Waffle House Adds 50-Cent Surcharge on Each Egg It Sells To Combat Rising Prices

Fans of Waffle House may find themselves reaching more deeply into their purses and wallets in the coming days, as the famous restaurant chain has announced a 50-cent surcharge on each egg it sells. CNN reported that the ongoing avian flu, or bird flu, is the root cause of the egg shortage facing the U.S., pushing the necessity for increased costs.

“The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices,” Waffle House said in a statement to CNN. “Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions.”

“While we hope these price fluctuations will be short-lived we cannot predict how long this shortage will last,” the company said in a separate statement, according to AP News.

Waffle House has added a sticker to its menu — a large, circular yellow-and-black sticker — describing the nature and reasoning behind the surcharge to its laminated two-sided menus, hoping to explain the fee to diners.

Eggs are the most commonly ordered item at Waffle House, per CBS News, with the chain serving up 272 million eggs a year from its 2,100-plus locations spread across 25 states. Said eggs are often joined by, of course, waffles (124 million waffles are served a year by Waffle House), as well as 153 million servings of hash browns.

Waffle House Faces Price Pressure on Eggs Due to Continuation of Avian Flu

As CNN detailed, avian flu has been a significant problem for farmers for over three years now, beginning in earnest in January of 2022.

In the intervening time frame, more than 108 million birds have been slaughtered out of necessity, with 75 million of those being egg-laying livestock. The virus worsened late in 2024 and has escalated the need for further killings, meaning that shortages have only deepened with time.

The USDA suggests that egg prices are set to increase by 20% over the course of 2025.

“Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re in this for a while,” said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board. “Until we have time without a detection, unfortunately this very, very tight egg supply is going to continue.”