Waffle House customers no longer have to pay extra for eggs.
The 2,000-unit breakfast chain on Monday announced that it has lifted its 50-cent per-egg surcharge, which it instituted in February to help manage sky-high egg prices.
“Egg-cellent news…as of June 2, the egg surcharge is officially off the menu,” Georgia-based Waffle House wrote on X. “Thanks for understanding!”
Egg prices hit a record high in March as an avian flu outbreak thinned flocks across the country. But supply has bounced back in recent months, bringing prices back down to earth. As of last week, wholesale prices were down 67% from their peak of about $8 for a dozen eggs, and retail prices were down 27%, according to the USDA.
That has provided some much-needed relief for restaurants dealing with all kinds of commodity inflation, particularly breakfast chains that buy a lot of eggs.
An egg surcharge in place at some Denny's locations also came to an end in May, the chain confirmed Wednesday.
The surcharges came atop years of menu price hikes that have frustrated consumers and hurt restaurant traffic.
But not all breakfast chains chose to pass egg costs on to customers. Despite getting “hammered” on the bottom line, franchisees of 97-unit Eggs Up Grill elected to eat the cost in an effort to keep prices affordable, CEO Ricky Richardson wrote in a LinkedIn post in March.
And 24-unit Famous Toastery said it planned to steer customers toward limited-time offers such as French toast and waffles that use fewer eggs.
Though egg prices have cooled, they’re still higher than they were a year ago. Many restaurants have said they expect the issue to last through 2025.
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