Indy-area brunch spots face cost decisions as egg prices rise

In the nationwide run-up of egg prices—due largely to an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu—one group of businesses is hit particularly hard: brunch restaurants.

Since the latest outbreak began in 2022, more than 147 million chickens, turkeys and other birds in the United States have been slaughtered because they were in a flock where the virus was detected, according to the Associated Press. The vast majority of those destroyed birds were egg-laying chickens.

And an outbreak last month at an Indiana egg farm, the nation’s second-largest egg supplier with 2.6 million egg-laying hens, brings the virus close to home.

For local eateries, breakfast is becoming more expensive to serve. With a dozen Grade A large eggs costing an average $4-plus a dozen retail, restaurants are forced to decide whether to pass that cost increase on to consumers.

Debbi Bourgerie’s eatery, Rosie’s Place, goes through 1,800 eggs a week at its three locations, in Carmel, Zionsville and Noblesville. The price she pays for a case of eggs—which holds 15 cartons of a dozen eggs each—has increased from about $20 last summer to over $100. The restaurant chain is now paying more than $1,000 for eggs weekly.

Bourgerie said she’s heard of restaurants coping by raising prices, charging an additional fee for eggs, switching from large eggs to medium eggs, or using liquid eggs. So far, she’s resisted all of those options.

“While these are not alternatives Rosie’s has chosen, it’s understandable that owners have to find a way to stay afloat,” she told IBJ in an email.

Instead, Bourgerie said, her approach has been to add more non-egg specials for brunch, while closely watching the market and ensuring no eggs are wasted. But if prices continue to increase, she said, she might have to take more drastic action.

“It is not fair to our guests for us to react by raising prices when it is a temporary issue. If the problem turns into a long-term issue, we will have to reevaluate our strategy,” Bourgerie said.

At Sidedoor Bagel, a quick-breakfast spot just northeast of downtown, that time has come. The shop is charging an extra $1.50 for egg sandwiches, a measure owner Josh Greeson told IBJ is necessary because of the difficulty Sidedoor has had sourcing eggs.

“I usually spend $300 to $400 on eggs each week, and I dropped $1,000 on eggs yesterday,” Greeson said.

A Kentucky-based supplier the business had relied on was exposed to the bird flu. Greeson told IBJ he visited five stores, with the final stop having eggs in stock at a price of $150 a case. When he started the business three years ago, the cost was $40 for the same amount.

Adding to the pain is the fact that Sidedoor’s slowest season is winter. Greeson announced the price increase on social media through a hand-drawn sign donning a sad face. So far, he said, customers have been understanding.

Because it takes months to clean and prepare a farm to receive new birds after an infected flock is destroyed, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that egg prices will increase an additional 20% this year.

The first year of the outbreak, 2022, saw prices skyrocket and finally peak at $4.82 in January 2023, then drop through the next several months as flocks were replenished. Confirmed infections through 2024 have spiked prices again.

About 23 million birds have already been impacted in 2025, according to the Agriculture Department. Before this outbreak, the department estimated the United States had more than 378.5 million egg-laying chickens.

“Obviously, with this number of birds affected by [the virus], there are some repercussions for the supply,” Valerie Kilders, assistant professor of agribusiness marketing at Purdue University, told IBJ. Even if the bird flu is halted or reduced, Kilders said, it will take time to again repopulate the nation’s poultry farms.

The Indiana State Board of Animal Health has found four outbreaks on egg farms since the beginning of this year, including a Jan. 26 report that a flock of 2.8 million was exposed or infected at a Jackson County farm run by Seymour-based Rose Acre Farms. The state agency has also identified outbreaks at turkey farms and non-commercial farms.

Dexter Smith, a chef and co-owner of Open Kitchen, near the University of Indianapolis, finds himself going to Walmart multiple times a week to purchase eggs for his restaurant. He said it’s a necessary pivot from buying from a restaurant supplier, where the cost has exceeded $100 for 60 eggs.

Smith and his wife, Toni Smith, own Open Kitchen, a gourmet-meets-comfort-food restaurant at 4022 Shelby St.

Smith said making a separate trip to the same store where people buy household groceries has allowed him to get 60 eggs for $20. If costs continue to rise, he said, Open Kitchen might have to cut menu items or raise prices.

“Right now, it’s barely meeting the wiggle room that I gave myself [on our pricing],” Smith said. “It’s about to be no wiggle room.”

Wild Eggs, a Louisville-based chain with seven Indiana locations, is averse to raising prices, according to CEO Andy Abbajay. Miami-based PG Growth Opportunities froze prices when it purchased Wild Eggs in January 2023. Abbajay took on the CEO role as part of the acquisition.

Abbajay said about eight of every 10 plates that go out to customers contain an egg product. Because the company relies so heavily on eggs for its menu, the company has tracked the year-over-year, month-over-month price increases. A chart Abbajay provided to IBJ showed that a dozen large eggs cost the company over $6 at the start of this year.

Instead of increasing prices to cover the higher egg costs, Abbajay said, Wild Eggs is marketing profitable menu items, like a mimosa pitcher for $24.99. The franchise also continues to expand; it has locations opening in Greenwood and Avon. Abbajay said he’s optimistic that the financial strain will ease as chickens repopulate.

“We’re at the worst it certainly has been, but we are still thriving with our sales and our new openings,” he said.

Zoë Taylor, co-owner of Borage, a combined restaurant, bakery and market in Speedway, said Borage has “definitely had to increase prices here and there.” Taylor started the restaurant last summer with her husband, Josh Kline. Both are former Milktooth chefs.

The eatery’s priority on local ingredients doesn’t run cheap in the best of times. Taylor and Kline purchase eggs from Becker Farms, a family-run operation in Henry County.

“It’s always a tightrope walk of, like, making sure that the food is accessible and yet educating the public [that] our food actually is already pretty cheap, and we don’t pay farmers or migrants or laborers enough to grow and harvest our food,” Taylor said.

Borage’s menu includes egg-focused dishes like Turkish poached eggs, a signature breakfast sandwich and a frittata. Along with focusing on quality ingredients, Taylor and Kline are committed to paying employees a living wage. Borage pays staff members at least $20 an hour and offers health insurance and paid sick days. All of that becomes harder to do when ingredient prices increase.

Taylor declined to share what Borage pays for eggs from Becker Farms, citing the farm’s wishes to keep that information confidential. However, she said, the benefit of using a small producer is that the avian flu has mostly affected large, factory farms.

“But I really hope I don’t prove myself wrong there,” she added.•