As egg crisis subsides, Langer's and others are dropping their surcharges

It's true: Langer’s deli and other eateries have announced they're dropping the 50-cent surcharge they had placed on eggs due to the recent shortage.

For many of us, it was just one more tiny torment we had to deal with as we ordered our eggs over easy. But now it seems the national nightmare is over.

In a statement released this week, Langer’s announced that the price of dishes with eggs would return to normal. The restaurant said it wanted to maintain the spirit of “upfront and candid conversation” as it made the change.

Owner Norm Langer told LAist that he was able to remove the surcharge because “the price of eggs has come down to what's reasonable.”

Necessary to stay afloat

Meanwhile Swingers in West Hollywood removed the surcharge two weeks ago.

“As soon as the egg prices dropped for us, we were able to drop it for our customers,” said owner Stephanie Wilson.

She said adding the surcharges in the first place had been a difficult decision.

“ I actually hate adding surcharges. So we waited a long time before I had to fold and go ahead and add it,” she said.

The surcharge, which cost customers 50 cents per egg and often $1 per meal, was necessary to stay afloat, Wilson added.

“ We wouldn't have been able to survive without that surcharge because so many of our dishes have eggs in them," she said.

Some diners, however, chose not to add a surcharge at the height of the bird flu epidemic, like Mel’s Drive-in in Santa Monica.

“ We never raised the prices of the eggs or put an extra cost,” said the general manager, who gave her name as Marlina.

 She added that they were able to negotiate deals with vendors “because we buy a lot of stuff.”

“Our vendors, they know that we are a good customer,” she said. “Those days were crazy, but we got the eggs from one vendor or another. We always had eggs.”

Relieving the burden

Wilson is happy to be taking the burden off her customers at Swingers.

“ It feels great to be able to bring the prices back to a dollar less in most cases,” she said.

(For those keeping track, the fried egg sandwich is now $16.95 instead of $17.95, and the California omelet is now $17.25 instead of $18.75).

Langer is also glad to be able to bring prices down, having received continuous support from his clientele throughout the surcharge. He’s found that a transactional decision like this is equally rooted in a compassionate understanding between the customer and the diner.

“ The thing that I found over the years, as long as you're honest with your customers and as long as you are reasonable, the customers will accept it,” he said.