Costco Food Court’s New Sandwich is Surprisingly Delicious

Costco's Food Court is famous for its $1.50 hot dogs, but the company is constantly experimenting with new items. Recently, Costco added a new sandwich to its Food Court menu and I stopped by a Costco to try it. Let's see how Costco's newest item ranks against other famous items like its hot dogs and pizza slices.

The item was widely panned as it was simply too expensive. It cost $9.99, which is a far cry from hot dogs for $1.50 and pizza slices priced at $1.99.

I ordered the Costco Roast Beef Sandwich and compared it with Costco's other Food Court items. The verdict was not good. The sandwich used the same mustard found in Costco's food court as a condiment. This was likely to simplify ingredients and save cost, but it also felt "cheap" for a sandwich that cost $9.99. In addition, Costco didn't add any cheese to the Roast Beef Sandwich, which was an odd omission.

Last Fall, a Costco employee posted on Reddit that warehouses would be removing the Roast Beef Sandwich from menus, and by late winter it was being removed from Food Courts across America.

In its place was a new sandwich that offered a more compelling value.

Replacing the Roast Beef Sandwich is a new Turkey Swiss Sandwich that costs $6.99. While that price is higher than items like pizza slices for $1.99 or Chicken Bakes for $3.99, it's much more in-line with the pricing of other Food Court items.

I tried the Turkey Swiss Sandwich and sampled it against other Food Court items. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the sandwich.

While the Roast Beef Sandwich used what appeared to be the same mustard Costco uses on its hot dogs, the Turkey Swiss Sandwich uses two separate spreads. It has a sun-dried tomato and a mayo/mustard spread. Simply put, they're delicious and make the sandwich taste much more savory. Costco really nailed putting the right condiments on this sandwich, which is an area they failed on with the Roast Beef Sandwich.

In addition, the Turkey Swiss Sandwich actually includes cheese, which is a welcome addition. My sandwich had two hearty slices of Swiss cheese that balanced out all the turkey.

Finally, at $6.99 the sandwich is just simply a better value than the Roast Beef Sandwich. While I would have never ordered Costco's Roast Beef Sandwich again, I will order the Turkey Swiss Sandwich on future visits.

The biggest downside to the Turkey Swiss Sandwich is that it's fairly heavy in calories with 900. That's more than a Chicken Bake (840), a slice of cheese pizza (710), or a $1.50 hot dog (580 without a soda).

Of course, part of the reason the calories on this sandwich are high is Costco is generous with items like cheese. If you're counting calories, you could either split the sandwich with someone or save part of it for a later meal.

Beyond adding the Turkey Swiss Sandwich to its menu, Costco also recently removed churros from food court menus. Churros were a long-time staple, but the vendors providing churros had changed over the years and many Costco members complained their quality was degraded.

The Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie is served warm and includes lots of rich and gooey chocolate. At 750 calories, it's a lot for a dessert so this might be another item you want to split with someone.

Costco sells ice cream cups for $1.99 in both chocolate and vanilla. Many Costco fans have created a "secret menu item" by putting ice cream in between the Double Chocolate Chip Cookie. I tried this and it makes the cookie much better.

However, I thought simply dipping the cookie into an ice cream cup was even more delicious. If I'm indulging in a cookie on my way out of Costco, I'll definitely add some ice cream next time as well!