Famous Los Angeles deli raising prices due to nationwide bird flu outbreak

Langer’s Deli, the famous Los Angeles staple, is now among the many restaurants across America to increase prices amid a nationwide bird flu outbreak. 

The deli, located in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood, opened in 1947 and has established itself as a go-to spot, especially for pastrami sandwiches.  

In recent times, Langer’s faced challenges and even considered closing for good due to safety and homelessness concerns in the area; however, they have remained open. 

That said, this latest difficulty—the bird flu outbreak—along with other factors have led the deli to take a step that many restaurants don’t like: raising prices. 

“At Langer’s Deli, we understand that rising food costs – especially for staples like eggs, coffee and bread – are impacting restaurants and customers alike, [and] we’ve always been committed to serving the highest-quality food at a fair price...that commitment hasn’t changed,” Norm Langer, the deli owner, said in a social media statement posted Sunday. “Like many in the industry, we’ve seen significant increases in the cost of eggs and other essential ingredients due to supply chain disruptions and inflation.” 

Thus, Langer’s is increasing prices, but not “across the board.” 

“While some restaurants are raising menu prices across the board, we’ve opted for a temporary, modest $0.50-per-egg surcharge to help offset costs amid the bird flu turmoil while keeping our legendary pastrami sandwiches and other favorites accessible to our loyal customers,” the statement continued. 

Last month’s consumer price index indicated that the average price for a dozen Grade A eggs in the U.S. was $4.95, a record high. In California specifically, egg prices have gone up more than $9, according to USDA data.

The spike in egg prices was the biggest since the nation’s last bird flu outbreak in 2015 and accounted for roughly two-thirds of the total increase in food costs last month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.