Skip to main content

Avian flu is driving up egg prices, but this Seattle diner manages to keep its famous omelets on the menu

eggs generic
Enlarge Icon

Beth’s Café, a diner in North Seattle, is known for its 12-egg omelets. But at a time when avian flu is driving up the cost of their key ingredient, that may seem a little egg-cessive.

RELATED: Bird flu continues to spread in Washington state. What to know about the virus

Manager Carlos Cerritos said their supplier has been able to provide what they need so far — for a price.

Cerritos said a box of 15 dozen eggs used to cost $55, but now that's up to $130.

Cerritos said the café raised its omelet prices six months ago, the first such hike in nine years. The Triple Bypass omelet, which comes with bacon, ham, and sausage plus a double-serving of cheese, costs $41.95 for the 12-egg version. Before that, it was $30.95.

But that doesn’t seem to dampen diners’ appetite for eggs, especially on weekends when the café is busy.

“The quality of the dish is really good,” Cerritos said. “That’s why they always choose this [dish], even though the price is expensive.”

Health officials are monitoring the spread of avian flu, or H5N1, in Washington state. Infections have been found in several humans as well as commercially raised chickens, seals, and dairy cows, since first emerging at the beginning of the decade.

In the most recent outbreak that has swept the U.S., cases in the Northwest have included a red-breasted goose at Woodland Park Zoo that died in November in a suspected case of avian flu and 20 big cats that died at an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Wash., between November and December.

RELATED: Role reversal: Avian flu makes birds a menace to cats

The largest case was last October that affected a commercial flock in Franklin County.

There have been no local detections of avian flu so far this year.

Why you can trust KUOW