Restaurants
ByElizabeth Lavis/
West coast icon Carl's Jr. has been around for the better part of the century, and since expanded past the sunny shores of California across the country and beyond, with restaurants open in 28 different countries around the world. From its hot dog stand roots to its controversial sex-infused ad campaigns,the charbroiled burger chain has firmly cemented itself into our collective imagination as one of the most well-known fast food staples in the country. And if you thoughtCarl's Jr. couldn't nestle its way any further into our hearts and stomachs, you'll be happy to learn that the chain also offers arguably someof the best fast food breakfast on the planet.
From its grilled cheese breakfast sandwichesto its legendary stuffed breakfast burgers and flaky, made-from-scratch biscuits, Carl's Jr. knows how to keep things exciting and fresh in the wee hours of the morning. So if you haven't given this chain a try for your first meal of the day, it's time to explore the wild, wacky, and unconventionally delicious world of Carl's Jr. breakfast.
Carl's Jr. breakfast is purposefully over the top
The Carl's Jr.breakfast menu is a bountiful bevy of succulent and sweet treats, and most things are over-the-top, outrageous, and craveable. With 10 different breakfast items, plus coffee, there's something for every taste and appetite. You'll get your pick of savory biscuits and sandwiches, scrumptious sides, and sweet treats.A highlight of the menu is the robust and hedonistic Monster Biscuit, a gargantuan sammie packed with two eggs, bacon, sausage, and plenty of cheese. It's savory, meaty, salty, and bound to keep you full until lunch. According to QSR Magazine, the Monster Biscuit's objective was to put other breakfast bites to shame with a lunch or dinner-sized meal packed with morning flavor faves.The Grilled Cheese Breakfast Sandwich is another perennial favorite, with sourdough toast, a mixture of cheeses, your choice of bacon, sausage, or ham.
With mammoth sandwiches and sides, Carl's Jr. turns breakfast up to 11, and we're here for it. Smaller, but still mouthwatering, fare includes the French Toast Dips with maple syrup and the signature Hand-Breaded Chicken Biscuit with plump, tender chicken on a flaky, freshly-made biscuit. If you want a dish that fully celebrates biscuits, the Biscuits 'N' Gravy is a sinful plate of silky white gravy and delicate biscuits.
Its massive breakfast burger is legendary
Carl's Jr.'s lunch and dinner burgers are the stuff of fast food fantasies, so it stands to reason that its early morning burger fare would certainly tick off all the taste boxes, too. Carl's Jr.'s Breakfast Burger exceeds expectations with a classic Carl's Jr. patty smothered in cheese, egg, and bacon, and ketchup. The final, perfect touch has got to be the row of crispy hash browns nestled between the patty and the bun. It's a breakfast and lunch burger fusion, with tasty nods to each. Redditors love the whimsical addition of hash browns on the burger that the company calls the "most important burger of the day."
Unfortunately, some critics lambasted the mega Breakfast Burger, even going so far as to claim that it "hates you," describing the monster sandwich as a mashed up mess of hash browns, American cheese, overcooked burger, and greasy egg and bacon (via LA Weekly).However, while it might be a flop in some circles, Carl's Jr.'s Breakfast Burger is celebrated in many others as an innovative, delicious tour de force. And it's hard to argue that the burger lacks any important breakfast components. To the contrary, it's the ideal combo of the trifecta of fast food breakfast flavors — bacon, hash browns, and egg, all topped with a quality Carl's Jr. burger for good measure.
And it's the only breakfast item you can get all day
If you sleep in, don't worry — you can still sink your greedy teeth into Carl's Jr.'s Breakfast Burger after 10:30 a.m. According to QSR Magazine, the Breakfast Burger is available all day long, as a nod to the increasingly popular desire for all-day breakfast.Still, there are a few compelling reasons to leave lunch for the afternoon hours and get your hands on the Monster Breakfast Burger first thing; it's delicious, packed with classic breakfast items, and will keep you full until mid day.According to Food Beast, Carl's Jr. broke the mold with its Breakfast Burger, thanks to the fried egg on top, a first for quick-service restaurants and chains, but it's not the first to flirt with the concept of all-day breakfast.
According to the Wall Street Journal, breakfast is a boon for fast food chains, and plenty of chains serve their breakfast long into the afternoon and evening hours (via Restaurant Clicks). So while you can't get all of Carl's Jr.'s inventive and mouthwatering breakfast delights all day, you can certainly sample the Breakfast Burger, and that's a great start.
You can order any Carl's Jr. burger for breakfast
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No matter what your favorite burger indulgence is, you can get it at any time of the day at Carl's Jr. The chain joins other fast food titans like Whataburger, Sonic, and White Castle in offering savory lunch items at the break of day (via The Takeout). While Carl's Jr. serves its whole lineup of burgers all day, the hours of operation might vary depending on where you are in the world. If the Carl's Jr. is open, it's likely to be serving up huge, delicious burgers, though. And according to company's Chief Marketing Officer, Brad Haley, the chains' regular burgers "make up a significant portion of all of the meals served in the morning"(via QSR Magazine).
This is excellent news for people who crave a Super Star with Cheese the second that they roll out of bed, and it fits in well with Carl's Jr.'s commitment to decadence and giving its customers what they want, which is clearly a vast selection of flame-grilled burgers, any time of day or night.
Get your breakfast fix at Carl's Jr. airport locations
Next time you've got an early morning flight, you may be able to forgo the lukewarm, slightly suspect plane coffee, or basic grab-and-go options, and treat yourself to Carl's Jr. before you depart. Carl's Jr. locations can be found at many airports around the country, as well as plenty of international airports.
At YVR, Vancouver, British Columbia's, international airport you'll find the yummy promise of "craveable breakfasts" alongside sammies, salads, and Carl's Jr.'s signature gourmet burgers. Turkey's Istanbul Airport also boasts a Carl's Jr., promising travel-weary customers a "stylish lobby" and super fast service. France's Charles de Gaulle has a Carl's Jr. too, plus two other Carl's Jr.'s locations in the country, and Australia's Brisbane AirportCarl's Jr. promises solidly good comfort food, tasty burgers, and fresh milkshakes, as well as local breakfast favorites like the BBQ Bacon and Egg Big Brekkie.
While you'll find variations on the Carl's Jr. theme, all of these restaurants stay true to form with bold sandwiches and tasty breakfast burgers that will make you feel refreshed and ready to tackle anything, including a long flight. The airports inMexico City, Tijuana, andGuadalajaraall host Carl's Jr. restaurants, and if you're flying domestically, chances are you'll be pleasantly surprised by a Carl's Jr. near your terminal. Find Carl's Jr.'s rib-sticking comfort food at John Wayne Santa Anain California, theSan Juan Airportin Puerto Rico, andLAX,to name a few.
Can't get to Carl's Jr.? Hardees offers a near-identical menu
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Sometimes you just can't get to a Carl's Jr., but if you're in the southern United States, the Midwest, or live on the East Coast, you can hit up a nearly identical chain and get the same excellent service and food. According to Consumer Reports, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. are nearly interchangeable, thanks to their shared parent company, CKE Restaurants. As a result, the two amplify each other, and we can largely thank Hardees for Carl's Jr.'s incredible breakfast menu.
According to the LA Times, Hardee's is simply Carl's Jr. for the East Coast and southern states — down to the branding, sandwich names, and similar breakfast items. Hardee's early morning menu features the same fluffy biscuits you'll find at Carl's Jr., breakfast sandwiches, and delicious hybrids like the Loaded Omelet Biscuit that's crammed with breakfast goodies including several different types of meat and plenty of gooey cheddar cheese to tie it together.
Carl's Jr. makes all of its biscuits from scratch
If you've ever wondered how Carl's Jr. manages to get that ideal doughy-but-light biscuit consistency that's so on point, the truth is that they have several secret weapons. According to the OC Register, Carl's Jr. has several on-site biscuit bagels whose sole purpose is to crank out fresh trays of buttery biscuit goodness every single morning. Eschewing your standard frozen biscuits, Carl's Jr. embraces biscuits from scratch, making them steaming fresh and ready to pile up with eggs, cheeses, and meats every day.And you can thank Hardee's commitment to biscuit excellence for Carl's Jr.'s homestyle and freshly made offerings.
The homemade biscuit recipe at Carl's Jr. comesstraight from its sister restaurant, Hardee's. Hardee's has been proudly producing mouthwatering breakfast biscuits for over 50 years, so when the parent company decided to roll out fresh biscuits at Carl's Jr., they saw no reason to tweak the formula. Carl's Jr. rolled out Hardee's biscuits in select southern California markets in 2011 (via QSR). At the time, breakfast makes up a hefty slice of Hardee's overall profits, while Carl's Jr.'s breakfast was a bit on the skimpier side, which might be why they decided to add the famous flaky biscuits.Since Carl's Jr. and Hardees are two peas in one tasty pod, you'll get the Hardee's standard of biscuit approval on all Carl's Jr. breakfast biscuits.
You'll enjoy cage-free eggs on Carl's Jr.'s breakfast sammies
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In 2007, Carl's Jr. and its sister company, Hardee's, made a cruelty-free pledge to use cage-free eggs and crate-free pork in their products, according to NBC News. This commitment to patronize specific suppliers was lauded by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as it was implemented across thousands of stores across the country. Hardee's and Carl's Jr. joined other fast food giants like Bob Evans, White Castle, Burger King, P.F. Chang's, and Tim Hortons in the dramatic move to use cage-free eggs (via WATT Poultry).
According to WATT Poultry, the move shows a shift in industry standards, with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Target, ConAgra, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Wendy's, among others, already committing in 2016. As a result, Carl's Jr. should be completely cage-free in the next three years, so you can indulge in those massive breakfast sammies without any guilt.
If you're counting calories, go for the biscuits and gravy
Sticking to a diet while noshing at Carl's Jr. is a tricky feat, but it's not totally impossible. While none of the breakfast sandwiches, sides, or sweets will count as rabbit food, a few are better than others. In short, you can get your Carl's Jr. breakfast fix in while still mostly adhering to your diet goals. The famous Biscuit 'N' Gravy will hit that savory spot and fill you up for 500 calories, nearly half of what you'd be ingesting if you opted for the Monster Biscuit. Plus, you'll still get to snack on one of Carl's Jr.'s homemade, fluffy biscuits.
On the other hand, don't be fooled by the sweets and sides. Carl's Jr.'s rich and decadent Cinnamon Roll may look appealing, but it's best not to heed the siren song of gooey icing and ribbons of cinnamon — at least if you want to stick to your calorie limits. This decadent treat is 520 calories for a single cinnamon roll, and that likely won't really fill you up. And same goes for the French Toast Dips.
Vegetarians can enjoy Beyond Meat options
Although Carl's Jr. might have a reputation for celebrating all things meaty and greasy, vegetarians can still get their Carl's Jr. breakfast fix, thanks to Beyond Meat. According to CNN, both Carl's Jr. and Hardee's incorporated Beyond Meat into the burritos, sausage biscuits, and a limited-edition BBQ cheeseburger. You can also get the chain's iconic Super Star Burger with a totally meat-free patty. Vegans can request Carl's Jr. to hold the cheese and mayo.
But the possibilities go beyond that. According to Carl's Jr., hungry patrons can swap in a Beyond Burger patty for any meat-based patty. Although Beyond Burgers are vegetarian, plenty of sandwiches still have non-vegan ingredients, so Carl's Jr. cautions guests that they can't expect a fully vegan experience, especially in a shared kitchen. Still, the step is a welcome accommodation for vegetarians, and Carl's Jr.'s embrace of Beyond Sausage puts it in unique, progressive, and delicious company (via The Beet).
King's Hawaiian rolls might be the next thing on the menu
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According to Consumer Affairs, fluffy, sweet, legendary King's Hawaiian rolls could be hitting a Carl's Jr. breakfast menu near you. Although Carl's Jr.'s biscuits are indeed the stuff of dreams, King's Hawaiian rollsare no slouch in the craveable carb department. According to Reader's Digest, King's Hawaiian rolls benefit from their flaky but luscious consistency and semi-sweet flavor. Plus, it's hard to forget that bright orange packaging. Incorporating King's Hawaiian rolls is a smart move that shows that Carl's Jr. has its finger on the pulse of what's hot, and that it's not afraid to get creative with new ideas.
According to Trendhunter, the King's Hawaiian breakfast sandwiches are test items in markets like Charleston South Carolina, and Salt Lake City, Utah. Carl's Jr. will also have some King's Hawaiian sandwiches available for lunch and dinner, adding to some of its top specialty burgers and crispy chicken sandwiches. Whether it will take off or not is anyone's guess, but it's certainly a fun, innovative, and sweet idea.
You can customize your Carl's Jr. breakfast with some cool hacks
If you're looking to customize your breakfast order to your particular tastes, or stick to your keto meal plan, you can hack your Carl's Jr. breakfast. According to Reddit, the steak and egg burrito, sans tortilla, is a ketolicious favorite that you can get for just around $3. Additionally, vegans can save money on their Beyond Burgers (via Reddit). One of Carl's Jr.'s more common, and healthiest hacks is forgoing the bread for a lettuce wrap (via QSR). Instead of your carb-laden bun, you can up the nutritional count a smidge and cut back on those calories with a lettuce shell instead.
If you do decide to opt for bread, but want a little California twist, ask for sourdough. Apparently, you can trade your standard buns for sourdough ones, even on that big and beautiful Monster Breakfast Burger.
Get deals and discounts on your favorite Carl's Jr. Meals
if you want to save a few bucks on your next Carl's Jr. order, there are plenty of ways to keep your cash and get your fluffy biscuits and gravy, too. According to The Krazy Coupon Ladyyou'll get good deals on breakfast faves by ordering them off the Carl's Jr. app. Plus, if you fill out a survey post checkout, you'll get buy-one-get-one sandwiches the next time you swing in. And of course, military members and seniors always get 10% off.
Also, asGuilty Eatsnotes,you can rack up some tasty treats at both Hardee's and Carl's Jr. to get you some free or seriously discounted eats through their rewards program. Depending on when and where you sign up for the program, you might even get one of Carl's Jr.'s top burgers or sammies as a nice thank you gift. Do a little legwork in advance, and you'll reap the delicious rewards later.
You can also check in at Carl's Jr.'s website or Grouponor Don't Pay Fullto see what promotions are happening in your area. These cash-saving hacks will give you more Breakfast Burger for your buck, and help you snack smart er next time you find yourself at Carl's Jr.
