Is McDonald's All-Day Breakfast Turning Out to Be a Big McFailure?

Is McDonald's recently launched all-day breakfast turning out to be a big fat McFailure?According to the New York Post, "McDonald’s franchisees say the launch of all-day breakfast has been a disaster — griping that it has slowed down service, lowered average bills and sparked chaos in the kitchens."

While plenty of loyal McDonald's customers have long dreamt of the day when they could get an Egg McMuffin past 10:30 a.m., the reality of the situation is that all-day breakfast isn't a simple task — which is why it took the chain several years to actually implement it, followed by months of testing. Serving breakfast alongside the usual burgers, fries, McNuggets, and other regular menu items means a more complicated workflow and a more crowded kitchen; the chain has stated previously that it creates challenges because each restaurant has a limited amount of grill space. (Check out a full ranking of the entire breakfast menu here.)

A recent survey of 29 McDonald's franchise operators reported on by Nation's Restaurant News finds that many are stressing out over all-day breakfast. One is quoted as saying, "In small stores, the problems are vast with people falling over each other and equipment jammed in everywhere." Others complain that check averages are falling due to the availability of lower-priced breakfast items, and that the newly chaotic kitchens are resulting in slower service and "sub-par quality."

Of course, these issues weren't exactly unforeseen: Prior to the official all-day breakfast rollout, finance site The Motley Fool speculated that the move wouldn't make a bit of difference to McDonald's investors, proclaiming that it would further complicate the already-bloated menu and could actually hurt sales. Still, McDonald's says that "all-day breakfast is the number one request" they get from customers, which means it isn't going away anytime soon.

Video: 5 Reasons McDonald's Is on the Brink of Failure