Do you remember where you were when Costco discontinued the combo pizza at the food court? Because I do. The fan-favorite menu item was eventually replaced with a combo calzone, which did little to soften the blow. Members online have expressed their disappointment about it ever since, and Costco has finally listened… sort of.
Reports are emerging that the calzone is being pulled from the food court menu. But no, this doesn’t the combo pizza is coming back. Instead, Costco appears to be replacing it with chicken strips. The new menu item has already popped up at warehouses in the Chicago area, and a nationwide rollout is expected to follow.
Each order costs $6.99 and comes with five breaded chicken breast strips, which are reportedly baked, not fried. It also comes with a dipping sauce that Dennis Lee of The Takeout compared to Chick-fil-A sauce.
But here’s the kicker: each order contains a whopping 1640 calories. For comparison, an order of chicken tenders at The Cheesecake Factory comes with twice as many deep-fried tenders, two dipping sauces, corn, and mashed potatoes, and it only has 350 more calories. Since Costco’s version is baked, the nutritional math isn’t exactly mathing.
There are also questions about the value. One Reddit user pointed out that at Costco warehouses in Canada, shoppers can get four chicken strips and fries for $6.99 CAD, which works out to a little over $5 USD. In the U.S., you are essentially trading the fries for one extra tender and paying nearly two dollars more. “And they actually have fryers in Canada,” one member wrote. “The food is so much better.”
Early reviews of the new American tenders are mixed, to say the least. One Reddit user wrote, “I got them today. They’re huge. Really good.” But Lee’s assessment was the polar opposite. He said the breading was so thick and heavy that it had an almost “grainy” texture. And while the meat was fairly moist, he found the entire meal entirely too salty. “I was only able to eat one strip before my instincts told me eating any more was a bad idea for my health,” he wrote.
While some members are still excited to give the tenders a try, plenty of others remain unhappy with the change. “Costco food courts overseas get adult food like sushi and rice bowls and we just get more ultra-processed kids food,” one commenter wrote. And, unsurprisngly, the primary response to the news is a common Costco rally cry: “BRING BACK THE COMBO PIZZA.”
Will chicken tenders finally fill the combo pizza void in Costco shoppers’ hearts? Only time will tell.
