McDonald’s trims all-day breakfast menu

It soon may be hit or miss for customers craving a late-night Sausage McGriddle or hot cakes at McDonald's.

In an effort to simplify its menu and speed up service, McDonald's is letting individual U.S. franchisees choose which menu items to offer after regular breakfast hours end at 10:30 a.m.

'Giving local restaurants the ability to select the items they serve for their All Day Breakfast menus means an even better, faster experience for customers, day and night,” the Chicago-based restaurant chain said in a statement earlier this week.

Launched in 2015, the all-day breakfast offering has been a big hit for McDonald's, bolstering sales and luring more customers to the hamburger giant for Egg McMuffins and sausage burritos throughout the day.

But whipping up the full morning menu - with some items more popular than others - may be slowing down and complicating operations for franchisees.

The revamped all-day breakfast will allow local restaurants to simplify their menu and offer only the more popular items after normal breakfast hours.

The change is slated to begin 'as early as July,” with local franchisees having the option to scale back their breakfast offerings at 10:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. each day.

Darren Tristano, CEO of Foodservice Results, a Chicago-area research and consulting company, said less may be more in the restaurant industry as more chains trim their menus and move toward specialization.

'Restaurants are starting to say we can't just do everything and be everything to everyone. We have to be something to someone,” Tristano said Wednesday.

'Doing one thing and doing it really well is working.”