McDonald’s Curtails Late-Night Menu

In a move that could lead to faster service and make it easier for staff to work the night shift, McDonald’s is curtailing its late-night menu. The quick-service restaurant (QSR) had unveiled the menu in 2013, CNBC reported.

McDonald’s spokesperson Andrea Abate said in a statement, according to the outlet, “Starting April 30 (at participating McDonald’s restaurants nationwide), we’ll be simplifying what’s served after midnight so customers can get the most popular favorites as fast as possible.”

With the menu changes, products such as premium salads, buttermilk crispy tenders and the Filet-O-Fish won’t be available between midnight and 5 a.m. Other selections such as all-day breakfast items, Chicken McNuggets, Big Mac and McCafe items can still be ordered.

In other words, customers who visit the restaurant at night can purchase lunch and breakfast selections at restaurants that are open in the early hours of the morning. The company had launched an “After Midnight” menu only a few years ago in 2013.

The news comes after it was reported that artificial intelligence-powered personalization platform firm Dynamic Yield said it was being acquired by fast-food chain McDonald’s. Liad Agmon, the company’s chief executive, said in a blog post that the firm will play a critical role in transforming the quick-service restaurant (QSR) with digital technology so that it can improve customer service. McDonald’s is said to deploy the firm’s technology in its outdoor digital drive-thru menu displays in addition to other customer touchpoints including its company app and self-order kiosks.

Agmon wrote in the post, “When Omri Mendellevich, our CTO, and I started Dynamic Yield seven years ago, the premise of what we were building was based on customer-centric organizations making individualized experiences and personalization a strategic priority.” Agmon continued to say that the acquisition is “an endorsement of that vision as they have chosen Dynamic Yield to help power personalization across their 37,000 restaurants in 120+ markets around the world.”