Little Caesars breakfast is now a reality. Can you go to your local Little Caesars location and try it? Probably not. That is unless you live in Horton, Michigan, or a handful of other locations offering what appears to be a cheesy breakfast delight between two slabs of a crust-like substance.
Chances are you’ve eaten Little Caesars for breakfast plenty of times. It just happens to be pizza left over in your refrigerator from the night before. This is different, however. This is an actual menu item, but it remains to be seen if people in other areas will get a shot at trying it.
Wow, Truly blessed to receive my 2nd Division One offer from Little Caesars University! pic.twitter.com/z4WGZ4sRlg
— Von Jalchine? (@jonvalchine) July 25, 2016
It’s interesting enough that Little Caesars is even offering breakfast at all as I can’t imagine many people even thinking about the pizza chain as an option in the morning (beyond the aforementioned leftovers scenario). More interesting still is that what they’re offering isn’t even a breakfast pizza per se. It’s actually more of a sandwich in line with more traditional fast food breakfast fare. It’s called a “pizzini”.
Yum, cardboard for breakfast. https://t.co/l3T6m0oBzS
— Andrew Krietz (@akrietz) July 31, 2016
According to Michigan’s MLive , the offering is being piloted at about 10 Little Caesars locations, with the Horton location being the only one in Michigan. It’s unclear where the other nine are, specifically, but they’re mostly in the southern U.S., the report says. The Michigan location is part of a BP gas station, which makes a lot of sense if you think about the market for a Little Caesars breakfast sandwich. We’re talking about people on the go who don’t necessarily have to stop specifically at a Little Caesars in the morning when they’re hungry on the way to work or school. Chances are, you’re already going to the gas station. If they happen to have a Little Caesars that’s serving breakfast, it’s bound to raise one of your eyebrows. It’s a pretty smart way to pilot the offering.
MLive shares some comments from manager Gary Summers:
“The biggest issue is spreading the word. The people that we get in the door, they love it. I’ve got repeat customers that come in. It’s just getting them in to try it. The usual consumer doesn’t correlate breakfast with Little Caesars…I was skeptical when I first heard. Breakfast, really? But when I tried it, I was like ‘Ooh, it’s a great product.’ People that try it, they come back.”
You don’t have to convince me, Gary. Just get it in a location near me.
The report also cites a restaurants and operations director with Corrigan Oil, who notes that the bread used on the sandwich is not used in any of Little Caesars’ pizza products. This is something completely different, so if you think you know Little Caesars, rest assured, you don’t know what you’re getting into yet with the pizzini. In what might be the marketing statement of the year, the man called the product “very comparable to any other breakfast sandwich that you’re going to get out there.”
As is par for the Little Caesars course, they’re hoping to get your business based on price point. The pizzini will run you one for $2.99 or two for $5 — roughly the cost of a Hot-N-Ready.
You can reportedly get the sandwich between 6:30 and 10:30 a.m. in egg and cheese; bacon, egg, and cheeese; and sausage, egg and cheese options. Like the restaurants and operations director implied, it’s basically like everything else out there.
It’s unclear if and when the pizzini will roll out to other Little Caesars locations. As fine as I am with a breakfast offering, if you ask me, the pizza chain should just bring back their pretzel crust pizza, and all will be right with the affordable pizza world.
[Photo by Mark A. Cunningham/Getty Images]