8 Discontinued Costco Food Court Items We Don't Miss At All

Every Costco member has a few discontinued Costco food court items they remember fondly. While there are some things we can all agree we want back on the menus — like the coveted Polish sausage, for example — what about the items customers weren't too keen on? As it turns out, though they may be few and far between, there are a few meals and drinks from the Costco food court that customers were excited to see leave menus... hopefully for good.

By searching through food court meal reviews and social media comments, we were able to pin down eight former food and drink items that we can safely say we don't want to see back on Costco's menus anytime soon. If you've got an item from the grocery giant's food court that still makes you think unappetizing thoughts, read on — the chances are high that your least favorite item made the list. 

Costco's roast beef sandwich will no doubt go down in food court history as one of the worst menu items to ever grace the retailer's cafeterias. The first sign of trouble began brewing when customers noticed that it retailed for $10 — which, when compared to Costco's other menu items, is an outrageous price. You could buy an entire food court pizza for less than the cost of the roast beef sandwich alone.

According to customers who dared to pass up the cheaper options in favor of the roast beef, the sandwich itself was very lacking. There wasn't always much roast beef on the sandwich, and the main other toppings were lettuce and sautéed onions, both served in small portions. The bread rolls on this sandwich were very thick, and some customers claimed they were hard, too. Most egregious by far, however, was the fact that the sandwich was served cold. Now, it's true that a traditional roast beef sandwich can be served either hot or cold — but Costco customers just couldn't stand how the cold sandwich contributed to the blandness of the toppings and the odd texture of the bread. Thankfully, it was eventually replaced by a new food court sandwich topped with bacon jam.

Some of Costco's smoothies have earned a lot of love from Costco regulars, long after they left menus. The same can't be said for Costco's mango smoothie, which made its nationwide food court debut in 2023. While Costco did use real mango puree to make the smoothies, that didn't exactly mean that the puree was top quality. One customer even joked that the primary ingredients were sugar and concrete mix.

Costco's mango smoothie quickly gained a reputation for tasting like baby food. Some customers found that the retailer's smoothies tasted like they were made from overripe mangos, while others felt that its smoothies were far too tart; it's possible that this was an issue with the ripeness of the mangos in the puree varying from time to time. Because the smoothie was made with just mangos, it tasted one-dimensional, contributing to the baby food comments. Another consensus was that the smoothie tasted as if it was made out of dried mangos rather than fresh ones, contributing to that stale, unusual flavor. One Redditor posted in the Costco subreddit, however, that her baby loved Costco's mango smoothie. If infants could hold Costco memberships, well, maybe this smoothie would have gotten better reviews. 

We'll be the first to admit that Costco's BBQ brisket sandwich at least received mixed reviews from customers. Some people loved it, but others had a major problem with it: the sandwich as a whole tasted way too sweet. While barbecue sauce usually has sweet tasting notes to it, a good barbecue flavor should be balanced out by tang, too; and Costco's BBQ brisket missed the mark. Additionally, both the sauce and the coleslaw contributed to the sweetness, which made the flavor impossible to escape from. According to customers who weren't fans of this sandwich, this made it hard to finish eating.

To top it off, some found the brisket itself to be dry and lacking in substance. There was much speculation on why the brisket BBQ sandwich was taken off Costco menus. The most likely explanation is that Costco began removing this sandwich from menus around 2020 when the chain refocused on promoting "healthier" menu options, which also means it's unlikely that we'll see the BBQ Brisket Sandwich make a return anytime soon.

When we ranked all of Costco's food court items in 2024, the fruit smoothie came second-to-last — and for good reason. Our consensus was that, while it wasn't totally disgusting (unlike the harrowing roast beef sandwich), it wasn't exactly good, either. Customers who discussed the smoothie on social media tended to agree. Some said that it was far too sweet to be a proper smoothie. Others claimed it simply wasn't as good as its predecessor, the berry smoothie.

"It tastes like I'm drinking strawberry jam," one Redditor commented on the Costco subreddit. "I could only take a few spoonfuls and had to throw it out." Other customers have expressed similar opinions. One employee took to the Costco subreddit to expose what was in the blended mix. It's likely that it tastes so sweet because it uses three different kinds of condensed fruit juices, which added plenty of extra sugar into the beverage.

Fans of Costco churros shouldn't get twisted (pun intended) up about this one just yet. We're talking specifically about twisted churros here, not Costco's original churros — which are still reminisced fondly about by customers today. If the last time you had a Costco churro was prior to 2020, rest assured that your beloved churro didn't make this list. The twisted churro, however, is another matter.

The problem that customers had with the twisted churros is that they just didn't measure up to Costco's earlier recipe. They tasted stale and old, according to some customers. Some people argued that they didn't taste like real churros — more like sugary bread — and that the dessert was significantly lacking in flavor."Did anyone else think the churro tasted like how PlayDoh smells?" asked one Redditor in the Costco subreddit. This comment seems to aptly sum up how many customers felt about twisted churros. Costco, if you're reading this, bring back the original churros recipe.

The Costco açaí bowl made many food court customers reconsider their ordering choices back in 2018. Surprisingly, the bowl survived until 2020 — but not everyone was sad to see it finally go. The main issue that most customers had with the bowl was that it wasn't anything like an authentic açaí bowl. The toppings were lacking, with just a few scatterings of blueberries and strawberries, and no other fruits. Even the granola was subpar according to some — not that there was much of it to begin with.

With açaí bowls having been such a trendy food item at the time of its Costco debut, customers were able to satisfy their açaí cravings elsewhere, which may have led to the item's removal just two years after its launch. Looking at the thick chunks of icy, purple-gray Costco açaí was probably enough to make anyone reconsider, however.

Did you know that many U.S. Costco menus used to feature a cheeseburger? This was actually a regional item, so not every Costco store in the U.S. was lucky (or should we say unlucky) enough to have them on its menu. It was spotted on menus across the west coast, as well as in the South. Not everyone was against the Costco cheeseburger, mostly because some people were desperate for Costco to add any hamburger option at all. Most customers who tried it, however, could agree that the hamburger wasn't worth it in the end. 

Across the board, Costco's patties tasted very bland, and weren't cooked well. Some customers took issue with the fact that the patties had been baked rather than grilled or fried, which left them tasting dry, unseasoned, and boring. Other customers admitted that, all things considered, the burger was kind of unremarkable. Even with the cheeseburger being a special regional item, there were just better things to order on Costco's food court menus — so we're not particularly upset about the fact that Costco's double cheeseburger probably won't be making a comeback. According to some customers, it was removed from their local Costco's menus within just months of being added.

Costco's Italian Sausage Sandwich was another regional item that was discontinued across nearly every Costco store in 2020. It was mostly known for bringing back fond memories of a customer favorite: the Polish sausage. The Italian sausage, however, was not always considered up to par. As with every debatable menu item, many Costco shoppers really liked it. However, other reviews said that the sandwich itself (which is really more of a hot dog — a debate for another time) was just lacking in flavor. 

The toppings, sometimes had an odd texture, according to some customers, and not everyone was a fan of how the sausage was cooked — especially when it came to the fact that the sausage itself didn't use many spices. This left the Italian sausage sandwich feeling more than forgettable — especially when compared to its spicier, more flavorful Polish predecessor. The one shiny redeeming factor about the Italian Sausage Sandwich, however, was that it only cost $2.79. We may not miss every old Costco food court item, but we certainly miss their low prices.