Costco seems to be testing out a relatively big-ticket food court menu item, which has
fans of the budget brand in a tizzy. Is this ten-dollar treat really worth its price tag?
A shopping trip to Costco can sometimes be a little overwhelming given the size of the
place and the size of the items for sale. Luckily, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel:
the food court. What better way to refresh yourself – and recover from
having spent half your paycheck on groceries – than with a delightfully
cheap Costco hot dog and soda combo or a deliciously cheesy slice of pizza?
"I mean, a dollar fifty for a quarter-pound hot dog. And a drink! Tres bien, right?"
That said, not every item in Costco's food court is a winner. The churros changed in
ways fans disliked, while the acai bowl is a sugar bomb, according to some. Still,
whenever Costco introduces a new menu item, it usually generates quite a bit of buzz,
which can be good or bad. One recent addition is attracting attention for
something Costco would probably rather not publicize. According to Reddit,
Costco is now selling a roast beef sandwich at a shockingly high price.
This new sandwich seems to be a fairly fancy one, made with deli roast beef
dressed in onion relish and roasted cherry tomatoes, all piled high on top of an artisan
roll. It does look pretty tasty, despite the confusing lack of cheese. It's 790 calories,
which seems pretty reasonable. What's not reasonable at all, according to shoppers,
is the price tag – an unbelievable $9.99. Admittedly, this is based on a single
Costco located in Lynnwood, Washington, a Seattle suburb where the average home price
is upwards of $700,000, but it doesn't bode well for Costco food court prices in general.
Just last summer there was quite the kerfuffle when Costco hiked its soda prices 10 cents to 69
cents, and, worse yet, raised the price of its chicken bake an entire dollar, to $3.99. How,
then, do the bigwigs at the big box behemoth think that a sandwich at more than twice the
price is going to fly? Needless to say, not many people in the Reddit comments section were
applauding Costco's savvy marketing. While some felt that the chain might be testing the waters,
others pointed out that the whole reason for eating at the food court
is to get decent food on the cheap. No matter how great this sandwich may be,
if you want a gourmet experience, you're not going to be dining at the Costco Bistro.
Costco is based out of Washington state, but it expanded its operations to go worldwide a
decade ago. There are now Costco stores in many different countries, each with its own food court
offerings. In Iceland, you can get gelato, while Spain's food courts have croquetas,
and Canadian Costcos dish up poutine. Interestingly, Japan and Korea both had
roast beef sandwiches on their respective menus long before they were introduced in the U.S.
The Korean roast beef sandwich, which hit Costco food courts in 2017, was somewhat different from
the version we now have in the States. It was made with barbecue sauce, fried onions, bell peppers,
and balsamic dressing, and cooked inside a bun in a similar fashion to the chicken bake. Its
price? A reasonable 6,700 won, which is just over $5 as of February 2023. Japan, however,
seems to be offering a similar roast beef sandwich to the one sold in the
U.S. if the picture is anything to go by. According to Twitter,
Costco Japan had it last July, and it was priced at 980 yen, or about $7.25.
So why does the roast beef sandwich cost so much more in the United States than it does abroad?
After all, for that same ten-spot, there are a lot of other menu options we'd rather go with.
If we were really, really hungry, we could get six hot dogs and sodas with a buck left over for
a churro. We could also mix and match two $3.99 chicken bakes, turkey and provolone sandwiches,
or chicken Caesar salads and have more than enough change for an ice cream.
An even better bargain for that $10 would be an entire pizza. If you're willing to
step outside the food court itself, though, and to opt for something that's more of a
take-home meal, $10 could get you two entire rotisserie chickens. Unlike a sandwich,
which you'll probably finish in a single sitting, even a single rotisserie chicken
can be stretched out for several meals. As Costco shoppers are by and large a budget-minded bunch,
one might predict that spendy sandwich won't stick around for too long.