Top Chefs Take on Costco: Food Court Rankings, Recommendations, and Best Kept Kirkland Secrets!!

The Chef's Cut

In this episode of 'The Chef's Cut,' hosts Joe and Adrienne dive into the Costco food court, ranking popular items like the hot dog, rotisserie chicken,

Key takeaways

The Costco pepperoni pizza is considered the best chain restaurant pizza in the U.S., surpassing major chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's.
The $1.50 hot dog remains a cultural icon due to its consistent pricing and high quality, with fans citing it as one of the best hot dogs ever.

Main topics

Costco food court rankings
Best chain restaurant pizza in America

Notable quotes

"The slice of pizza at Costco is the best slice of pizza you can get from a chain restaurant in the United States."

"I will effing kill you if you raise the price of the hot dog."

Conclusion

The episode concludes with both hosts embracing Costco as a culinary and

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:13) Today on The Chef's Cut, we are talking about America's most dependable place to dine out, the Costco food court. The Speaker 1 (0:21) slice of pizza at Costco is the best slice of pizza you can get from a chain restaurant. in the United States. Speaker 2 (0:27) Joe and I ranked the best food items, including the brand new chicken tenders. The Speaker 1 (0:32) sauce is really good. They kind of got that Raising Cane's like Caniac sauce going on. Speaker 2 (0:36) And what ingredients do real chefs think you should go out of your way Speaker 1 (0:40) to buy at Costco? Speaker 2 (0:41) And the prices on them are really good. Chefs Cut Nation, you know what time it is. We need 10 seconds of your day. Please rate and review the show wherever you get your pods. It really helps. Speaker 1 (0:58) One thing. That people can agree on in the industry, in the streets, wherever you may be, is that Costco is incredible. Speaker 2 (1:09) Yes. I'm a new convert. Yes. Costco is. I see what the hype is about. Speaker 1 (1:15) You know, this is so this is something you and I have talked about for a while. We're deep diving into this. And I found out of your lack of really Costco experience. And I think it makes sense. You know, you live in New York. You don't have kids. You know what I mean? You live in. Like an apartment, you're probably not buying things in bulk often. I don't know how many bulk things you buy. I Speaker 2 (1:36) don't need a three-year supply of Q-tips. Like, what am I going to put that under my bathroom sink? Like, I don't have space for all that. Speaker 1 (1:42) Well, and this is, okay, so this is the thing. This is where it begins. It's like how this conversation with you and I started is talking about how. good I think the food court at Costco is. Speaker 2 (1:52) Yes. And Speaker 1 (1:53) you had not fully experienced the breadth of the chef's menu over at Costco. I Speaker 2 (2:00) had not. I'd been with my sister to Costco, her and the kids, and like, you know, I got distracted by kayaks and tents and... all these random things while she attacked the shopping list that she had. And I'm also like, ooh, sweatpants and leggings and kids clothes and like fun. The Speaker 1 (2:17) sweatpants are low-key nice too. Speaker 2 (2:19) They're pretty. They're Speaker 1 (2:21) thick. They're high quality. There's, you know. Speaker 2 (2:23) But the food court, I skipped. And so you convinced me I had to go back. Speaker 1 (2:29) So you went back. You went back and you explored. And now I've been a Costco. I've been a Costco member for a long time, probably 20 years at this point. I'm an executive member now. I don't mean to brag, but, you know, we get early access. It's kind of a big deal before Gen Pop opens for the rest of the store. So it's, you know, it's kind of a big deal. They don't give it to everyone. You know, you're probably a regular member. That's okay. I Speaker 2 (2:51) think so. Yeah. Speaker 1 (2:53) But the food court's got a lot of things. Like they have a lot of food that's kind of ready to eat, but then you have the food court and obviously. You know, the most famous of the Costco brand is the hot dog, the Speaker 2 (3:03) 150 hot Speaker 1 (3:04) dog that has not changed price in forever. And there's like a famous story quoted to the CEO of somebody new trying to come in and trying to raise the price of the hot dog and him leaning across the table and said, I will effing kill you if you raise the price of the hot dog. Speaker 2 (3:19) I'm so glad he did because that hot dog, along with like the $4.99 rotisserie chicken, has built such strong loyalty. And I see why, because it is actually a damn good hot dog. But that's not the only thing I tried at the food court. So, you know what? Let's rank. I tried four things at the food court. Speaker 1 (3:39) All right. Well, so what were the four you tried? You tried the hot dog. I Speaker 2 (3:42) did the hot dog. I did the chicken bake. Speaker 1 (3:45) Okay. The Speaker 2 (3:46) chicken tenders and the pepperoni pizza. Okay. Speaker 1 (3:48) And the chicken tenders are new additions. So we have to clarify this. You know, I know you're new to the game. So I just want to make it clear that chicken tenders have not been a longstanding offer. Speaker 2 (3:57) Okay. Speaker 1 (3:58) So that's new to the game. So I want to take them through one by one. The hot dog, I think, is a no-brainer. It's a slam dunk. It's a good hot dog. Speaker 2 (4:07) So I've ranked them one to four. Favorite to least favorite out of those four. Speaker 1 (4:11) Oh, least favorite's easy. The chicken bake. I mean, there's chicken bake fans out there. There's like, I feel like the chicken bake is a cult classic. There's the people who are big chicken bake people. I'm not one of them. I think that's, for me, the lowest tier of Costco food court food. Speaker 2 (4:28) Next. Speaker 1 (4:29) Number three, I'd say the chicken tenders. Like the sauce is really good. They kind of got that Raising Cane's like Caniac sauce going on. But the breading was okay. It was okay. You know what I mean? I'd say it's mid as far as chicken tenders go. A hot dog, I would say, is number two. It's a really good hot dog. It's a really good $1.50 hot dog. But, you know, I live in Chicago, the hot dog capital of Earth. So it's good, but it's not, you know what I mean, a hard thing to find. I will say, I think, and this is my truth, the slice of pizza at Costco. is the best slice of pizza you can get from a chain restaurant in the Speaker 2 (5:08) United States. Oh, Joe. I'm saying chain Speaker 1 (5:10) restaurant. I'm saying chain restaurant is the best chain pizza place in the United States. Strong words. I like it. I Speaker 2 (5:19) think it's Speaker 1 (5:19) true. I think it's absolutely true. It's better than, and I'm not saying it's better than, you know, La Industrie or Scars or Feeney in New York. I'm saying it is way better. And I don't think it's close. But Speaker 2 (5:33) it's better than Pizza Hut, Domino's. Pizza Hut, Speaker 1 (5:35) Domino's, Papa John's, Serpino's, Marco's, whatever. Whatever, you know what I mean, chain pizza place. I think Costco dog walks them. Speaker 2 (5:45) I love it. Speaker 1 (5:47) And it's like, it's delicious. It is delicious. I eat a slice of pizza every time I go there. It does not matter time of day, night, how hungry I really am. I'm grabbing a slice of pepperoni for the road. I'm going to sit in my car and eat that at the front seat. And I'm going to be happy. I'm going to have about three and a half to four minutes of pure, absolute enjoyment. Speaker 2 (6:08) So I loved that pizza. I'm not going to lie. It reminded me of like, you know, there's Speaker 1 (6:13) a Speaker 2 (6:13) difference between like pizza you liked as a kid and pizza you like as an adult. To me, that is like the best version of kid pizza. Oh, yeah. The cheese is thick. It's saucy. Yeah. It's got that grease dripping off. Now, I can't lie. I love that little bit of grease running off the top of it. Grease Speaker 1 (6:29) me up like an old truck part. Speaker 2 (6:32) OK, let me give you my four in order. OK, so least favorite. I have to agree with you. Chicken bake. I was not a fan. It had this weird, like acidic taste. Speaker 1 (6:43) I'm going to tell you, there's going to be chicken bake people coming for us on this one. The chicken bakers out there. Convince me otherwise. I don't think it's good, but there's people who are like, dude, that chicken bake. And I'm like, what is wrong with you? Who hurt you? Speaker 2 (6:56) Least favorite for me, chicken bake. After that, I agree. Chicken tenders. Then. pepperoni pizza and for me the hot dog was the winner it had just enough snap the bread is soft good snap it's tender inside hamad like it was the best objectively the best hot dog i have had in a long freaking time that was to me that hot dog was it it's huge though it's a massive it's Speaker 1 (7:21) a Speaker 2 (7:21) quarter Speaker 1 (7:22) pound hot dog i think they call them four by ones Speaker 2 (7:26) That's a glizzy. Now that is. Those Speaker 1 (7:29) are those are those are those are hot stocks. Yeah, Speaker 2 (7:33) that was that. That'll that's like you could split that with two adults and everybody would be full. But I agree. The chicken tenders, the breading was thick. It was kind of dry. It it seemed like kind of dry meat on the inside. It was stringy. It was real chicken. Don't get me wrong. But they were just dry. I think that would be much better if they fried them instead of baking them. Speaker 1 (7:55) Yeah, you think it's a baked? It's healthier. Speaker 2 (7:57) But that breading just gets like... You Speaker 1 (7:59) think it's a baked product? Speaker 2 (7:59) I think so. That doesn't give fried to me. Yeah. Because the crust was too dry and