Ex-McDonald’s Chef Reveals Why 10.30 a.m. Is a Bad Time to Order Food at the Fast Food Chain

America never sleeps. Most Americans don’t even have a personal astrologer who will pull out a card from the tarot deck and reveal the best time when you should step inside a McDonald’s joint and order a Happy Meal. Tolling the churchbell could be your sign. Or, maybe, the greatest omen is that familiar hunger monster that’s growling inside your belly, hankering for a piping hot burger patty. But wait, a former McDonald’s chef says that there’s a time of the day when you should eschew your belly’s craving and avoid ordering a meal at McDonald’s. In a TikTok video, Mike Haracz (@chefmikeharacz) shared a common horoscope that all Mickey D’s fans should diligently follow if they really desire a happy meal.

Calling out McDonald’s infamous “All-day breakfast” advertising campaign, Haracz noted that, “So all day breakfast really is not a thing anymore.” He continued by revealing that, when the clock strikes 10:30 in the morning, customers should not order a meal from McD’s. “Why is 10:30 the worst time to go to McDonald’s?” he wrote in the caption and provided an explanation in the video.

“At 10:30 am, the restaurant switches from breakfast to lunch. Now there's a bunch of people who want their breakfast later than 10:30. There's a bunch of people who want their lunch earlier than 10:30. The issue is that all of the equipment is just the same and things are switched over from the breakfast menu to the lunch menu, that means the fryers are no longer cooking Hash Browns. They’re cooking French fries,” the chef explained.

Carrying on with the details, Haracz said, “The grills have a different time and temperature. The UHC (Universal holding cabinet) holds a larger volume of cooked food items that are to serve customers extra quickly, so they can just pull things out of the cabinet. All of the breakfast ingredients and items need to be removed. All of the lunch items needed need to be added.”

The ex-chef elaborated that, at 10:30 am, the restaurant is getting busier and the menus are being switched. The breakfast items are being swapped by the lunchtime items, which “causes a lot of issues within the restaurants, so that is why 10:30 is the worst, because it is a cluster in the restaurants transitioning from breakfast to lunch.”

McDonald’s fans jumped in to share their thoughts on the bizarre timekeeping trick Haracz shared in the video. Many of them sobbed because they wanted their beloved fast food joint to bring back its All-Day Breakfast menu. “I find just after 10:30 am to be the best time to get lunch because all the lunch items are the freshest at that point,” said @gabrielbrandon.

@artief said, “My McDonald's deletes order from before 10:30 and throws away the food.” @saxon, a former McDonald’s worker, wrote, “I worked grill back in the day and changeover sucked especially on Sundays: amazing how many people forgot they had just left a church.” So, even if the church bell tolls, remember that good things come to those who wait. If it’s still 10:30 on your watch, just wait for that cheeseburger.

You can follow Mike Haracz (@chefmikeharacz) on TikTok for food and gaming content.