Walking through Costco after loading your cart with bulk everything, that food court smell hits different. The pizza. The hot dogs. Those churros. But here’s something that might surprise you: not everything at the Costco food court is worth your money. Some items that look amazing in the display case turn out to be pretty disappointing once you actually taste them. People who’ve tried the whole menu have some strong opinions about what to skip, and the results might change how you order next time.
The rotisserie chicken salad falls completely flat
Everyone knows Costco makes one of the best rotisserie chickens you can buy. It’s juicy, perfectly seasoned, and costs less than making chicken at home. So when you see a rotisserie chicken salad on the menu, it seems like a safe bet. The problem is that this salad uses completely different chicken than what you’d buy in the store. Multiple people who tried the food court version said the chicken looked almost raw, even though it was cooked. The meat came out pale and unappetizing instead of that golden brown color everyone expects.
The salad itself doesn’t help matters either. It’s just basic romaine lettuce with some shredded chicken on top and pre-packaged dressing on the side. At almost seven dollars, this costs more than most other food court items. People expected something special for that price, but what they got tasted like an airport salad that had been sitting around too long. The lettuce was fine, nothing memorable. The whole thing just screams mediocre, which is disappointing when you’re used to Costco’s regular rotisserie chicken being so good.
Those frozen coffee drinks are way too sweet
If you’re looking for a coffee pick-me-up at Costco, you might want to bring your own from home instead. The food court offers several frozen coffee drinks that sound great in theory. The caramel cold brew freeze, the regular cold brew latte freeze, and the cold brew mocha freeze all promise that caffeine boost you need. The reality is that all three are packed with so much sugar that the actual coffee taste gets completely buried. People trying these drinks couldn’t even finish two sips of the caramel version because of how sweet it was.
The mocha version is slightly better because the chocolate adds some depth, but it’s still more like drinking dessert than actual coffee. If you compare these to what you’d get at a coffee shop, they taste more like those bottled Starbucks drinks from the grocery store. They’re thick and cold, which is nice on a hot day, but don’t expect any real coffee taste. For three dollars, you’re basically getting a sugar bomb with a tiny hint of caffeine. Most people who tried the whole menu said these drinks were some of the worst items available.
The fruit smoothie tastes frozen and fake
Smoothies should taste like fresh fruit blended up into a cold, refreshing drink. The Costco food court smoothie doesn’t quite get there. After briefly replacing it with a mango version that nobody liked, Costco brought back the original fruit smoothie with strawberry and other berries. It’s not terrible, but it definitely tastes more like frozen fruit puree than anything fresh. The strawberry taste is the strongest part, but it has that artificial edge that reminds you this probably came from a mix rather than real berries.
The texture is another problem. Instead of being smooth and creamy like a good smoothie should be, this one comes out kind of slushy. The liquid part separates from the frozen chunks, leaving you with an inconsistent drink that’s more icy than blended. At three dollars, it’s not expensive, but you’re getting exactly what you pay for: a budget smoothie that does the job if you’re desperate for something cold and fruity. If you have literally any other smoothie option nearby, most people say go there instead. This one ranks near the bottom for good reason.
The turkey sandwich isn’t worth six dollars
Costco used to serve a roast beef sandwich at the food court that people actually liked. They replaced it with a turkey and swiss sandwich that costs about the same but uses cheaper ingredients. The sandwich comes with cold deli turkey, swiss cheese, lettuce, and a sun dried tomato spread on ciabatta bread. It sounds decent enough, but the execution falls short. The turkey looks grayish and wet, and the whole sandwich was literally dripping by the time people got it to their table. That’s not a good sign for a cold sandwich.
The lettuce was bruised and sad looking, and the swiss cheese was just swiss cheese, nothing special. The only good part was the sun dried tomato spread, which at least added some actual taste to an otherwise boring sandwich. For seven dollars, this is one of the more expensive food court items, and it just doesn’t deliver. The sandwich is also smaller than the old roast beef version, so you’re paying more for less food that tastes worse. Most towns have better sandwich shops than this, so unless you’re absolutely starving and can’t leave Costco, people recommend skipping this one entirely.
Plain cheese pizza disappoints compared to pepperoni
This one shocked people because Costco pizza usually gets pretty good reviews. The pepperoni pizza is solid, but the cheese pizza is a completely different story. When people tried the whole menu, the cheese pizza ranked as one of the absolute worst items available. The slice looks okay at first, with melted cheese that seems nicely browned on top. But when you look closer, there’s a layer of yellowish grease coating the entire surface. It’s way oilier than the pepperoni version, which doesn’t make sense since cheese pizza should be simpler and cleaner.
The problems continue once you actually eat it. The sauce coverage is terrible, only reaching the top third of the slice under the cheese. The rest is just dry dough with cheese on top. The crust tastes stale and hard, like it’s been sitting out for hours. Everything about this pizza is wrong: it’s simultaneously greasy and dry, which shouldn’t even be possible. At two dollars, it’s cheap, but people who tried it said no amount of money is worth eating this slice. The pepperoni pizza ranks way higher, so if you’re getting Costco pizza, definitely go with that instead.
The chicken bake is too dense and dry
The chicken bake has a cult following at Costco, but not everyone understands why. It’s this massive rolled-up breadstick stuffed with chicken, bacon bits, cheese, and ranch dressing. Some people expected it to be a goopy mess that explodes when you bite into it, but that’s not really the problem. The actual issue is that the whole thing is incredibly dense and heavy. The bread is thick and doughy, and while the chicken inside is decent quality, there’s not enough moisture to make eating the whole thing enjoyable.
The chicken bake is as long as your forearm, which sounds great until you realize you’re trying to eat through all that dry, heavy bread. The ranch dressing and cheese help a little bit, but not enough to save it. The bacon adds some good smoky taste, but again, the bread just overwhelms everything else. People who tried this for the first time were surprised it wasn’t worse, but they also couldn’t imagine finishing the entire thing in one sitting. If you’re going to order one, plan to share it or save half for later. It’s not bad exactly, just way too much of a heavy, dry thing all at once.
Prepared meals from the deli section miss the mark
Beyond the food court, Costco sells prepared meals in the deli section that you can take home and heat up. These seem convenient for busy nights when you don’t want to cook. The chicken alfredo with penne pasta sounds good, but the noodles come out way too soft and squishy after heating. They don’t have any bite to them at all. The sauce is creamy and mild, but the pasta texture ruins the whole experience. It tastes like noodles that have been sitting in sauce for way too long, which is probably exactly what happened.
The stuffed peppers are another disappointment. They look beautiful in the package with colorful red, yellow, and orange pepper halves filled with meat. But after cooking them, the filling tastes bland and needs way more seasoning. The meat might actually be turkey instead of beef, and there’s not enough of it inside each pepper. The peppers themselves cook up tender, which is good, but that’s about the only positive thing. For the price, these prepared meals should taste better than they do. You can make better versions at home without much effort.
The chicken street tacos need better organization
Costco sells taco kits in the deli section that require some assembly at home. The chicken street taco kit comes with cooked chicken, tortillas, cheese, cabbage slaw, and cilantro lime sauce. The sauce is actually the best part and tastes really good on the tacos. The problem is how everything is packaged together. The cabbage slaw sits under the cheese in the container, so when you’re trying to grab some cheese, you end up with cabbage mixed in whether you want it or not. Some people don’t mind this, but others found it really annoying.
The kit also doesn’t come with heating instructions, which seems like an oversight. You’re supposed to warm everything up, but it just says to warm it without giving you specifics on temperature or time. People figured out that 30 seconds in the microwave works for a couple assembled tacos, but that’s through trial and error. The chicken tastes decent and the tortillas are fine. The cilantro lime sauce really does make the whole thing better. But between the packaging issues and lack of instructions, these tacos are more frustrating than they need to be. The tempura shrimp version is apparently much better.
Some items just taste too basic for the price
When you’re paying six or seven dollars for something at the Costco food court, you expect it to taste pretty good. The Caesar salad with rotisserie chicken costs seven dollars, which makes it one of the pricier items available. But what you get is extremely basic: some shredded chicken on romaine lettuce with pre-packaged Caesar dressing and parmesan cheese. The croutons shown in the menu picture don’t even come with the actual salad, which is a weird detail to get wrong. The chicken is fine because Costco’s rotisserie chicken is usually good, and the lettuce is fresh and crisp.
But that’s where the good stuff ends. The Caesar dressing comes in a little packet instead of being freshly made, and same with the cheese. For seven bucks, you’d think they could do better than pre-packaged dressing. The whole salad is just barebones and doesn’t feel worth the price compared to other things on the menu. You could get a hot dog and a drink for way less money and be more satisfied. Or grab a couple slices of the pepperoni pizza. When an item costs this much at Costco’s usually cheap food court, it needs to deliver something special. This salad just doesn’t.
Not everything at the Costco food court lives up to the hype. While classics like the hot dog and certain pizza slices stay solid, quite a few items disappoint people who try them. The salads cost too much for what you get, the frozen drinks are sugar bombs, and several of the sandwiches just taste cheap. Next time you’re finishing up your shopping trip and heading to the food court, maybe stick with what works instead of experimenting. Or better yet, check out what real people say about each item before ordering. Your stomach and your wallet will thank you.
