Fast Food Breakfast Items That Horrified The Internet

There is something so deeply satisfying about a fast food breakfast. Maybe it's the low price, the convenience, or the comfort of eating something sure to be delicious (albeit not always healthy). Fast food breakfasts are unpretentious, filling, and they value great taste above all else. From the McDonald's McGriddle to the Chick-Fil-A Chicken Biscuit to the White Castle Belgian Waffle Slider, there's no breakfast too decadent or too out there to suit at least someone's taste. Americans are devoted to their beloved fast food breakfast options, which is why these chains have been caught in a neck-and-neck breakfast war for years, vying to earn your love and devotion.

But like anything in life, fast food breakfasts can sometimes miss the mark. And when they do, people tend to get angry. And when people get angry, where do they go? The internet, of course. Because sometimes a fast food breakfast item is so horrendous, so gross, so misguided, that there's nothing else you can do but scream into the void that is social media. Read on for an appetite-eliminating collection of some of the worst morning meal offenders that horrified the internet.

Wendy's has only been in the breakfast game for a couple of years, first launching their line of early morning offerings right before the pandemic hit in 2020 (via CNN). They've been dipping their toes slowly in the fast food breakfast pool. In fact, they only just recently introduced some new items, a full two years after they started offering a breakfast menu. With any new endeavor there's bound to be some missteps, which hopefully explains what happened with Wendy's Sausage, Egg, and Swiss Croissant sandwich. Based on the name, you'd think this would be a real slam dunk of a sandwich, but according to people on Reddit, it was more of a foul play. 

The problem seems to be that the "Swiss" in this Sausage, Egg, and Swiss Croissant is really a Swiss cheese sauce, which according to Reddit, is a very poor replacement for a single slice of regular Swiss cheese. The original poster went so far as to say, "I had to wipe it off and it's still nasty. Can't even eat this sandwich." And there are other comments devoted to this terrible cheese concoction, including one thread where someone thought the sauce was mayo and was confused about why it was being served on a breakfast sandwich. Hopefully Wendy's swaps this weird sauce out with real cheese and scores some points with breakfast lovers.

For the most part, everyone loves cupcakes and everyone loves pancakes. So how could combining the two into one breakfast item ever go wrong? IHOP's Cupcake Pancakes don't beat around the bush — this is straight-up junk food for breakfast and it doesn't pretend to be otherwise. But the fact that these sprinkle-filled pancakes, topped with cupcake icing and whipped cream, are a whopping 821 calories isn't what has gotten the internet all fired up. 

The problem lies with the fact that we eat with our eyes. And when your eyes land upon the IHOP Cupcake Pancakes, they see something they're not supposed to see at the breakfast table. Namely, a biological substance that shall not be named. If you don't want to use your imagination, look no further than Reddit, which features an entire thread devoted to the subject matter. One Redditor also described the look of this dish as a "clown tumor," which is harsh but also perhaps fair. 

In the cupcake pancakes' defense, if you can get past how they look, they do seem to taste delicious. However, there's only so much of this stuff you can eat. According to one diner on Reddit, "They taste great, but about a few bites in, you realize you're shaving years off your life and it kind of ruins the experience." It's no wonder almost 28% of people polled by Mashed said the Cupcake Pancakes would be their last choice when ordering at IHOP.

Taco Bell entered the fast food breakfast game back in 2014 (via The Fool). But off the bat, its breakfast menu proved to be a less-than-worthy competitor against breakfast titans like McDonald's or Jack in the Box for a few reasons. Chief among them is that Taco Bell's breakfast items are pretty out there. Case in point: this completely unappealing lump of meat that is supposed to be a Taco Bell Breakfast Waffle Taco shared on Reddit. The poster said this was their, "First and last Taco Bell breakfast taco." The photo shows what looks like an entire hamburger patty covered in melted cheese, falling out of a waffle that is standing in for a tortilla.

The Reddit thread made it clear that the internet has already been abuzz with Taco Bell's bizarre waffle tacos. "I've seen nothing but posts on how disgusting this stuff is, yet I still want to go out and try one of everything," says one Redditor. Another post shared a waffle taco overflowing with so much meat and cheese, they labeled it, "A delicious heart attack taco." In fact, Taco Bell has acknowledged its breakfast failures. The chain launched a campaign with comedian Pete Davidson that features him apologizing on behalf of the taco chain for their overly ambitious breakfast fails, including the waffle taco. At least they know how to laugh at themselves!

Any Canadian will tell you that getting your morning coffee and breakfast from beloved national chain Tim Hortons is akin to patriotism. Some would say Tim Hortons coffee runs through the veins of all good Canadians, and "Timmy's" is a quintessential part of Canadian culture at this point (via The Guardian). Which is why it's so surprising to see so many threads on Reddit dedicated to just how awful the chain's breakfast sandwiches are. One perplexed Redditor over on r/Canada posted a complaint about the rubbery, unappetizing texture of their breakfast sandwich eggs, an act that to many might be called treason. But this Redditor was not alone, with one person commenting, "Tim Hortons pulled off the best marketing campaign ever, convincing Canadians that going to Tim's is their patriotic duty." 

Tim Hortons managed to further outrage their countrymen on a grand scale when they swapped out their scrambled, omelette-style eggs with "real egg" patties that featured more distinct egg whites and egg yolks (via Vancouver is Awesome.) Canadians unanimously agreed that this new egg patty was disgusting to look at, and the texture was described as spongy and stringy, words you really never want to use when describing your eggs. Canadians went so far as to create an online petition demanding their beloved Timmy's bring back the old eggs. Let's hope Tim Hortons does the right thing and restores national peace once again.

Like many of its predecessors, in 2013 Dunkin Donuts joined the ranks of fast food chains pulling stunts with an over-the-top breakfast innovation, the glazed donut breakfast sandwich. It included a (reconstituted) egg, meat, and cheese, served between a glazed donut cut in half. It all feels inevitable, really. And as it was designed to do, the glazed donut breakfast sandwich caused a fervor on the internet that ranged from horror to — and perhaps this is more horrifying — absolutely giddy anticipation. On Twitter, one person lamented, "I've given up on humanity," while another person celebrated by tweeting, "this is the epitome of everything that is right with America!!!!" It should be noted that despite resembling a heart attack in one meal, the glazed donut breakfast sandwich was mystifyingly somehow only 360 calories (via The Atlantic).

Love it or hate it, the glazed donut breakfast sandwich definitely got people talking, but it didn't seem to live up to the hype. As predicted by people on Reddit, the real deal did not look anything like the glossy, plush sandwich depicted in promotional materials. Instead it was a sad, smushed egg sandwich served cold to preserve the donut glaze (via Gothamist). Nothing like some cold eggs and meat stuffed inside a donut to start your day! Only in America.

People sure seem to love getting mad about things on the internet, and Cracker Barrel found this out the hard way when they announced they'd be offering Impossible Sausage, a plant-based alternative to their breakfast sausages. According to Insider, the decision to include this new menu item stemmed from customer demand, but that didn't stop other angry Cracker Barrel devotees from taking to Facebook to express their dismay. "Fake meat full of chemicals and fillers is better for you than actual meat?? Man, some people are delusional and easily manipulated," commented one person. Another chimed in: "I can't believe Cracker Barrel has bought into this 'fake meat' junk!" Some seemed to think Cracker Barrel was making a political statement by offering Impossible Sausage, commenting: "Once you go woke, you go broke."

However, plenty of other commenters expressed their excitement at having a non-meat option at Cracker Barrel. Obviously, vegetarians and vegans were pleased, but one person pointed out that her son, who suffers from a rare protein allergy that makes animal meat a no-go for him, would be thrilled at this development. Plenty of other people simply poked fun at how angry people were getting about Cracker Barrel offering Impossible Sausage, with comments like, "people are really angry about vegan sausage. I hope if they make a gluten free biscuit it starts an all out riot!"

Burger King released a line of Cheesy Breakfast Melts that, based on their description, should have been pretty tasty. Melted cheese and meat sandwiched between two thick pieces of Texas toast. How could that be bad? Well, where there's a will, there's a way, and according to the internet, BK did indeed bungle this breakfast melt. One Redditor shared a truly unappetizing picture of their sloppy bacon cheesy melt with the caption, "Eat it if you dare." Others chimed in to agree that these greasy sandwiches are probably not the best way to start your day, with one Redditor commenting, "That picture looks like heartburn waiting to happen." 

Over at The Takeout, their reviewer tried all three of the Burger King Cheesy Breakfast Melts and easily concluded that you can "skip all of them." They were wildly inconsistent in terms of how toasted the bread was (a pretty critical factor in making these tasty, never mind edible). Luckily for Burger King, many on the internet seem to agree that the other items on the breakfast menu are pretty good, even if their opinion of the chain overall have seriously dwindled.  

Anything called an aPORKalypse should probably be approached with caution. Hardee's released the Aporkalypse burrito and biscuit breakfast items in 2017, and as the former Hardee's Chief Marketing Officer explained to Business Wire, this overflowing burrito that harkens images of the end of times was indeed cooked up by an advertising agency, which means it's essentially a gimmick. 

So what exactly is an aporkalypse burrito? It's four slices of ham, three strips of bacon, a sausage patty, scrambled eggs, and two types of cheese, all rolled up inside a tortilla. If you think that sounds unhealthy, you'd be correct, as this burrito contains 145% of both your daily saturated fat and cholesterol intake, not to mention more than 1,100 calories (via myfitnesspal).

If your first thoughts upon looking at this Aporkalypse burrito are "ew" and "um, no thanks," just know there are others on Reddit who had those exact same responses. Hardee's also announced this new monster burrito on Twitter and the response was about the same, with one person responding, "I tried this today. One of the worst things I've ever had from a fast food restaurant... disappointing." On the other hand, the fact that some people on the internet seemed excited to try this pork filled burrito is perhaps the biggest harbinger of the end times.

You might be surprised to see this sandwich on our list, because for the most part the Wendy's Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant Sandwich has been met with enthusiastic reviews from fast food breakfast fans. It's so popular, it's even spawned some copycat recipes out there. The problem with this popular chicken breakfast sammie is that there seems to be a real lack of consistency when it comes to how they cook the chicken at Wendy's. For example, one horrified Wendy's fan took to Reddit to share that when they bit into their beloved maple bacon chicken breakfast sandwich, they realized the chicken was still completely raw on the inside. As one Redditor quipped, "You got the limited edition raw breakfast." Not the best way to start your day.

Unfortunately, this Redditor was not alone in their experience. Plenty of other outraged people have used the internet as a platform to share their raw chicken experiences at Wendy's. As one former Wendy's manager on Reddit explained, the chicken patties are still frozen when they go into the deep fryer, so cooking time is paramount. So when it's breakfast rush time, you may run the risk of your Maple Bacon Chicken Croissant Sandwich coming out of that fryer too soon. Chomp with caution.

Subway's long time slogan has been "Eat Fresh." So it's ironic that they're serving breakfast flatbread sandwiches with eggs inside that are decidedly anything but fresh. According to Forbes, Subway's breakfast flatbread sandwiches contained an egg patty that isn't just eggs. In fact, the eggs are made with something called a "premium egg blend" that contains more than a dozen ingredients. While some of those ingredients do indeed include whole eggs and egg whites, several of the other ingredients were chemical preservatives. Fun fact: You can find dImethylpolysiloxane in your Subway Flatbread eggs, a silicone also found in Silly Putty. Yum?

It shouldn't be a huge surprise then that an egg flatbread sandwich made with silicone would taste bad, and customers have taken to Reddit to say just this very thing. "I love subway but their breakfasts are awful," says one Redditor. And another person on Reddit explains that these egg concoctions are actually made in an off-site factory, frozen, then shipped to each store where they're reheated individually in a microwave. Insert screaming face emoji here.

Chick-Fil-A is a fast food chain known for its fair share of political controversy, but now they can add breakfast drama to their list. This time, the offending breakfast items are the Chick-Fil-A Chicken Minis, which are essentially tiny fried chicken sliders, but for breakfast. Now, the main complaint with these minis isn't that they're disgusting, although there are some people on the internet who complain that they're the "worst fast food breakfast item available" because they're dry due to a bad bread-to-meat ratio. But the real problem seems to be that these minis are really mini, and people on Reddit are convinced they're getting even tinier over time. As one thread asks, "Is it just me or did the chicken minis get smaller?" People are even lodging this complaint over on Tripadvisor, this time for a Virginia Chick-Fil-A location, although it seems to be a more widespread issue.

The Chicken Minis aren't the only Chick-Fil-A item that the internet suspects has shrunk over time. And it's safe to say that a chain that specializes in chicken should probably make sure they have adequate amounts of it to keep their customers – and the internet – happy!