Taco Bell President Brian Niccol may claim he doesn’t know what 4/20 is, but that doesn’t mean he’s naive about his brand’s reputation.

After all, Taco Bell may be best known for things like the “fourth meal” -- aka an extra meal at post-pot o’clock -- and the Doritos Locos Taco -- the stoner’s dream mix of Doritos and taco. Niccol admits he has an inkling of what some of the biggest Taco Bell fans are up to, even if he asked the Reddit community “What’s 4/20?” on Thursday. (If you too plead ignorance, 4/20 is an annual celebration of marijuana.)

“We love making tacos. We love having a late-night business. Everybody needs to be following the laws, so from there that’s actually their business,” Niccol, a dad in a crisp suit, told HuffPost shortly after his "Ask Me Anything" chat on Reddit. “We’ve got passionate fans that share with us what they’re up to, so we do get some interesting insight from people sometimes.”

Now, the company is hoping that its late-night fans will stop at Taco Bell in the early morning. The chain officially launched its breakfast menu Thursday, and the offerings include what is sure to become another stoner favorite, the Waffle Taco.

All pot jokes aside, opening at 7 a.m. to serve breakfast is one of the few opportunities out there for Taco Bell to grow. The fast food chain is hoping its breakfast offerings will help it double its revenue and add 2,000 stores by 2022. Taco Bell accounted for about two-thirds of the U.S. profits of parent company Yum! last year -- or $451 million.

“Look, I love being famous for late night, make no mistake, but [Taco Bell’s core demographic] is up early too,” Niccol said. And breakfast is “one of the few day parts in quick-service restaurants that’s been growing for the past couple of years.”

Indeed, Egg McMuffins and other breakfast items account for about 20 percent of McDonald’s U.S. sales. The breakfast business is so successful that McDonald’s recently introduced new pastries and is considering extending the hours it serves breakfast foods, setting up something of a breakfast war with Taco Bell.

Niccol was coy about whether Taco Bell could win, calling the Egg McMuffin “a great breakfast sandwich.” But his company is going for the jugular: It released ads Thursday with dozens of real-life Ronald McDonalds professing their love for Taco Bell breakfast.

Still, it could be hard to catch up, given McDonald’s big lead. That company accounts for 31 percent of breakfast sales, according to food research firm Technomic.

“McDonald’s has a huge head start in breakfast. Their Egg McMuffin is delicious, people go to McDonald’s just for it -- and they also have the coffee, and other people go just for the coffee,” said Mary Chapman, director of product innovation at Technomic. “It’s hard to break a consumer’s routine.”

These are the foods people are most likely to buy when they get breakfast out during the week, according to Technomic. Waffle Taco has not yet made the list:

Niccol said he’s hoping some of Taco Bell’s new breakfast items will turn into staples, noting that if you’re the type who wants eggs, cheese and hash browns in your breakfast sandwich (and we know what type that is), the A.M. Crunchwrap is the meal for you.

“It’s really got all your breakfast in one,” he said.

Check out Taco Bell's full breakfast menu below (descriptions courtesy of Taco Bell):