Pining for a Polish dog? Got a craving for churros? Well, bad luck — because you won't be getting them fresh at Costco anymore. Let's pour one out for the fallen heroes of the food court.
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00:00Pining for a Polish dog? Got a craving for churros? Well, bad luck, because you won't
00:05be getting them fresh at Costco anymore. Let's pour one out for the fallen heroes of the
00:10food court.
00:12Pizza time.
00:15Costco's food court pizza is known for its high-quality flavor and reasonable price.
00:19As one Redditor stated,
00:20"...it's really good if you get it when it's piping hot fresh from the oven."
00:25Costco's Combo Pizza, made with veggies, pepperoni, and sausage, was another casualty of the
00:29pandemic, disappearing from food courts in 2020.
00:33Fans were disappointed, to say the least, and when a Redditor asked the question,
00:36"...do y'all miss the Combo Pizza?" many responded in the affirmative, with one person commenting,
00:41"...do I miss the Combo Pizza? It's the only thing I think about."
00:44There is even an online petition with over 18,000 signatures asking Costco to bring back
00:49the Combo Pizza. Sadly, there's been no formal statement from the company explaining why
00:54they removed this popular menu item. And despite the fan feedback, the Combo Pizza has not
01:00returned, although cheese and pepperoni versions are still available in the food court.
01:03Still, there is a way to get your Combo Pizza fix once again, as take-and-bake Combo Pizzas
01:08are now available for sale at Costco in the deli section.
01:12There was once a time when Costco customers could buy a churro for a mere dollar from
01:16the food court. Sprinkled with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar, crispy on the outside
01:20and soft on the inside, this fan favorite went great with a cup of soft-serve vanilla
01:24ice cream.
01:25Sadly for churro fans everywhere, this sugary dessert quietly disappeared from the food
01:30court menu at some point during the pandemic. However, it didn't stay gone for long, reappearing
01:34on the menu in 2021, this time for $1.49.
01:39Some fans felt the returning churro wasn't the same, however. One Redditor wrote,
01:42"...don't get too excited, they definitely are not as good as the original and definitely
01:46not worth a 50% price increase."
01:49This new version was itself discontinued at the beginning of 2024. This time, the churros
01:54were replaced with the 7-inch double chocolate chunk cookie, sold at a higher price for $2.49.
02:00Yet all is not lost for churro fans. Costco's food court churros were made from Tio Pepe's
02:06brand and Tio Pepe's sells bite-sized churros at Walmart. However, you'll have to own a
02:10big freezer at home as they come 500 per case. Or you can get a case of 100 of the larger-sized
02:17churros on Amazon.
02:19Although you can still get an all-beef hot dog with a soda at Costco's food court for
02:24$1.50, the Polish dog has been off the menu since 2018. Polish dogs are similar to regular
02:30hot dogs, but thicker and made with different spices — more like a kielbasa than anything
02:35else. While the hot dog remains a popular option, with some 200 million hot dog and
02:39soda combos sold in 2023, the Polish dog is still missed by its fans. One Redditor said,
02:45"...I love the beef hot dog just as much as the next bloke, however, I've been really
02:49missing that Polish."
02:50An online petition garnered over 16,000 signatures requesting the Polish dog stay on the menu
02:56after it was announced the chain would be phasing out the product. Unlike many other
03:00discontinued items, Costco has given a reason for dropping its Polish dog. Its customer
03:04service page says the following,
03:06"...in order to simplify our menu and make room for healthier options, we have decided
03:10to offer only the all-beef hot dog. Sales show this is what the majority of members
03:14prefer. Though we understand many members loved the Polish dog, we hope you enjoy our
03:18new offerings."
03:20If you're really craving a Costco Polish dog, however, Canadian locations still carry it.
03:25"...O Canada…"
03:31You can also buy a package of Kirkland Signature Beef Polish Sausages at Costco and make them
03:35at home.
03:37Costco's food court used to offer a sweet cinnamon and powdered sugar sprinkled soft
03:41pretzel. It's been close to 20 years since the sweet soft pretzel left the menu, however,
03:46having been replaced by the cinnamon churro, which is also now discontinued. In 2006, shoppers
03:51began reporting the cinnamon sugar pretzel had been replaced by churros in stores around
03:56the country. Yet shoppers still have fond memories of both the chain's sweet and savory
04:00pretzels. One Redditor said,
04:02"...those were so good, I'd forgotten about them."
04:05Another said,
04:06"...I miss the soft pretzels. My location offered them without salt too, which I loved
04:09as a kid."
04:10Costco never offered an explanation as to why they cut the soft pretzels from the menu.
04:15Many can only speculate it may have been a cost-saving measure. If you've ever watched
04:18Auntie Anne's employees rolling out dough and forming pretzels, you can certainly imagine
04:23pretzel-making is a time-intensive process.
04:26It's fair to say that Costco's acai bowl was not without controversy. This short-lived
04:31item arrived in 2018 and disappeared in 2020. It cost $5 and was made with an acai mix topped
04:37with fresh berries, banana chips, and granola mix. The acai bowls were also plant-based
04:42and completely vegan. While some shoppers loved it, others had different opinions. One
04:47Redditor said,
04:48"...I feel like people either loved or hated it, but I miss the acai bowl that they used
04:52to have at the food court. It was my favorite."
04:54However, another responded,
04:56"...it was the worst acai bowl I've ever had. Good riddance."
05:00As to whether it was actually healthy, Women's Health magazine was unable to obtain nutritional
05:04information from Costco, with a local manager telling the magazine that stat sheets on the
05:09item were unavailable. He said,
05:11"...all we know is that out of all the desserts we serve, it's a lower-sugar option."
05:16Although the bowl did offer fresh fruit, nutritionists complained of too many carbs, too much sugar,
05:21and not enough protein. Others, meanwhile, thought the acai mix simply didn't taste any
05:25good.
05:27In 2017, Costco began selling an organic cheeseburger for $4.99 in its food court. This burger was
05:34said to be similar to the hugely popular burgers served at Shake Shack.
05:38"...what don't you like? I like the burgers, the shakes, I mean, the quality. It really
05:42comes down to the quality."
05:44Costco's burger was a one-third-pound beef patty on a challah hamburger bun, topped with
05:49cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and a smoke-infused Thousand Island dressing. The cheeseburger
05:53wasn't sold across the nation, but could be found in select markets. Then, in 2020, shoppers
05:58reported that the cheeseburger appeared to have been discontinued.
06:01One Costco warehouse location in California had a sign during a remodel that stated,
06:06Thank you for enjoying our organic cheeseburger over the past year. This was a test item and
06:11will no longer be served when we reopen.
06:13Although Costco did not specify why the test didn't work, a Redditor speculated,
06:17A meat buyer I know worked on the development of the food court burger. He told me a couple
06:22months ago it was going to be discontinued because it's not sustainable.
06:26Though not sold in every market and less well-known than other food court discontinued items,
06:30some Costco shoppers still miss the cheeseburger. One Redditor asked if anyone saw the burger
06:34at other locations, adding,
06:35I miss my dang cheeseburger.
06:38The barbecue beef brisket sandwich once sold for $4.99 at the Costco food court. Last seen
06:44in 2018, an article from Business Insider once called it the best thing to order at
06:49Costco's wildly popular food court. On Reddit, Costco shoppers listed as one of the items
06:54they miss the most from stores' food court, with one Redditor saying,
06:57I know it's been a few years, but I still miss them.
07:00So why was this popular item discontinued? Costco never offered a formal explanation
07:05so we can only guess. It could be the time it took to prep the sandwich. One Costco
07:09employee on Reddit said,
07:10That sandwich was more of a pain in the butt to prep and go through all the procedures
07:15for than making 50 chocolate nut-covered ice cream bars in a row.
07:19Another reason may have been that Costco's menu shifted to healthier items the year the
07:22beef sandwich was discontinued.
07:25It's hard to imagine being able to grab a cone filled with freshly made gelato after
07:29doing your shopping at a membership warehouse club, but Costco shoppers could once buy
07:33fresh-made gelato cones straight from the food court.
07:37Starting in 2009, for just $1.50, you could get three generous scoops of gelato inside
07:44a waffle cone. Or you could buy a quart for $4.99. There were three flavors available
07:50— mixed berry, pistachio, and stracciatella. This item was only available in select markets,
07:55however it never made it nationwide.
07:57Still, those who were able to get their hands on the delicious treat seemed to have fond
08:01memories of it. As one Redditor said,
08:03"...I would plan my errands so that I would pass by Costco, stop, grab a cone, and live
08:08my happy life."
08:10Although freshly made gelato at a lower price sounds like a dream, it's easy to imagine
08:14that Costco decided to move to more cost-saving and convenient items, such as its soft-serve
08:19ice cream.
08:21For a mere $3.99, Costco shoppers could once stop at the food court and order a hot turkey
08:26and provolone sandwich. Fans of the sandwich took to social media in the hopes of convincing
08:31Costco to bring it back, with one Redditor saying,
08:33"...if you recall the days when you could purchase a Costco turkey and provolone sandwich
08:37after a hard day of shopping, then you will agree with me, we need the hot turkey and
08:41provolone sandwich back."
08:42In 2024, Costco did, in fact, bring back a turkey sandwich. However, this new sandwich
08:48is served cold and costs $2 more than the original sandwich. The new offering is served
08:53with oven-roasted turkey, Swiss cheese, a sun-dried tomato spread, and a mayo-mustard
08:58concoction on a roll.
08:59However, fans of the original turkey sandwich remain unimpressed, with one Redditor saying,
09:04"...if it's not going through a panini press, I don't think most people will be interested."
09:08The Costco food court has been offering soft-serve ice cream and sundaes since 2020, with cups
09:13selling for $1.49 and sundaes for $2.49. The soft-serve ice cream replaced the previous
09:20nonfat frozen yogurt option, which came in vanilla and strawberry flavors. And then,
09:24in 2024, Costco began offering a chocolate soft-serve option. The catch? This flavor
09:30replaced strawberry. For chocolate ice cream lovers, this was a welcome change, but there
09:34have been plenty of Costco shoppers sad to see the strawberry ice cream go. One person
09:38commented on an Instagram post discussing the change,
09:41"...no, the strawberry one is so flipping good. It's like frozen strawberry quick."
09:46We don't have official word on why Costco ditched the strawberry ice cream. However,
09:51we can speculate that these soft-serve machines only allow for two flavors. While vanilla
09:55is a staple, strawberry came third after chocolate in a recent survey of popular flavors carried
10:00out by the International Dairy Foods Association.
10:03"...I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream."
10:08It could be that Costco hopes to sell more ice cream by offering the most popular choice
10:12of flavor.
10:14Costco's chocolate-dipped ice cream bar was discontinued from the food court menu in 2013.
10:19For the low price of $1.50, Costco shoppers could satisfy their sweet tooth after their
10:23shopping trips with a hand-dipped ice cream bar. According to Victor Valley News Group,
10:28Costco made the decision to remove the tasty treat to help cut back on costs due to the
10:32rising price of dairy and almonds at the time.
10:35Shoppers missed the bars so much, however, that they even created a Facebook group with
10:39over 1,000 followers dedicated to bringing them back. Still, you can buy an 18-count
10:44box of Kirkland Signature Ice Cream Bars in the Costco frozen section. These are essentially
10:48vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate and almonds, but they aren't quite the same as
10:52a freshly hand-dipped bar. One Redditor writes,
10:55"...please don't get the old hand-dipped bars confused with the Kirkland brand bars in the
10:59freezer section. Although the Kirkland bars are very good, they really are a whole other
11:04product and don't compare whatsoever."