Waffle House Adds 'Egg Tax' As Shortage Hits: 'We're In This For A While'

Waffle House said the egg shortage has forced restaurants "to make difficult decisions."

America's nationwide egg shortage has cracked down on breakfast lovers as the Waffle House introduced a 50-cent surcharge per egg.

The Georgia-based chain announced the move this week, citing the ongoing avian flu outbreak as the primary culprit.

"I work at Waffle House and we just got informed we have to charge .50$ for every. Single. Egg," one worker tweeted.

"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."

Waffle House, which operates approximately 2,100 locations, said it is "continuously monitoring egg prices and will adjust or remove the surcharge as market conditions allow."

The move stems from a devastating resurgence of avian flu. Since January 2022, 108 million birds have been affected, with 75 million of them being egg-laying hens, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. The outbreak ramped up in late 2024, and as a result 17 million hens were culled or removed in November and December alone.

Egg prices have skyrocketed, with a carton of a dozen costing $5.29 in the week ending Jan. 18, a sharp increase from February 2024, when the price hovered just above $3.50, according to NIQ consumer research. In some metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, eggs were being sold for over $9.00.

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

Social media users have scrambled to weigh in. One posted an image of a cracked egg labeled "promises" alongside Trump's name.