There are many beautiful things about Costco, but perhaps the best and most beautiful-est is that it’s the only grocery store that essentially feeds you a whole meal while you are perusing the aisles, then offers you the option of also buying some cheap, delicious food court food at the end of your long journey. Oh and then you can gas up your car afterward for only $4 a gallon—and for those of you non-Californians out there, yes, that is actually quite cheap for gas in California. But beyond filling your body and your car with lovely gas (have I mentioned how big the cans of beans are at Costco?), Costco is known for one thing: consistency. This is especially true at the food court. The items stay the same, the prices stay the same, the quality stays the same. They will never have Coke, only Pepsi, and there’s a designated relish pump by the soda lids. So when something changes, it’s a big deal. And one such big deal is happening right now: Costco is replacing the ever-popular churro with Costco chocolate chip cookies.
Okay, does Costco even care that we love churros? And do they realize we all have cookies at home?
This isn’t the first time Costco has switched up their food court game ever so slightly. In 2022, they raised the price of the Chicken Bake, as well as the 20 ounce soda; in 2018, they got rid of the chocolate frozen yogurt; and in 2021, they replaced the old, straight churro with a twisty, doughy version which, granted, is still good, maybe just 10% less good and 50% more expensive than its non-squiggly predecessor. But now, even the twisty churro is no more. Shoppers across the country have seen the churro vanish from the food court menu at their local Costco and be replaced with a giant “Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie.” As for the quality of the Costco chocolate chip cookie, the online consensus seems to be that it is, a.) too much for a single person to finish and still feel good, b.) a dollar more expensive than the twisted churro ($2.49 versus $1.49), and c.) pretty good tasting but not good enough to warrant the 66.6% price increase. Additionally, people have pointed out that you can get decent chocolate chip cookies anywhere, but outside of theme parks and malls, it is significantly harder to find a good churro in the wild. Costco was one of the only truly convenient places you could get one, and now, they’re gone.
Why are Costco chocolate chip cookies doing this to us?
There is some speculation across the interwebs that the churro had been declining in popularity of late and that could be why Costco decided to pull the plug on it and try something new. But beyond this speculation, we really don’t have a specific reason, just a solemn farewell. So next time I leave Costco with my 120 toilet paper rolls, a giant bag of jerky, a winter jacket, Rao’s pasta sauce, an electric toothbrush, a $5 rotisserie chicken, and an ungodly amount of cottage cheese (not based on true events), I guess I’ll try treating myself to a giant Costco chocolate chip cookie at the end of my trip. And who knows? If you give a Jessica a bunch of bulk groceries, she may just want a cookie to go with it. Even if that cookie is decidedly not a churro.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!