You wake up late to your alarm.
That McDonald’s down the street, offering over a dozen differentbreakfast items, has never sounded so good.
But the area where it truly thrives is in the arena ofbreakfast sandwiches.
Photos: McDonald’s. Design: Eat This, Not That!
Steak, Egg & Cheese McGriddle
Sadly, steak is not available at every McDonald’s location.
It’s more of a rare findso when you see it, take advantage.
At locations where it does exist, the restaurant really makes the most of it.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
The look:Dripping with grease.
The meat glistened and the wrapper looked virtually drenched.
The taste:Discordant.The usually dependable sweet-and-savory combination simply doesn’t work in this case.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
The rich meat and umami-filled onions clash with the maple-flavored griddle cakes, creating a mess of flavors.
Piling on with cheese and squishy eggs makes this sandwich feel overwhelming, to say the least.
A more neutral bread base would make a better pairing for the steak.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
The taste:About as appetizing as it looks.
The menu description suggests it comes toasted with butter, but there’s no obvious signs that ever happened.
Even the double cheese and tangy mayo-based sauce couldn’t reverse the fortunes of this one.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
Even the bacony flavor was stifled by the mass of parched bread.
It will set you back the same amount as the bacon handheld, priced at $4.99.
The look:Much more toasty than its bacon counterpart, which is a good sign.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
The taste:Better than the bacon version, though the bagel itself is still a flop.
The breakfast sauce once again sneaks by unnoticed.
Don’t forget the creamy brekkie sauce, cheesethe American kind, what else?and a folded egg.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
The look:Crackly and portly.
Even with that hole in the middle, the bread seems overwhelming.
This small victory aside, though, the sandwich still lacks flavor.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
The meat comes across like an unseasoned hamburger.
Egg McMuffin
Indubitably, the most famous Mickey D’s breakfast sandwich of all is the McMuffin.
Nowadays, you might grab one for around $3.99.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
The look:Underwhelming.
Despite its big reputation, this sandwich doesn’t make a great first impression.
The taste: Mediocre at best.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
Maybe it’s a symptom of overinflated expectations, but the seminal breakfast sandwich just feels overrated.
The Canadian bacon is hardly detectable, leaving the egg and cheese to do all the heavy lifting.
The English muffin itself is fluffy and light, but I can’t get on board with the rest.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
They’re readily available and come in sandwich form with nearly anything you want on it.
Or, you might even top the flaky quick bread with a slab of steak enriched with onions.
Cheese and egg make the cut as well and these beefy biscuits sell for $5.59.
Megan Hageman/Eat This Not That
The look:Not so beefy.
The steak is largely concealed under a stuck-on layer of cheese.
The folded egg is more prominent, spilling over the sides of the golden biscuit.
The taste:Although it has a fragile structure that easily falls apart, this biscuit is undeniably delicious.
It perfectly combines soft, salty, and buttery flavors.
The look:Almost identical to the sausage McMuffin.
The patty was thin, and the onions were sparse, so nothing groundbreaking.
However, the round egg lent the sandwich some height, pairing nicely with the fluffy muffin.
It rings up at $3.99.
The taste:Adding just one more strip of bacon could have significantly improved this item.
It would have balanced the meat-to-bread ratio and infused the sandwich with a touch more smoky flavor.
That said, it’s still a solid option.
The very prominent sausage McMuffin, on the other hand, shows up twice.
From the lightly toasted muffin to the sizzling sausage patty, it delivers on appearance.
The taste:A dependable classic, though far from the most exciting choice on the menu.
Still, in a sea of other McBreakfast options, this sandwich doesn’t do much to stand out.
The soft, pillowy cakes embrace the eggs, cheese, and bacon in a comforting way.
It will cost you 50 cents more than the BEC biscuit at $4.49.
The cheese is neatly arranged, and the biscuit bun holds together well.
The combination of cheesy egg and sausage is unbeatablefar superior to the bacon option.
This is a sandwich that’s sure to bring you joy with every bite.
Thus, griddle cakes were finally born in 2003, filled with pockets of crystallized maple.
Next, bacon, egg, and cheese were added on and later a sausage rendition was created.
Both obviously still exist todaya testament to their taste and popularity.
The sausage McGriddle will run you $4.69.
The look:Every bit as cheerful and appealing as the bacon-packed McGriddle.
Each component stands out distinctly, and the thick pancake buns are beautifully golden brown.
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