Waffle House Drops 50-Cent Egg Surcharge as Prices Stabilize

Waffle House announced on July 1, 2025, that it has officially removed the 50-cent per egg surcharge from its menu—effective June 2—much to the delight of breakfast fans nationwide. No longer will guests face an extra fee when ordering egg dishes at any of the chain’s 2,100 locations.

Why the Surcharge Started

Back in early February, Waffle House implemented the surcharge to offset the spike in egg prices caused by a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak that decimated laying flocks across the country. At its peak in March, eggs reached an average wholesale cost of $6.22 per dozen, prompting the targeted fee rather than raising prices across all menu items.

In a playful post on X (formerly Twitter), the Georgia-based chain wrote, “Egg-cellent news…as of June 2, the egg surcharge is officially off the menu. Thanks for understanding!” Customers had noticed the fee quietly disappear from in-store menus weeks earlier, but the social media announcement confirmed the permanent rollback.

Egg Prices Falling, Relief at the Register

The removal reflects broader market trends: by late June, wholesale egg prices had fallen to approximately $2.54 per dozen, down nearly 60% from the spring high and contributing to overall food-price deflation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that egg costs remain about 40% above year-ago levels, but the downward trajectory has given both consumers and restaurants breathing room.

An Egg Heavy Chain

Waffle House serves around 272 million eggs per year, making eggs its top-selling menu item—outpacing waffles, hash browns, and bacon combined. The surcharge had been seen as a necessary, if unpopular, step to protect the chain’s margins without altering core menu prices.

Other breakfast restaurants took different tacks in response to egg inflation. Denny’s lifted its per-egg surcharge in late May, while Cracker Barrel leveraged Waffle House’s fee in a marketing push, reminding diners that it wouldn’t tack on extra charges for eggs.

Waffle House emphasized that the surcharge was always intended as temporary and tied to market conditions, pledging to monitor egg prices “and adjust or remove the surcharge as conditions allow” in order to keep menu pricing stable and predictable for guests