It's the most important meal of the day, after all!
This Favorite Chain Restaurant Just Announced It’s Dropping Prices—And Breakfast Lovers Will Be Thrilled
Published on Jul. 03, 2025
In 2025, it feels like prices on just about everything have gone up—and restaurants, of course, are no exception. Just look at IHOP’s prices, which skyrocketed 82% over the last five years. It’s enough to make you force yourself to cook at home each and every day. Fortunately, there’s at least one beloved chain restaurant that is actually dropping prices after a brief spike, and its fans are cheering.
And, believe me, restaurant-goers need a reason to perk up, particularly while Cracker Barrel loyalists are mourning their favorite eatery’s new makeover. So let’s get into the good news surrounding the lower prices at a different Southern restaurant chain.
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Which chain restaurant is dropping its prices?
Waffle House, which boasts 1,900 locations in the U.S. (most of them in the South), announced they are dropping the egg surcharge it imposed earlier this year. This is a big deal, because a significant portion of the restaurant’s menu involves eggs in some way, shape or form. Whether it’s their scrambled eggs, a Sausage Egg & Cheese Hashbrown Bowl or their Cheesesteak Omelet Breakfast, that egg surcharge starts to add up pretty darn quickly. For the record, Waffle House says they serve 272 million eggs a year.
In a July 1 post on X, the company shared: “Egg-cellent news … as of June 2, the egg surcharge is officially off the menu. Thanks for understanding!”
Why did Waffle House start the egg surcharge?
Waffle House began imposing a 50-cent surcharge per egg sold (or used in an ordered menu item) in February 2025. The surcharge became necessary because of the soaring prices of eggs at the time, due to the H5 bird flu epidemic. When the epidemic was at its height, egg supply was limited due to the presence of bird flu. With limited egg inventory available, farms and grocers were forced to raise prices on eggs.
Fortunately, as of July 2025, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the bird flu’s risk to public health “relatively low.”
Have egg prices stabilized?
Yes, egg prices have stabilized, at least for the moment. On June 26, the USDA announced in a press release that wholesale egg prices have dropped 64% since a “record high” earlier this year, with retail prices falling 27% from their peak. So while eggs are still more expensive than they once were, they’re no longer as astronomically priced as what we saw in the spring, when prices for a dozen eggs topped out at close to $7.
Have other restaurants followed suit?
Alongside Waffle House, Denny’s is also dropping its egg surcharge now that prices on the hot commodity have stabilized. Their egg surcharge was also 50 cents, like Waffle House’s.
Despite the high cost of eggs and how that may have impacted revenue, many chains chose not to impose an egg surcharge during the shortage’s most intense months. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, IHOP, First Watch, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. all opted not to charge more for egg-based menu items.
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Sources:
- Waffle House: “Beyond the Menu”
- CDC: “H5 Bird Flu”
- USDA: “Secretary Rollins Provides Update on Bird Flu Strategy, Egg Prices Continue to Fall”
- X: “Waffle House”
