USA Today looked into the question of when McDonald’s starts serving lunch across the United States and landed on a mostly firm answer. At most U.S. locations, it’s between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. local time. USA Today also discovered that at some locations, the hour can vary between weekdays and weekends, with a later start on weekends.
That’s also the time that most U.S. McDonald’s restaurants will stop serving their breakfast menus. Although many McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. participated in an all-day breakfast push at one time, the corporation decided to suspend that practice to streamline its operations in 2020 (per Inc.). If you’re holding out hope that this suspension might end, you shouldn’t expect that to happen soon.
So if lunch starts around 10:30-11 a.m., ending breakfast, when does McDonald’s switch back over to offering the McMuffins and hash browns? Again, there is going to be some localized variance, but, the general consensus seems to be around 5 a.m. Both Foods Alternative and Parade list that as when the McGriddles hit the griddle.
The absolute best way to know the times for each menu at a particular location is to check in at that specific restaurant. The McDonald’s app can be your best guide. By and large, though, if you get in line around 11 a.m., you should be able to satisfy a Big Mac craving.
