Waffle House Is Raising Egg Prices As Bird Flu Continues To Wreak Havoc

If you're a Waffle House fan, be on the lookout; this popular chain restaurant has announced that it will add a temporary surcharge for each egg sold across all its menus. The surcharge is only 50 cents, but that can add up quickly if you eat multiple egg-filled orders when dining out at this restaurant.

The surcharge is due to the rising price of eggs, which is linked to an outbreak of HPAI bird flu. There have been struggles with bird flu over the past few years, but in November and December 2024, there was a resurgence of the virus just in time for the holidays, which is currently affecting all 50 states in the U.S. Worse yet, the uptick in the virus means that around 17 million hens were killed at the end of last year. All that has led to egg prices increasing, land predictions are that they'll continue to climb as much as another 20% as the year progresses.

While rising egg prices can undoubtedly make your grocery haul challenging (wanting to lower prices? Check out Daily Meal's guide to five ways to save money on eggs at the store), when it comes to Waffle House, there are quite a few menu items to watch out for. You'd expect to see the surcharge added with some meals, such as the two-egg omelet, but it's unclear if others will be affected (for example, its waffles and pancakes both contain eggs, as do hashbrown bowls).

That means that a lot of your favorite menu items may be coming at an extra cost. While they won't exactly take the place of an omelet or sunny-side-up eggs, you can count on trusty sides such as bacon and toast or a plate of plain grits to help supplement instead. Alternatively, you could opt for one of the chain's burgers or Texas melts until the bird flu blows over. The company has said it will monitor prices and adjust or remove the surcharge depending on market conditions, so it may be going away sooner than you think, considering regular fluctuations in egg prices.