Latest news with #WaffleHouseIndex
.jpg%3Ftrim%3D0%2C0%2C0%2C0%26width%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
The Independent
11 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
Not the ‘realest ID': Waffle House card won't get you through airport checkpoints, TSA warns X poster
In a lighthearted yet increasingly necessary clarification, TSA confirmed that, despite internet jokes, a Waffle House employee ID does not meet the standards of a federally recognized Real ID. The chatter started when Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci tweeted a bright-yellow laminated Waffle House ID with his name and meteorologist title on it this week, writing, 'TSA might want RealID, but I have the realest ID.' The post quickly went viral, racking up over 2.2 million views. It even caught the attention of the official TSA account two days later, which replied, 'Respectfully, no… Waffle House IDs will not suffice as a Real ID alternative (sorry).' The humorous exchange with the meteorologist and eatery super fan brings to mind the Waffle House Index, an informal metric used by FEMA to assess the severity of natural disasters, especially hurricanes, based on whether Waffle House restaurants in affected areas stay open. Since nearly all Waffle House locations are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even on holidays, the chain is known for its disaster preparedness and resilience. As former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate told the Wall Street Journal in 2011, "If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That's really bad. That's where you go to work." The Waffle House Index uses a simple three-color system to reflect the severity of a disaster's impact on a local area. A green rating means the Waffle House is fully operational and serving its full menu, indicating that the area has experienced minimal damage or disruption. A yellow rating signifies that the restaurant is open but operating on a limited menu, often due to power outages, staffing shortages, or supply chain issues, suggesting moderate impact but still-manageable conditions. A red rating means the Waffle House is completely closed, which is rare and typically signals severe damage, unsafe conditions, or significant infrastructure failure in the area. The ID kerfuffle recalls TSA's recent post about using Costco IDs at the airport security counter. "We love hotdogs & rotisserie chickens as much as the next person but please stop telling people their Costco card counts as a REAL ID because it absolutely does not," the TSA said in a post last week on social media. The TSA Costco post came a few days after Chowhound published an article titled, "How Your Costco Card Could Save You At The Airport." They later updated it to clarify that "TSA does not explicitly state you can use a Costco card as a form of identification.'
The Drive
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
You'll Be Able To Fast-Charge Your EV During Your Next Waffle House Brawl
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Arguments about the pros and cons of driving an EV are coming to one of America's most argument-prone restaurant chains. BP Pulse said it will install 400-kilowatt DC fast chargers at select Waffle House locations across the United States, so you'll be able to top up your battery pack while you argue with a complete stranger at 1:27 a.m. after ordering a bacon, egg, and cheese hashbrown bowl. Partnering with Waffle House will allow BP Pulse to expand its network of charging stations in the South and the Southeast. The brand has already selected the locations where it will build charging stations. While a full list hasn't been released, it appears they'll start in Texas, Georgia, and Florida, before moving to other states. Each restaurant will get six charging bays equipped with a mix of CCS and NACS connectors. Linking arms with Waffle House makes sense: Beyond the late-night crowd, the chain is famous for never being closed. Most locations are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Scientists even use the so-called Waffle House Index as an informal metric to rank the severity of a storm. You should probably start worrying about finding shelter if you roll up to a Waffle House and see a 'sorry, we're closed' sign on the window. That means EV drivers will be able to order food, get coffee, and use the bathroom while they wait for their car to charge, regardless of when they roll into the Waffle House parking lot. That's great news if you're planning on taking a road trip across the South in an EV. Waffle House's first BP Plus chargers will go live in 2026. Got tips? Send 'em to tips@ .article-sidebar]:pt-0>
Miami Herald
07-02-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Why eggs cost so much in Miami — if you can find them — and what's next for shoppers
When Waffle House makes a move, you know it's serious. Hurricane-weary Floridians know all about the Waffle House Index, the barometer the chain uses to determine whether to shut its restaurants if they feel a major storm's chances of visiting are more than likely. This past week, the chain, which has more than 190 of its 2,015 restaurants in Florida, turned its attention to another crisis: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. That's bird flu. The egg crisis also is causing higher prices and empty shelves at South Florida grocery stores. Bare shelves at the supermarket Pop into your local Publix, Aldi, Winn-Dixie, Presidente, Sedano's and you'll find the refrigerated egg racks are often as bare as toilet paper shelves were during the first year of the COVID pandemic in 2020. And when you do find a few cartons of Grade A eggs, you'll be paying more. Agriculture experts predict egg prices may continue to climb by double-digit percentages well into 2025. Publix gets its eggs from suppliers and industry partners, Lindsey Willis, the Lakeland-based chain's media manager said in an email to the Miami Herald. 'Many factors go into food prices — transportation and handling costs, and packaging,' she said. Waffle House has to get its eggs from suppliers, too, and aren't immune to the challenge consumers are facing. The breakfast diner announced that customers can expect to pay an extra 50 cents per egg due to soaring prices. The reason is another bout of avian bird flu that has decimated flocks of birds, some 20 million or more nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Florida egg prices A wave of bird flu began in February 2022 that led to the depopulation of over 44 million laying hens, the USDA reported. The national average Consumer Index price for a dozen Grade A eggs peaked at $4.82 in January 2023, while South Florida grocers trended higher — a Publix egg carton of a dozen was $5.89 at a Kendall-area store that month. This past week, that same Publix in the Palms Town & Country Mall off Kendall Drive, had cartons of its large Grade A eggs selling for $5.49. The national average in December 2024 was $4.25. In February it's at $6.55 per dozen, according to Mashed. Jumbos at the Kendall Publix were $5.79 this week. Extra large eggs were $8.12. 'Like many retailers, we are experiencing shortages on eggs due to the avian bird flu, which has created a rise in egg demand,' Publix's Willis said on Wednesday. 'As a result, items in this section have limited availability. We are working to bring these products back as soon as possible. We encourage customers to check back regularly, as our stores are receiving routine deliveries.' Cutting back on shopping At a nearby Fresco y Mas in the TJ Maxx Plaza at 7480 SW 117th Ave. near Kendall Drive, large Grade A Crystal Springs eggs were $5.99. Jumbos were $8.59. Customer Jorge Torres found a carton from a relatively well-stocked Fresco y Mas selection on a Tuesday afternoon. He said he understood why eggs were pricier and scarce. 'Chickens and hens, they got an illness. So many are dying. Not a lot of quantity,' Torres said. Torres says he is shopping around. He's also buying eggs less frequently and has noted it's not just eggs slimming our billfolds. 'Cheese is getting more expensive,' he said as he nodded toward the dairy cooler. 'Prices are not stable. Up. Down. But right now it's up because of the chickens and hens. 'I'm not coming every day. Twice a week. Maybe just the weekend,' Torres added. 'I was over there in Presidente and it was similar. I said I'd go to Fresco. I want to see how is it? It's very similar.' Prices and availability A visit Tuesday to an Aldi in the Hammocks neighborhood at 13801 SW 120th St. saw one lonely, battered carton of eggs oozing its precious yellow contents onto a cooler's shelf. The only thing keeping the scrambled carton company was a sign on the cooler door noting the price of a dozen large Grade A Goldhen Eggs: $4.67. Atop the price sticker affixed to the glass cooler door was Aldi's notice: 'Due to recent market conditions, egg prices have increased. We apologize for any inconvenience.' A spacious Winn-Dixie on Coral Way at 3275 SW 22nd St. on Wednesday afternoon had egg shelves pockmarked with empty spaces. But the shortages here were supplemented by a refrigerated cooler in another aisle adjacent to the frozen foods section festooned top to bottom with $7.39 Crystal Spring Grade A large eggs. A 2.5 dozen package was $17.89. Extra Large and Jumbo cartons of 12 in the main section went for $8.79 apiece. Mediums were $6.59 at this store in the Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie chain. Signs still told the tale: 'Due to ongoing national supply chain issues with eggs you may see limited or no availability in the egg variety available at your local Winn-Dixie. We assure you we are doing all that we can to keep our shelves stocked while we await a return to normal market conditions.' Nationwide egg price forecast Retail egg prices increased by 8.4% in December. Two months into 2025, prices continue to remain volatile, according to the USDA. The forecast ahead is not encouraging. Egg prices are predicted to increase more than 20% in 2025, according to the USDA. The cost problem is more acute in some states. Mashed reports that California, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan require that all eggs sold within their borders are laid by cage-free hens, a more humane way of housing the birds on farms. Cage-free eggs also tend to be more expensive. Florida does not mandate cage-free standards but several cities including Hollywood, West Palm Beach and New Port Richey have passed resolutions condemning 'battery cages' that keep hens grouped in rows of barbed wire cages, according to the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. Egg crisis affect on human health 'It's horrible,' said Phil Lempert, a national grocery industry analyst known as the Supermarket Guru. 'Here in Los Angeles the price of a dozen eggs is now over $8, and I'm sure you saw the Waffle House 50 cents surcharge on each egg? It's going to get worse. Now that it has spread to other animals and humans, it's a very serious problem.' On Jan. 6, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first human death from avian flu after an unnamed patient was admitted to a hospital in Louisiana suffering from the disease. 'A death from H5N1 bird flu in the United States is not unexpected because of the known potential for infection with these viruses to cause severe illness and death,' the CDC noted. As of that date, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of this H5N1 strain of bird flu in the United States since 2024 and 67 since 2022. None have been reported in Florida. Outside the United States, more than 950 cases have been reported to the World Health Organization. About half of those stricken have died. Unlike COVID, there is no vaccine to prevent bird flu. And there are other worries. 'There are over 42 million Americans on SNAP food assistance and for many of them eggs are their primary source of protein and they now can't afford to get it — so looming is a health problem because of the lack of protein,' Lempert said. 'Coupled with what's going on at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and FDA I fear that we will not be able to have a vaccine and this could be worse than COVID. It has infected and, in the case of dairy herds and poultry flocks, mass culling.' In November 2024, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported the most recent avian influenza mortality event in the state of three birds — a wood duck, green-winged teal and ring-necked duck in Leon County. Since January 2022, cases of avian influenza in various species of birds have been confirmed in 35 Florida counties including in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Collier, Brevard, Orange, Indian River, Martin and Manatee, according to the state agency.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Waffle House Just Made a Menu Change You Need To Know About
If you've so much as stepped foot in the South, then you're familiar with Waffle House. The 24-hour, breakfast-focused chain is the stuff of legends: The source of an affordable meal no matter what time of day, unstoppable even during severe weather and hurricanes (see: the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 'Waffle House Index'). But not even Waffle House is impervious to the strain of increasing egg prices. With avian flu affecting already-strained egg production, the Georgia-based breakfast chain made a major menu change this week. As of Feb. 3, customers can expect a 50-cent surcharge per egg for the indeterminate future. 'Rather than increasing prices across the menu, this is a temporary targeted surcharge tied to the unprecedented egg prices,' Waffle House said in a press release. 'We are continuously monitoring egg prices and will adjust or remove the surcharge as market conditions allow.' The added cost varies depending on the menu item. At the moment, the surcharge only extends to items that use fresh eggs. According to a Waffle House employee who wished to remain anonymous, items that come with two fresh eggs—take, for example, the breakfast bowls or the Pork Chops & Eggs Breakfast, which come with two scrambled eggs—will cost an additional dollar with the surcharge. Items that don't contain fresh eggs, like hash browns and waffles, will not be affected. Egg prices are expected to rise 20% this year. In January, Georgia—the country's largest supplier—halted poultry production. The avian flu is not solely to blame, as inflation, supply chain issues, and even the war in Ukraine have affected prices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, eggs, a dozen large, Grade A eggs cost an average of $4.15. This is not quite up to January 2023's peak of $4.82 per dozen, but if egg prices do in fact rise by 20% this year, we could see an average exceeding five dollars per carton. Wholesale prices have also increased. For a franchise like Waffle House, which, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, served 2% of the U.S. food industry's eggs before the pandemic, that's gotta hurt. Waffle House is the first major chain to implement such a surcharge, although some independent restaurants have established similar price hikes. Time will tell if other chains, especially breakfast-oriented chains, like IHOP and Denny's, will follow suit. Read the original article on ALLRECIPES
