I Tried 24-Hour Restaurants at 2AM

Believe it or not, there's only a few 24-hour restaurant chains left in America today. These places are open through the darkest hours of the night. Normally, I'm an in-bed-by-9pm type of guy, but my wife is having a baby soon and I need to prepare for those late nights. Which is exactly why I've made a list of every 24-hour restaurant in my city. And over the next few nights, I'm gonna be hitting them all so that I can find the best one. I will see you guys in the morning. I know those golden arches from a mile away. McDonald's, ladies and gentlemen. It is literally the middle of the night. This place is much busier than I expected. The drive-thru is packed right now. It is right off a highway, so it just feels busier than it should be at this hour. But before we go inside, let me explain to you how we're gonna be finding the best 24-hour restaurant chain. I'm gonna be judging each restaurant based on customer service, time it takes to get the food, and food quality. Then, I'm gonna be giving them a rank. Let's go check this place out. Despite what Google said, the lobby is closed here. But it looks like Mickey D's is just gonna have to be a good old-fashioned drive-thru run. But don't worry, I know for a fact that some of the restaurants on my list, we will definitely be able to go inside. I think I will just do a number one, a Big Mac. No, man, I think that's all. I think it's Big Mac for a big guy on a late night. Big Mac for a big guy. That dude seemed chill. Seemed like he had a good attitude for working in the middle of the night right now. Now, the real question is, how long is this gonna take? Moving pretty quick. I'm very hopeful about this. Oh, hey. Oh, how's it going? I was like, dude, this guy's working in the middle of the night, and you seem like you're just having a good time. What was your name? Caleb. Yep. Antonio, great to meet you, bro. Caleb had every right to roast me for my bad dad joke, but he abstained. All right, here we go. Thank you. What's up, man? I got the fresh fries. Yeah. Let's go. All right, drive safe. You too. Guy said drive safe, and I said you too. Everybody in there had just like big smiles, good attitudes, good vibe. Let's see about this food quality. Not gonna lie, these look really good. McDonald's fries hot are the only way to go. After they're cold, like two seconds after they turn cold, instantly bad. But when they're hot, just melt in your mouth. Stop yapping. Let's start eating. So good. Not gonna lie, the bun was a little dry on this. The patty, though, is hot. Makes me feel better. Feels more fresh. Good, not great. That's America's drink right there. Diet Coke, baby. Pretty solid, not gonna lie. There's only one more thing we got to do here. It's time to give this bad boy a rank. By the way, I'm not just gonna rank things based on whether or not I like them. I'm ranking them based on whether or not I think my wife is going to like them. Because if you've seen any of my videos, you know that she's usually involved in taste testing the best item. Although most of this video is gonna be taking place during the middle of the night, once we find the best restaurant, let's just say I have a little sunrise surprise. All jokes aside, I am incredibly tired right now. This is just night one of essentially a new evening routine. And there's a part of me that is concerned about the implications of this challenge on every area of my life. So, that being said, it's time to go try another restaurant. My friends, we have a bit of a problem. We have just arrived at Denny's. And although this sign right here says open 24 hours in two different places, this Denny's is in fact not open 24 hours. But alas, it looks like I'm gonna have to go find another Denny's. Gotta extend the night a little bit longer, I guess. Who needs sleep? Who needs it? Who needs it? Update my friends, we found the right Denny's. And they had to drive like another 20 minutes. This place is pretty empty. The exception of quite a few Uber Eats or DoorDashers popping in to pick up orders. Oh, he's in pajamas too. It's pretty quiet. I'm really curious to see how the food tastes at this hour. I did come to Denny's late at night at my worst restaurants video. And it was really good. However, I was comparing it to the worst restaurant chains in America. Curious to see how it does compared to some of these other restaurants. There's some really strong contenders. So let's go get this bread, shall we? Hello, how's it going? Am I able to dine in? Yeah. Oh, nice. Did you just win that? Yeah. Wait, I thought those were all rigged. No, I win stuff out of it all the time. Can you show me how to do it after I order? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Their menu was expansive, but I decided to ask Al what I should get. The most popular thing is the T-bone. We run out of them because people won't stop eating. They eat it down to the bone and some of them eat the bone. Okay, I'll try the T-bone. After I got my order in, it was time to go check out this claw machine. Al gave me a lesson on how to approach this strategically. You have to do it at an angle around the foot. Does that make sense? And after a lesson on how to do this thing the optimal way, it was time for me to try. Attempt number one. Unfortunately, my mistakes were literally costing me. Here it goes, here it goes, here it goes. It's definitely getting it. Here we go. Denise, are you kidding me right now? Best customer service by far. Literally taught me how to do the claw machine and we won something together. Timeliness, the food came out like that. Surprisingly, I'm not the only one at this restaurant right now. There is, I think, eight or nine other people here. But enough yapping, it's time to try this food. Steak from a breakfast place is pretty interesting. Don't know if I'm sold on it. The high from the win and how fast it came out kind of elevates this experience, if I'm being honest. Do you enjoy working the late night shift here? I like having to do them alone. It's crazy at like 3 or 4 in the morning. Yeah, and I'm like, oh my god, where else are people coming from? Al definitely made this night at Denise unforgettable. Everybody comment, Al is the best, in case she sees this. I need a break. I need a meal I can actually trust. And that's where the sponsor of today's video, CookUnity, comes in clutch. CookUnity delivers chef-made, restaurant-quality meals straight to your door. These aren't frozen or mass-produced. They're fresh, crafted by award-winning chefs from top restaurants all over the country. Today, I'm having the street-style steak burrito with rice and pinto beans. It honestly looks fire, especially after what I've been eating. It's from chef Maribel Ribeiro. Super easy to make. Let's give it a try, shall we? That's actually so good. I'm not even capping. That's really, really, really good. The best part of this is there are hundreds of meals to choose from. Whatever your diet, vegan, keto, high-protein, there's something for you. Seriously saves so much time. No grocery shopping, no meal planning, no dishes. And right now, CookUnity is offering my viewers 50% off your first order. Just hit the link in my description and use my code at checkout to try it for yourself. Huge thanks to CookUnity for sponsoring this video. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to eat something I'm really excited about. What an experience, Denny's. What. An. Excuse. Me. B tier. Unless the rest of these places are under that, Holland and I won't be having Denny's for our picnic. The sun is going to come up any time now, and I am absolutely exhausted. I'm going to go home and go to bed and do it all over again. Please subscribe. Night one had officially come to an end, and I was already a little bit concerned about how the rest of this week was going to go. Good evening, everybody. What should I say? Good morning. First restaurant of tonight, I am dreading. If you've watched any number of my videos, you know that it is my least favorite fast food chain. I'll just say it. It's name rhymes with taco hell. Anytime I pass people at this hour, I always wonder, like, where are you headed? If I follow that train of thought a little bit too long, it starts to freak me out, so. All right, we're pulling up. It's crazy how America is, because from standing right at this spot, I can see an Arby's, a McDonald's, a Subway, all within walking distance. I wish I could say this is my first time at a Taco Bell in the middle of the night, but unfortunately, I can't. It feels pretty normal. Six cars in the parking lot and a guy on a motorcycle who's looking at me. Let's go in. The 24-hour part of Taco Bell was just a drive-through. So sorry, so is your inside closed after a certain hour? Oh, okay, got it. Is that, like, all locations? Okay, nice, sweet. Could I just do Crunchwrap Supreme and I'll do a Baja Blast. It's hard to accurately rate customer service because these people are working so hard. They're working in the middle of the night. I know that I'm not always the happiest in the middle of the night. Thank you. I'm back. I totally forgot to order a Diet Coke. I meant to do it, but I forgot to taco about it. Okay, thank you. That wasn't even a joke. I didn't even execute it appropriately. Oh, can I pay? Don't worry about it. Are you sure? Thank you so much. That is so kind. Bag secured. My opinion, this lady that literally gave us a free Diet Coke was very kind, even if she just gave it to us because she thought I was creepy. It's also a possibility. Regardless, customer service was good. The time was questionably quick, I would say. We're going to be testing the Crunchwrap Supreme in the middle of the night here at Taco Bell and the Baja Blast. Thank you, Lord, for this Crunchwrap Supreme. It's actually warm. All right, I got to be honest. This is impressing me. This is actually not bad. Taco Bell is slowly reworking its reputation. Typically, I'm deep in rim cycle right now. My body is freaking out. It just ingested a significant amount of processed food when it should be asleep. But boy, is it tasty. That's a Baja Blast. It tastes like drinking sweet battery acid that just shocks the bones. I just feel like I took a cold shower. I couldn't mess up this ranking. It has to be something my wife will also like. This night is not over. I hop you like pancakes. Because next stop, we're on our way to... When I pulled up, the whole staff was just chilling outside, so we walked in together. Morning, how's it going? Absolutely. Nice night outside. Am I the only one here? Sorry to interrupt. Booth is fine. It's nice and cold in here. And that's when my boy Reese pulled up at 3 o'clock in the morning. Everyone needs a friend like Reese. I got a Crunchwrap Supreme in the car with your name on it. I'm going to demolish that thing. Thank you so much. You're welcome. So what are the busiest hours in the middle of the night? I just got over lunch. Are you a night owl? This is my first time ever being the only one at a night out. The whole staff was sitting out there just waiting for customers to come because nobody was here. Because number one, it's freezing in here. And number two, it's empty. But if I'm being honest, the vibes are up. It's clean. There's music bumping. Reese and I are just chopping it up in here. And now the real question is, how long is it going to take to get our food in the middle of the night with no one else here? We shall see. We sat here and talked, and honestly, for a second, we forgot that it was 3 o'clock in the morning. This looks great. That hoppin's good. Okay, I'm sorry. The fact that we could just come somewhere at 3 o'clock in the morning and they can make this hot, fresh food still blows my mind. Great texture here. Very fluffy. Maybe it's just the fact that it's in the middle of the night. This is so good. Try some hash browns. Gotta be honest, guys. This is giving Denny's a run for their money. Comment down below what's better. If you've been to these places, Denny's or IHOP. Right now, I'm thinking IHOP. This is what it feels like to be at an IHOP in the middle of the night, huh? Pretty cool, my friend. Pretty cool. You guys are on top of the IHOP sign right now. Let's write the rating. Let's go. Bet you didn't expect the next shot to be of me at the airport, did ya? Because I'm going somewhere special, friends. Stay tuned. See, my friend Addy texted me that just a few weeks ago, he went to 24-hour restaurants on the West Coast. He's gonna post a video about it, so stay tuned. But he inspired me not to fly West, but South. Good morning, good morning, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We are at Whataburger. But we're not just at any Whataburger. We've come all the way to the home of Whataburger. The great country of Texas. Yes, I got on a plane and I flew here just to come to this Whataburger. And it is surprisingly, incredibly packed. This is the busiest restaurant that we've been to this week. But I couldn't just come to this Whataburger by myself. Now I had to call in backup for this one. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the second pajama brother, Tyler Spears. What's up, dude? First time appearance, honored to be here. A little tired. Tyler is really excited to be going to Whataburger at 3 o'clock in the morning right now. Guys, I can confirm, Tonio does not fake his videos. It is 2.58 in the morning. Let's go. I might be the only Texan in existence to not like Whataburger. Here's the thing I'm worried about. Whataburger known for being greasy. At 3 a.m., I think it's even gonna be worse. We gotta get this guy some food. So let's head inside, see what Whataburger's like at 3 o'clock in the morning. Dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude. Dude, dude, dude, dude, dude, dude. It is absolutely packed in here right now. I would say we do not fit in here at all. After looking at the menu for a split second, it became very clear what we needed to order. And Tyler was still hesitant. But it was fine. We ordered and we headed to our seats. It's a party in here right now. What are your first impressions? I honestly feel like it is more crowded right now at 3 a.m. than like 6 p.m. Yeah, this is definitely the most live restaurant we've been to so far. But I kind of love it because it's helping me wake up. I was super tired when we got here. Just being in here is tricking my circadian rhythm into thinking that it's like the middle of the day. Customer service was about what you would expect. But the real question is, how long is it gonna take to get our food? And I'm a little bit nervous because I have a flight to catch. So I hope it doesn't take forever. Pancake platter. This honestly looks really good. The pancakes look high quality and they are steaming. Look. Tyler, what did you get? This is the sausage biscuit. I know I took a little bit of a risk with the sausage. And I don't think it paid off. Bro, these kind of hit. Not gonna lie. How's yours? This might be the most big piece of food I've ever put in my mouth. Bro's a hater on Whataburger. Bro, what's wrong with this? What's wrong with this? My palate is not refined. I have the palate of like a three year old. I have one more thing I want you to try. Okay. The honey butter chicken biscuit. We got honey butter, fried chicken, and a biscuit. Go for it. Okay. I do like it more than the sausage. Yeah, it hits. This guy outside of the window was staring at us for a few minutes. So we took that as our sign to leave. Delicious. Now we gotta rank this. And just like that, it was time to hop back on the plane and head home. Because this week wasn't over yet, my friends. Just like that, we got one more restaurant left. Alright, bro. Never forget. This year has been an absolute whirlwind. I love the opportunity to create and tell stories. And just go on these fun adventures with you guys. It brings me so much joy reading the comments. For me, this is more than just making silly little videos. This is like about connecting with people. There's so much negativity all the time on social media. But my prayer is that whenever you watch one of my videos, instead of walking away feeling depleted, you walk away feeling energized. That's my goal. I know I don't always hit the mark, but I'm super thankful for you watching. And I really think this is just the beginning. If you're from the South, Waffle House is pretty much equivalent to like Disney World. So I'm excited to go in here. One thing I will miss about this week is just how peaceful and quiet it is. These hours of the night. The whole world is asleep right now. It's kind of like a wild thought. Well, I mean, I guess a little bit of the world. But anyways, okay. Let's go. I'm excited for this. The first thing I noticed when I walked in this place was that I was the only person here. The second thing I noticed was a jukebox in the corner, which got me excited. I'm surprised there's not like anybody in here. You guys don't play music or anything? Oh, I can play the jukebox? Yeah. No way. Thank you so much. So I just put a track on this. What should I play? Whatever you want. If they have it, do it. I threw on some tunes and it helped a lot because this place was dead quiet before that. And then my food was ready. And the wait time was really fast. It was at this moment that I completely forgot to talk because I was enjoying the food so much. Also, I was completely sleep deprived. But this meal won by far out of all of the meals I had eaten. It was so tasty. The clean environment, the friendly staff, the quick time, the delicious food only meant one thing. It feels good to see the sun again. And the bag has been secured. Or should I say, the basket has been secured. I'm going to set this up and get Holland out here to try everything. All right, we got the food. Now let's go get the lady. This week was so fun. As silly of a challenge as it was. It got me less nervous and more excited for the late nights that we have coming ahead with this new baby. And it was a good lesson for me because sometimes doing silly stuff like this makes average life just way more fun. Waffle House, we know who to call when we need a late night snack. We'll see you in the next one. Hey guys, it's After Video Tonio here. I really hope you liked it. YouTube and myself have been talking and we really think you're going to like this one as well. So stick around for a little bit.