There’s really no equivalent to a Costco shopping trip. It’s a treasure hunt. It’s a strategic mission. It’s a battle through crowds and looming, signless aisles containing staggering quantities of just about everything you could want. A store offering fridges, prime cuts of meat, drum sets, ready-to-eat meals, and engagement rings all within walking distance of each other is definitely hard to beat, especially when you consider how fairly the company treats its employees. All this and more is why Costco remains as one of America’s most recognizable and beloved chain stores, but one of the key draws of Costco remains its indomitable food court.
Food court restaurants are among the pinnacle of dining experiences thanks to their play on convenience and variety, and that’s exactly what the Costco food court provides. Whether you’ve concluded your shopping either peckish or ravenous, the food court has something for you that you can choose to sit down and eat or bring home to enjoy in private, all for ridiculously low prices. Over the years, the food court has drawn in millions of fans eager to maximize their dining experience, and through various menu hacks, interesting factoids, and ways to access exclusive information, we think it’s done just that.
The food court used to have its own unique name
Like most grand ventures, the food court at Costco had humble beginnings. The original warehouse club opened in 1983, and a simple food stand was established a year later outside a San Diego Costco location. The food stand’s only offerings were the famously cheap hot dog and soda combo, set at a price of a dollar fifty. The deal proved a hit with hungry customers, and the food stand was dubbed “Cafe 150” in honor of the hot dog and soda combo that earned its reputation.
It was only when Costco merged with competitor Price Club in 1994 that the food court we know and love today was fully realized. The menu was expanded to include additional items, such as pizza, sandwiches, ice cream, and salads. While some menu items failed to stand the test of time, the hot dog and soda combo remains an iconic staple of the Costco food court, and it makes sense that the little food stand that started it all was named after perhaps the most famous price point in food court history.
Costco sells more hot dogs than all ballpark stadiums combined
There’s arguably nothing more American than hot dogs and baseball. Major League Baseball (MLB) stadiums sell upward of 20 to 25 million dollars worth of hot dogs during the season combined, averaging 7,860 hot dogs per stadium every single game. However, this whopper of a number is still eclipsed by the sheer volume of hot dogs sold at the Costco food court annually. Costco averages 100 million dollars of revenue thanks to its hot dog and soda combo sales — four times what the MLB does in hot dog sales!
While this would be a staggering enough fact on its own, we have to factor in the one dollar fifty price point for a Costco hot dog and soda deal into this comparison. The average MLB hot dog, no soda included, costs around $5. The cheapest MLB hot dog, sold at Chase Field, home stadium of the Arizona Diamondbacks, runs baseball attendees around $3. If you want to blow your bank on a hot dog, fly yourself to Petco Park, home stadium to the San Diego Padres. There, you can buy a hot dog for the staggering price of almost eight dollars. You can buy nearly five Costco hot dogs (and sodas)! With this information, it really puts into perspective what a deal the Costco hot dog price is.
You can call the food court ahead for pizza
Most customers shopping at Costco usually head to the food court after completing their shopping to regain the energy used in buying anything from a 25 pound bag of Jasmine rice to quality lamb loin chops with the family. However, there’s nothing worse than waiting in a crowded food court line when saddled with said 25 pounds of Jasmine rice and those lamb chops that need to be refrigerated as soon as possible. Longtime Costco customers know how to avoid this undesirable outcome. Costco recently shared on its website how best to minimize the time spent between checkout and the food court, and that is to call the folks at the food court ahead of time to get your order ready for the moment you’re ready to leave the warehouse.
While this trick only applies to pizza orders at the moment, customers also have the option to order from the food court kiosks introduced in 2018. This way, you can get your food of choice without having to stand in line to place a verbal order.
Non-members can dine at Costco food courts
While a membership is essential for accessing the full breadth of services that Costco has to offer, there are still some ways for non-members to partake without having to fork over $65 dollars annually. If the food court is located on the outside of a Costco building, for example, then it’s open to the public. Unfortunately, this only applies to locations situated in warmer climates, so food courts located on the inside of the building would only be accessible to Costco members. However, there are workarounds to this predicament.
While some customers can still access a variety of Costco services without a membership, the best way to gain access to the warehouse is to use a Costco Shop Card. A friend with a membership can purchase this gift card for non-members to use to gain entrance to the warehouse. With this card, non-members can make as many in-store purchases as the card could afford, including the various meal items from the in-store food court.
Even adjusted for inflation, Costco hot dogs are still incredibly cheap
More than 40 years after Cafe 150 first set it, the price of the Costco hot dog and soda combo remains unchanged, continuing to be a shining example of a loss leader for retailers around the world. The $1.50 price has survived the Great Recession, the housing crisis, the pandemic, and the recent flare of inflation. While these hot dogs have continued to cost Costco several hundred millions in profit, it has also worked in drawing in new members and longtime shoppers simply by word of mouth.
Now, if by some sudden stroke of bad luck, the higher-ups at Costco decided to adjust the hot dog price for inflation, the new price of a hot dog and soda deal would cost around $4.50 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator. While this adjusted price would cost you about three times more than the original deal, it’s still cheaper than the average street dog. Most rural street food vendors in the midwest ask for $4 to 5$, and food trucks in popular foodie hub cities like Los Angeles and New York would charge you upwards of a whopping fifteen dollars for a hot dog, minus the soda. Compared to the average, a Costco hot dog with adjusted pricing would still be incredibly cheap. Still, we’re grateful that the original 1.50 dollar price doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.
Though discontinued during the pandemic, toppings are back
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, retailers had to adjust to strict new health and safety mandates, Costco included. The free sample carts usually situated near aisle entrances disappeared, and the food court tables and condiments bar were also removed to encourage social distancing. Some of these changes are no longer in effect thanks to lifted restrictions, but unlike the free sample carts and the food court seating, the condiments bar never made its triumphant return, much to the despair of many food court fans. Bringing home a bland hot dog is less than ideal for some; pre-2020 customers would fondly recall the various dispensers distributing their favorite hot dog condiments such as ketchup, mustard, relish, and chopped white onions.
Recently, however, toppings have slowly begun to make their comeback. At certain locations, the food court staff have been able to provide upon request individual plastic cups containing small portions of onions and relish. At present, this change is not fully implemented, and not every location has started stocking these cups of condiments. However, while the ketchup and mustard dispensers are still a thing of the past, packets of these condiments are now kept in healthy supply by each food court’s provided napkins and utensils.
Costco used to serve frozen yogurt instead of soft serve ice cream
2020 saw many changes in the Costco retail change, mostly due to the pandemic mandates. However, underneath the bluster of social distancing, masking, and the constantly emptied pallets of toilet paper, another subtle but significant change happened. Before June of 2020, Costco’s food courts offered nonfat soft-serve frozen yogurt as one of its sweet treats, beside churros or cookies. Customers could opt for vanilla, chocolate, or a swirl of both in their sundaes. For a limited time, a unique berry yogurt sundae with vanilla yogurt and strawberries was also available, and the treat was a hit with Costco food court enthusiasts. However, the yogurt was replaced by an açaí bowl, which was not quite as popular.
The açaí bowl met with such criticism that it was taken off the menu just two years later, replaced by the soft-serve ice cream cups we know today. This dessert initially only had one flavor, sweet vanilla, but in 2023, a smooth strawberry flavor was added, as well as the option of a swirl with its vanilla counterpart. The addition was polarizing, but just as quickly as it was introduced, the strawberry flavor was replaced by chocolate, which came as a relief to some folks who remembered the austere fruity simplicity of the açaí bowl. Now, the food court continues to serve ice cream cups in vanilla, chocolate and the option of a swirl, but fans of the original frozen yogurt dessert can still find various froyo products in the warehouse’s stock today.
You can order your sundae in a secret chocolate strawberry flavor
Food court menu hacks are all the rage for Costco fans. Despite the limited range of items, there’s plenty of room for both customization and optimization. Stick a few churros in your ice cream sundae for a change in texture and flavor. Sandwich a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two chocolate chip cookies for a makeshift ice cream cookie sandwich. Max out on your caloric intake by wrapping a hot dog in pizza. The list goes on, and that doesn’t even include using store-bought products to gussy up the fresh offerings at home. However, one of the most popular menu hacks is actually deceptively simple.
The ice cream sundaes often have the option of being served with extra toppings, including a rich chocolate syrup and a tangy strawberry syrup. Both of these are excellent on vanilla sundaes, but for this popular hack, order a chocolate ice cream sundae. Instead of going for the seemingly obvious chocolate syrup, ask for the strawberry instead. This fruity addition will immediately brighten the thick smoothness of the chocolate, and it won’t cost you an extra cent. If you’re a fan of pairing fruit with chocolate, this hack is the one for you.
The Costco food court pizza has a unique recipe
It’s no secret that the Costco food court sources almost all of its ingredients from its own warehouse. It also makes the majority of its dishes in-house, including the chicken bake, hot dogs, and pizza. However, while the chicken bake and hot dogs use Kirkland ingredients easily attainable from the warehouse, the food court pizza is made uniquely from scratch.
To begin with, the pizza’s unique dough is sourced from a Brooklyn supplier that delivers balls of its frozen product to various Costco food courts each morning. After those have thawed, rested, and proofed, the dough is worked in preparation to serve as a base for a secret pizza sauce whose exact ingredients are still a mystery to this day. The sauce is pumped out by a special robotic saucing machine created specifically for this purpose, and it produces an even texture to ensure a smooth taste and no dry spots. Finally, the staff sprinkles a whopping mixture of one and a half pounds of parmesan and mozzarella cheese on top, giving the cheese a bit of kick compared to mozzarella-only cheese pizzas.
The details of the process are really what make Costco pizzas unique. Each 18-inch pie is baked to perfection, and customers can ask for their pizza to be cooked extra crispy to get it piping hot and deliciously crackly. The food court rarely skimps on the toppings either. Each pepperoni pizza gets 60 pepperoni slices each, guaranteed to satisfy any meat-lover.
The food court menu leaves one slot open for testing products
A majority of the Costco food court menu options are old-time classics like hot dogs, salads, and pizza. The current menu for most Costco locations has stayed largely unchanged, so most customers can count on their favorite constants to stick around for a while. However, there are occasional surprises that pop up on the menu, as the company likes to keep some room for rotating food items.
Most of these rotating offerings keep vaguely on theme with the food court’s emphasis on classic and convenient comfort foods. Past examples included a hot turkey and provolone sandwich, which had customers raving, and the classic cheeseburger, which was only available at 10 Costco warehouses for three years, despite being a hit with food court diners. Other less favorable items that didn’t stand the test of time and taste included the infamous açaí bowl that briefly replaced the dearly departed frozen yogurt cups, and the carne asada bake, which customers reported as being a poorer version of the classic chicken bake.
The chicken bakes used to be made fresh
Topically, let’s discuss the Costco food court’s chicken bakes. They’re a familiar sight on the menu; the dense tubes stuffed full of cheese, chicken, bacon, and a creamy Caesar dressing are often kept warm and toasty by the pizza slices in the windowed display racks. Similar to pizzas, the chicken bakes were also made by hand according to a special recipe and process, and they ranked among the most popular items for Costco customers. However, recently there seems to have been a decline in their reigning popularity.
Online discourse surrounding the chicken bake’s fall from grace began sometime after the chaos of the pandemic, where everyone, including Costco, was adjusting to the effects of the coronavirus. During this time, the quality of the chicken bake dropped. Customers noticed that it had disappeared from the menu for a short period of time, most likely due to the food court adjusting its operations to stay afloat during lockdown, before the chicken bake returned, albeit with a subtly different flavor and a drier texture. The change in quality was soon attributed to the revelation shared by Costco staff that the once house-made chicken bakes are now delivered to the warehouses premade and frozen, explaining the decline in quality.
Costco provides its own recipes for food court items
Most of the food court’s offerings are fairly easy to replicate at home. After all, the warehouse has almost all of the base ingredients in stock for customers to purchase, including the food court’s famous pizza sauce in concentrate, the canola oil used to deep fry its chicken tenders and fries, and of course, the signature Kirkland beef hot dogs used in its most famous food court offering. However, assembling these ingredients together to replicate the exact offerings at the food court can be solved without pawing through dozens of copycat recipes online. Costco already has an entire library of recipes and cooking directions available on its website and in its monthly official magazine, The Costco Connection.
Online, you can find a wide variety of recipe videos showing step-by-step instructions for various unique dishes utilizing Costco products, but food court item recipes are exclusive to The Costco Connection. This exclusive magazine, containing brand-relevant news, deals, and yes, recipes, is only available in full to its members, but some abridged versions are available online for perusal. These editions only go back two years for non-members, so it’s another factor to consider if you’re debating on finally getting that Costco membership.
