These days, dinner at a restaurant can wipe out a family’s dining-out budget in one night. Breakfast concepts offer a comparable bargain, and menu developers are upping their morning game to attract value-conscious consumers who still crave an experience.
“Breakfast can definitely stretch dining dollars further, plus it’s a fun time to go out,” said Chrissy McKinney, VP of marketing for Eggs Up Grill based in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The 97-unit breakfast-and-lunch chain tries to balance brunchy, indulgent items with “no frills affordability,” and new this year are breakfast pancake packages starting at $9.99. “We want to show our guests how we feel their pain,” McKinney added.
The Crab-Ocado Scrambler at Eggs Up Grill adapts to a variety of ingredients and flavors. | Photo courtesy of Eggs Up Grill.
But Eggs Up Grill promotes value in ways other than price. Those with smaller appetites can order from the Bites and Delights section, choosing a blueberry muffin and eggs, for example, or oatmeal and fruit. And for those with hearty appetites, big portions are the rule. Average check is $14.
The addition of the chain’s Scrambler platform provides a canvas for innovation, McKinney said. The scrambled eggs come in a shallow bowl in variations like the Crab-Ocado Scrambler and Greek Scrambler offering “safe adventure” flavors. A recent limited-time offer is the Chimi Steak Scrambler flavored with herby South American chimichurri sauce, an ingredient that breaks into more adventurous flavor territory.
Churro Crunch French Toast has proven to be a popular item for Eggs Up Grill. | Photo courtesy of Eggs Up Grill.
Pancakes, waffles and French toast are also platforms for innovation. Banana Berry Bliss Pancakes and Churro Crunch French Toast are successful LTOs with familiar ingredients. “Churro is mainstream for our customers, while chilaquiles may be pushing it a little,” said McKinney. But Eggs Up Grill is exploring that dish, along with breakfast tacos and quesadillas.
Raising the bar on family dining
Scott Rodriguez was named head of culinary for Perkins American Food Co. just a couple of months ago, but he’s already working “to fulfill pancake craveability” with new spins on the breakfast favorite.
Right now, limited-time Pancake Flip Platters are the draw at the 300-unit family-dining chain. The LTO comes in two sweet and two savory variations, with Strawberry Cheesecake and Ham & Sausage rising to the top in sales. The former features buttermilk pancakes layered with cheesecake filling and topped with strawberries and sugar cookie streusel, while the savory version includes two potato pancakes filled with diced ham, sausage, American cheese and scrambled eggs.
“When we introduced the flips, we showcased one at a value-driven price point and then let the consumer trade up from there,” said Rodriguez. “But value isn’t only about the money. The items are scratch-made and made to order, and the ingredients are high quality. So a consumer may be paying 10 bucks for this, but it's worth the $10.”
Rodriguez is also looking at closing some of Perkins’ menu gaps. He’s working on off-premise breakfast packages for families that feed four to six. And while “we want to own pancakes,” he sees a gap in breakfast sandwiches “that will lure customers away from First Watch,” he said.
First Watch has earned a reputation as a trendsetting leader in the breakfast-lunch segment. “If there’s an ingredient or trend that plays well at breakfast, we’re willing to take a risk,” said Shane Schaibly, corporate chef of the 580-location chain.
On the sandwich front, First Watch was offering avocado toast way before it became ubiquitous, and its Elevated Egg Sandwich with an over-easy cage-free egg, bacon, gruyere cheese, avocado, mayo and arugula on a brioche bun is a best seller.
Blueberry Lemon Cornbread is a breakfast shareable that changes with the seasons at First Watch. | Photo courtesy of First Watch.
One of the menu categories that is usually missing on breakfast menus is appetizers, said Schaibly, but he saw the opportunity to introduce some shareables. He and his team take regular culinary trips outside of their Bradenton, Florida, headquarters to see what’s happening in other parts of the country. “We visited Nashville and saw a lot of cornbread,” he said, “and we asked, ‘Does it make sense to put it on the menu as a shareable?’”
The answer was yes, and after a few riffs, he developed a recipe that can change with the seasons. Currently, Blueberry Lemon Cornbread is on the menu.
Breakfast on the run
Fluffy buttermilk biscuits, made from scratch every 20 minutes in each of Bojangles 836 locations, are the building blocks that power the menu, according to Marshall Scarborough, VP of menu & culinary innovation for the Charlotte, North Carolina-based quick-service chain. The biscuits are the carriers for a number of breakfast sandwiches, filled with eggs, sausage, bacon, country ham and chicken. They are also the base for Bojangles’ seasonal cobblers smothered in fruit, which a lot of people order for breakfast.
“Over 30% of our sales come from breakfast,” said Scarborough, “and we’re actively doubling down on breakfast innovation, focusing on portability and value.”
The Bo-Berry Sausage Biscuit at Bojangles. | Photo courtesy of Bojangles.
To keep SKUS to a minimum, he’s repackaging existing ingredients into creative limited-time offers. The Bo-Berry Biscuit dotted with blueberries and drizzled with white icing is a menu staple, but Bojangles noticed customers were hacking it and layering a sausage patty in the middle and asking for the icing to be poured on top.
“We decided to put it on the menu as an LTO, adding the icing in the middle, and it was very popular,” said Scarborough. Earlier this year, he introduced the Chicken and Bo-Berry Waffle, bringing in authentic Belgian waffles as the carriers surrounding the chain’s Cajun chicken fillet, all topped with Bo-Berry honey sauce. The limited-time item went viral, he said.
But in June, Bojangles took a detour from biscuits and launched the Breakfast Bo-Rito. It features a flour tortilla filled with country-style sausage, eggs, crisp Bo-Rounds (Bojangles’ seasoned potato rounds), shredded Monterey Jack cheese and sausage gravy, served with Texas Pete hot sauce. “We brought in a ‘legit’ tortilla for this item, so the Bo-Rito pays respect to the burrito and pays tribute to our menu,” said Scarborough.
Bojangles' new breakfast burrito, the Bo-Rito, features a "legit" flour tortilla. | Photo courtesy of Bojangles.
The Bo-Rito goes for $4.49, while the breakfast biscuit sandwiches sell for $3.29-$4.69. The tortilla expands the field for innovation in the breakfast category and provides the opportunity to develop more premium offerings to balance with value breakfasts, said Scarborough. “We’re exploring new proteins and carriers, and have an entire pipeline filled with breakfast LTOs,” he added.
Beverages move into the mix
The beverage side of the breakfast menu is getting a lot more attention, as consumers seek the same fancy coffee drinks, trendy teas and fruity refreshers with their breakfast as they can buy at Dutch Bros, Starbucks, HTeaO and the like. Premium hot and iced coffees and teas are a given; breakfast-focused brands have to go beyond that.
At the new Perkins flagship location near Orlando, Florida, the brand is testing a tech-enabled beverage platform to execute unique beverages. “On a recent day, about 75% of the tables had ordered one of these beverages, like boba tea or a cold brew frappe,” said Rodriguez. “The flavors and presentation are the differentiators.”
Poppin' Punch is a bubble tea that's part of Perkins' new beverage platform. | Photo courtesy of Perkins American Food Co.
The equipment is in the back-of-house and the drinks come out fully prepared with the push of a button. The kitchen team just has to apply a garnish with the help of a printed guide before the beverages go out to the customers.
The Perkins flagship is also serving alcohol and mocktails, which are a growing menu category in the family-dining breakfast segment. Eggs Up Grill serves mimosa flights featuring classic orange, pineapple and mango, and is expanding its mocktail lineup with recent additions such as the Peachy Palmer and Sparkling Strawberry.
“Beverage is becoming an increasingly important part of the business,” said McKinney.
Purple Haze is one of the unique and colorful drinks at First Watch. | Photo courtesy of First Watch.
First Watch is an acknowledged leader in breakfast beverage innovation as well as food. The menu includes drinks like the Purple Haze, house-made with lemon, cane sugar, butterfly pea flower tea and a hint of lavender, and Watermelon Wake-Up, with pineapple, watermelon, lime and mint; the latter can be spiked with vodka. Like the food side of the menu, seasonal items rotate on five times a year, and Schaibly is starting to dabble in matcha drinks.
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