Taco Bell: Now for Breakfast

Can't wait until lunch for that burrito? Taco Bell's got your back: The fast-food chain is joining competitors in offering breakfast. The launch began today in 800 of its 5,600 restaurants, largely in the western US; if it's a success, the company hopes to take the morning menu nationwide by 2014. Among the options, priced from 99 cents to $2.79: breakfast burritos with eggs and meat, sausage and egg wraps, coffee, and orange juice.

The breakfast choices are tied to partnerships with Cinnabon, Seattle's Best, Johnsonville, and other brands. It's a tough time for restaurants as potential customers opt to save money by eating in; almost all the industry's recent growth has been in breakfast foods. But "right now we're not getting our fair share of that," an exec tells the AP. "We want to get our fair share and then some." Locations serving breakfast won't be opening as early as competitors, however, since the company is aiming at a younger, later-rising crowd. (More Taco Bell stories.)