizo & Sweet Potato Brunch Bowls provide sustenance for your customers who don’t want to be confined by mealtime conventions.
If you haven’t implemented it already, consider streamlined, tech-driven service options—including online ordering, curbside pickup and frictionless delivery—to appeal to younger customers who are uncompromising about their need for quick, convenient options.
80% of Gen Z say online/mobile ordering options contribute to their satisfaction at fast-casual restaurants.3
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Sources:
1 Pew Research Center, Survey of U.S. Workers, 7/31/24
2 Revenue Management Solutions, Restaurant Trends, February 2025
3 QSR Magazine, 2025 Dining Trends That Will Keep Guests Coming Back, 1/20/25
4 Datassential, Breakfast Dishes Menu Adoption Cycle, February 2025
