Breakfast Burrito May Spice Up Sales : The addition may put new life into the major fast-food chains’ flat revenue from morning menus.

With breakfast sales as cold as yesterday’s oatmeal, fast-food chains have seized upon the breakfast burrito to put some zip in their morning menus.

The one-time dominion of catering trucks and corner burger stands, the breakfast burrito is finally being discovered by such chains as Carl’s Jr. and Taco Bell. The Del Taco/Naugle’s chain has been offering breakfast burritos for years.

It is a simple idea, really. Take your basic American breakfast--bacon and eggs--and throw it into a warm tortilla with a little grated cheese. Add salsa on the side and, ole! , it’s the breakfast burrito.

While offering the taste of a typical American cooked breakfast, the a.m. version of the Mexican-style favorite stays hot and is easy to prepare and handle. Those qualities make it well-suited to the drive-through window.

“I think it’s a great product. I think it has distinct regional appeal,” said James J. Murren, a senior analyst for the investment firm of C. J. Lawrence, Morgan Grenfell Inc. in New York.

It could also put new life into sagging breakfast sales at major chains. Sales of fast-food breakfasts were down 3% during the 12-month period ended in February, according to Arnie Schwartz of NPD/Crest, a Park Ridge, Ill., industry consultant.

“It’s been a pretty weak area . . . of the industry,” said Schwartz. She attributed the breakfast decline to health and nutritional concerns that have slowed sales throughout the fast-food industry.

Chains have responded to the sales slump by diversifying their menus. McDonald’s Corp., which introduced the fast-food breakfast with its Egg McMuffin in 1972, added apple bran muffins and dry cereal to its morning menu in February.

At Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. and Taco Bell Inc.--two chains based in Southern California, where Mexican food is more ubiquitous than in other parts of the country--the answer to McDonald’s challenge is the breakfast burrito. Carl’s Jr. introduced a breakfast burrito earlier this month, and Taco Bell has begun test-marketing it.

Carl Karcher Enterprises of Anaheim decided to sell breakfast burritos at the 540-unit Carl’s Jr. chain to put more emphasis on the breakfast market, said Bob Wisely, Karcher’s vice president of marketing.

A breakfast burrito is “convenient to carry out and eat on the run,” he added.

The product scored well in test markets, and sales have been good since its formal introduction earlier this month, Wisely said.

Unlike Carl’s Jr., which has had a breakfast menu for 15 years, Taco Bell is starting from scratch. The Mexican restaurant chain is experimenting with a range of breakfast burritos and soft tacos at a test-market site in Santa Ana. Its breakfast selections include tacos and burritos with various combinations of scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and breakfast meats. At no more than 99 cents an item, they are nearly half the price of the $1.89 breakfast burrito at Carl’s Jr.

Taco Bell, an Irvine-based subsidiary of Pepsico Inc., is remaining tight-lipped on plans for its breakfast menu.

“I don’t think it (the breakfast burrito) makes or breaks Taco Bell, and it is a market they are not in,” said Pavlos M. Alexandrakis of Argus Research, a New York investment firm. “Anything they can get is a plus.”

Analysts Alexandrakis and Murren say the breakfast burrito is largely a Southwest phenomenon, but fast-food chains have made healthy profits from regional items. Big burger chains such as McDonald’s or Burger King, they said, probably will steer clear of the burrito fray.

The sudden surge of interest by the chains comes as no surprise to Del Taco, which has had breakfast burritos as a morning mainstay for several years.

“It’s done well for us. We’re happy with the product,” said Paul Hitzelberger, Del Taco’s vice president for marketing.

Even with the new competition, Hitzelberger said, the Costa Mesa-based chain of 398 Del Taco and Naugle’s restaurants plans to offer a more traditional Mexican menu, including eggs with steak, beans or cheese. “What they’re coming out with is an Americanized version,” he said of the Carl’s Jr. effort. “Ours is a little more traditional.”

Patty Parks, a Karcher spokeswoman, scoffed at the suggestion that Carl’s will dish out a “gringo” burrito. “We created an easy-to-handle Carl’s Jr. product with a Mexican flair,” she said.

Hitzelberger believes a big media blitz on behalf of competing burritos will benefit Del Taco. The public, he said, will know that Del Taco beat the others to the punch.