The Costco Food Court Item You're Better Off Skipping

Costco is a study in contrasts. You're either bulk buying produce to stock up your fridge and freezer for the long haul, or quickly scarfing down a delicious slice of pizza from the food court before moving on to your next to-do list item for the day. A Costco run is the definitive cost-saving and time-saving errand, so when hunger strikes after shopping (or before), you don't want to waste time dithering about what to snack on from the wholesale club's food court. Or, even worse, choose something so aggressively unappetizing that it sets you back from everything you hoped to accomplish that day.

From the rotisserie chicken Caesar salad to chicken bakes and from smoothies to sundaes, there are a surprising amount of meals and drinks to choose from. Handily for us and all hurried shoppers, Chowhound's own Megan Lim taste-tested and ranked every Costco food court item in helpful detail. Working from the lowest lows to the highest highs, Lim based her rankings on flavor first and foremost. A subpar flavor (and texture) sent a few items to the bottom, as well as if an item's ingredients, picture, or description didn't match what was ultimately handed over the counter. She also factored in the cost for quantity of food, as one should whenever shopping at Costco, which rocketed some items to the top. Since Costco's food court products draw strong opinions from the public, Lim also factored in online reviews posted on Reddit and Quora.

With that, she concluded which item is most worth avoiding. The answer: the turkey Swiss sandwich. Here's why this fairly straightforward sandwich turned out to be utterly unsalvageable.

Honestly, compared to the heaviness of a chicken bake or the sugary sweetness of an ice cream sundae, it seems like a turkey sandwich should rank highly for Costco shoppers craving a quick snack while running errands. And, based off of the menu description, the sandwich should pack a textural and flavorful punch with ciabatta bread, Swiss cheese, and two spreads (sun-dried tomato and mayo-mustard).

Unfortunately, as Megan Lim calls out, the ciabatta is neither firm nor crispy and ultimately adds very little to the sandwich experience. As many turkey sandwiches are, the dish was served cold, but this made the untoasted ciabatta stand out in a bad way. The turkey breast is oven roasted, but it, the Swiss cheese, and the lettuce are brought down by a surprising amount of liquid-y spreads. Lim notes that the sun-dried tomato spread was a highlight, but that sauce alongside mayonnaise and mustard made the would-be robust ingredients soggy and the bread wet. As you eat, the sandwich becomes a dripping, structurally unsound mess.

Our advice? Skip the sandwich and order a slice of Costco's food court pizza or the classic soda-hot dog combo instead. Neither will betray you the way the turkey Swiss sandwich can.