Beginning this week, Taco Palenque added a 50-cent surcharge to their breakfast plates with eggs. Other restaurants are trying to keep prices stable.
SAN ANTONIO — Egg prices hit a record high Wednesday.
The national average price of a dozen Grade A eggs is $4.95, shattering the previous record of $4.82 two years ago. Organic or cage-free eggs will cost you double.
Unfortunately, our beloved breakfast tacos are caught in the middle.
Taco Palenque, for example, just enacted a temporary egg surcharge of 50 cents per taco.
Eggs are also getting harder to find. Sam’s Club and HEB, for example, are limiting the number of cartons customers can buy. Sam’s Club allows two cartons, HEB allows five.
The bird flu outbreak is to blame for the rising costs. With the upcoming Easter holiday, the price of eggs may continue to skyrocket.
It’s the reason why more people are choosing to invest in a chicken coop to get farm fresh eggs at home.
‘We’re hanging on!’ The impact on restaurants
Lindo Jalisco Grill off Fredericksburg and Wurzbach is known in-part for their breakfast taco specials.
“Three tacos for $5.95, which is only like $1.40 a taco. It’s really hard to keep it at that price when one egg costs you almost a dollar,” said Rafael Leon, owner of Lindo Jalisco Grill Mexican Restaurant.
With the rising cost of eggs, Leon took away their breakfast taco special for a little while.
“I’d be making 10 cents a taco,” he explained. “We noticed we were getting fewer calls. We went back to, ‘Hey, lets just put back the specials and see how it goes.’ Hanging in there!”
While there may be ways to cut costs by using egg-like products, Leon says he won’t budge when it comes to potentially compromising the quality of the food he serves.
“You’ve got other chains out there, they use liquid egg. It’s a lot easier, but it’s not real eggs,” said Leon. “I’d rather give you the flavor more than anything.”
He hasn’t raised prices and he hopes he won’t have to.
“We’re at $120 a box [of eggs]. I think even $5 more, I’m gonna have to go up on my prices,” said Leon. “Everyone else out there who has a small business, hang in there! It’s a wave. We’re coming back.”
Taco Palenque told KENS 5 the shifting market conditions, inflationary pressures and the ongoing impact of the avian flu are affecting their products and services just like countless others across the industry.
They wrote in a statement, “After several months of absorbing these increased costs without compromising the quality of our offerings, we have made the difficult decision to implement a price surcharge. This adjustment is necessary to ensure that we can continue providing the high level of service and quality you have come to expect from us.”
The company continued, “Due to rising egg prices, we’ll be adding a surcharge to breakfast plates with eggs starting February 10th. This helps us avoid increasing prices across our entire menu. We’ve worked hard to keep the increase minimal and appreciate your understanding.”
Taco Cabana says they’ve been able to keep their menu prices the same.
In a statement, they told KENS 5, “At Taco Cabana, we’ve been closely monitoring the ongoing egg supply challenges in collaboration with our supply chain partners. At this time, we’ve been fortunate to avoid significant impacts, allowing us to keep our menu prices stable without imposing any surcharges or price increases. We remain committed to providing our guests with the best value and quality, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely, making adjustments as needed based on market shifts.”
Waffle House, like Taco Palenque, added a 50-cent surcharge temporarily. The eatery serves 272 million eggs every year, according to its website, making eggs their most popular item — yes, even more popular than the waffles.
“Now may be the time to buy a chicken”
Since COVID began, The Food Policy Council of San Antonio has noticed a trend: More people are thinking about where their food comes from and they have more of an awareness of their access to food.
Jamie Gonzalez, President of the Food Policy Council of San Antonio, said the trend comes with a growing interest of raising chickens.
“Now may be the time to buy a chicken,” said Gonzalez. “For people who are interested and truly invested and want to go down that road, now is a good time to do it.”
The Food Policy Council helps residents in our community become more food literate. They created a food forest in Padre Park, they host hundreds of produce markets every year and they host chicken coop tours to educate others about what it takes to maintain one.
“It’s not just the farm and table at the end,” said Gonzalez. “It’s everything else that comes in between.”
In a new partnership, The Food Policy Council of San Antonio is partnering with the City of San Antonio to create an urban farm micro grant project. The pilot program will provide funding to at least three urban farms to help them expand their operations.
“Whether it’s produce, dairy, meat, chickens,” said Gonzalez. “Coming up with a plan or expanding your plan to help the situation.”
“If you’ve already had growing experience or you’re a local small urban producer who wants to add [a chicken coop] into what you’re doing, this would be a good time to do that,” she added.
The pilot will help increase access to food while boosting the local economy.
Buying a chicken coop is an investment of time and care
It can take between six and nine months for chickens to start producing eggs. Once they do, they’ll produce for multiple years.
“The happier the chickens are, the more they’re gonna lay for you,” said Stephen Lucke, CEO and Founder of Gardopia Gardens, where you’ll find a large chicken coop. “Some chickens can produce up to an egg a day or every other day.”
The benefits of having a chicken coop on your property extend far beyond the fresh eggs.
“You’re reducing your food miles. In addition to that, they provide fertilizer. Chicken poop is high in Nitrogen which is good for the plants,” Lucke explained. “They are also composters. So you can throw a lot of your food scraps in your chicken coop so they will eat them.”
Chickens also help with pest control. They love eating bugs!
“If you have bugs in your garden, you can create a perimeter or what’s called a ‘chicken tunnel’ or a ‘chunnel’, and they will help police the insects and make sure they’re not getting into your garden as frequently as if you had nothing,” said Lucke.
All you need is one rooster for the chickens to reproduce themselves. With lots of care, you’ll never have to buy an egg again.
Your spending will come from buying the chicken coop and keeping up with the feed.
“From an environmental perspective, from a nutrition perspective, from an economic perspective, having your own chickens is a great ROI [Return on Investment],” Lucke added.
Lucke says you’ll want to have 2 to 5 square feet of space per chicken in the coop and 5 to 10 square feet for the chicken in the run —a fenced-in play yard.
San Antonio city ordinance says you’re allowed to own up to eight chickens without a permit. Only one can be a rooster, and the area must be kept clean and free of pests.
Additional rules:
- Coops: Coops with eight or more chickens must be at least 50 feet away from any dwelling.
- Roaming: Chickens can roam outside of their coop or run between 6 AM and 10 PM, but they must stay within the boundaries of their yard.
- Sanitation: Chickens must be kept in a sanitary environment that prevents pests.
- Inspections: Animal Care Services may inspect the chickens’ area.
- Homeowners associations: Homeowners associations can set their own restrictions.