‘Restaurants Are Being Forced to Make Difficult Decisions’: Waffle House Is Adding a Per Egg Surcharge

Waffle House is famous for more than the food—the restaurant chain is used as a barometer to determine the severity of local storms and is pretty much the catalyst for Reddit’s existence. It also sells 272 million eggs per year.

Now, the 24-hour roadside stalwart is making a statement about the breakfast staple—by adding a 50-cent surcharge (per egg) to orders nationwide.

Waffle House notes, “Rather than increasing prices across the menu, this is a temporary, targeted surcharge tied to the unprecedented rise in egg prices.”

Waffle House reps said the “continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices.”

“Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions,” the statement added.

The chain also posted signs in restaurants with the news.

Egg prices have increased by 50% over the past year, and in some cities, like New York, customers might be paying $1 per egg at the grocery store—a dozen cage-free eggs at Whole Foods were selling for $11.99.

And it’s not just hitting Waffle House. Local news outlets from Tampa, Florida to Upstate New York report that area restaurants are grappling with rising prices by making changes in-house, from switching suppliers to even changing recipes.