Photos of bare grocery refrigerator cases and tales of egg prices gone wild have been rampant on social media this winter. The scenes aren’t manufactured drama. The U.S. Department of Agriculture noted last week that some grocery stores have been limiting the number of cartons customers can buy and hanging signs announcing shortages where cartons of eggs would normally be stacked.

The price of eggs has skyrocketed -- if eggs are even available -- at some Reno grocers as avian flu continues to cause nationwide shortages. The shelves have been empty for nearly three weeks at the Safeway at Damonte Ranch Town Center, according to employee Avi Weiss.

The Sun-Times visited 14 stores in various neighborhoods from Big Oaks to Edgewater, Morgan Park to Midway, and Bucktown and Austin to see what consumers were paying.