Taco Bell is giving out free burritos as fast food pushes back into breakfast

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Taco Bell is giving out free burritos as fast food pushes back into breakfast
Taco Bell is giving out free breakfast burritos. Taco Bell
  • Taco Bell is giving out free breakfast burritos on October 21 from 7 to 11 a.m.
  • There are three varieties of burritos customers can choose from.
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Taco Bell is giving away free breakfast burritos across the US on Thursday to mark the return of breakfast.

Customers can get their free burrito from 7 to 11 a.m. local time. There are three varieties: the $1.29 Cheesy Toasted Breakfast Burrito is made with eggs, nacho cheese sauce, and sausage. The Hash Brown Toasted Breakfast Burrito, starting at $2.19, is made with bacon or sausage, eggs, a cheese blend, and a hash brown. Finally, the Grande Toasted Breakfast Burrito includes a double serving of scrambled eggs, the cheese blend, potato bites, tomatoes, and bacon or sausage for $2.89.

The promotion is tied to breakfast returning to Taco Bell menus; the chain says breakfast is served at 90% of US restaurants today. Breakfast was one of the first things to go early in the pandemic, and in March 2020 the chain announced that some stores would stop serving breakfast. Sales were down, and breakfast took a big hit across the fast-food industry at the time.

"The breakfast business is impacted when people aren't on the roads going to work," parent company Yum Brands CEO David Gibbs said in April 2020. "They're not going through your drive-thru for breakfast as much."

McDonald's discontinued all-day breakfast around the same time, and both chains made other menu cuts to streamline kitchens and reduce wait times.

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Now, breakfast is back across the quick-service industry, and brands are investing in promoting new offerings as workers return to offices and add breakfast stops to their routines again. Wendy's, which rolled out a new breakfast menu just weeks before the US went into lockdown, is investing $25 million into promoting its breakfast menu this year, Grace Dean reported for Insider.

As part of Taco Bell's promotion, the chain is releasing an illustrated bedtime story, and offering a wake-up call for customers, who can text 1-866-WAKEUP3 for a pre-recorded wakeup call on the 21st. Taco Bell is also selling a line of breakfast pajamas and accessoriess, including a bathrobe and slippers.

Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.

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