The Denny's Deal We Wish Would Come Back

America loves an all-you-can-eat challenge at a chain restaurant, especially when bragging rights are on the line. An example of one such glorious deal was Denny's Endless Breakfast, a promo that promised exactly what its name suggested. The deal, which offered diners as many buttermilk pancakes, cheesy scrambled eggs, and hash browns as they could tuck away for only $6.99, was launched in 2022 to help alleviate the strain on wallets as inflation soared. The breakfast feast, which could be ordered at any time on weekdays, was far from the chain's only special deal or promo. But it might have been their sweetest score. 

Sadly, Denny's only offered this perk between March and June of 2022, and there have been no mentions about plans to bring it back. The company is also shutting down 150 locations nationwide, signaling deeper woes. For now, frugal breakfast lovers will have to make do with ongoing promos at Denny's, like free meals for kids with the purchase of a $6 adult entrée, discounts for AARP members, and rewards program perks . There's also the ongoing value menu, offering numerous customizable meals in-person and online at low prices. While a good deal in itself, sadly this menu offers none of the free second (or third) helpings that made the short-lived Denny's Endless Breakfast such a steal.

Much like Olive Garden's never-ending pasta bowl, which requires a strategy to get your money's worth, there's a little number-crunching required to deduce how steep the savings of Denny's Endless Breakfast really were. Denny's still offers pancakes, eggs, and hash browns as sides. An order of two pancakes, scrambled eggs with added cheese, and hash browns totals over $10 before tax, an increase from that $6.99. And, most importantly, if you want seconds, you'll have to pay up.   

Ordering from the current $2/$4/$6/$8 value menu, you can build close to the same meal by ordering the Everyday Value Slam. Choose the pancakes, scrambled eggs (no cheese, which costs extra), and two strips of bacon (there's no hash browns option), and you'll be right at $6.99. It's a slightly different order and, of course, it's not all-you-can-eat. Still, it's the next best — and cheapest — thing.

It's unknown if Denny's ever plans to bring back the Endless Breakfast, but here's hoping. Perhaps it wasn't tenable from a business standpoint. Just look at the endless shrimp deal at Red Lobster, which might have caused the chain's bankruptcy concerns. Then again, restaurants know the average diner's eyes are bigger than their stomachs, and that most will tap out after a couple portions at most. For Denny's, the traffic and PR from this offer might have outweighed any potential losses. Case in point, we're still talking about the deal even posthumously, proving the PR payoff is real.