Costco shoppers have strong feelings about the food court, and the churro has become the latest flashpoint.
The twisted, cinnamon-sugar-dusted pastry sells for $1.50 — the same price as the legendary hot dog and soda combo.
But unlike that hot dog, the churro keeps getting tweaked, and customers have noticed.
The current version landed with a thud for some members.
Costco swapped out a longer, thinner churro for a thicker, doughier one in recent years, and the reviews turned brutal.
Reddit threads and TikTok clips show shoppers calling it undercooked, greasy, or oddly chewy.
Others defend it fiercely as a cheap, shareable treat that beats a $6 amusement park version.
Here's the part Costco won't say out loud: the churro isn't really about the churro.
The food court exists to get you in the door, and a $1.50 snack is a loss leader that keeps members renewing their $65 or $130 annual cards.
Every time you swing by for a churro, you're statistically more likely to walk the aisles and drop $200 on paper towels and a rotisserie chicken.
So when Costco changes the recipe, it's not a culinary decision — it's a margin decision.
A thicker churro can be fried faster and held longer under a heat lamp without looking sad, which matters when your food court is pumping out hundreds per hour.
That's the boring business truth behind your snack.
The warehouse chain has built a cult around "don't mess with the food court." Remember the backlash when it dropped the Polish dog for the hot dog?
Or when it briefly threatened the $1.50 combo price?
A churro that tastes like a fried sponge is a small crack in that trust — and trust is the only reason people pay to shop at a store.
If you're a churro fan, here's the practical play.
Ask for a fresh one during peak hours, when turnover is high and they're coming straight out of the fryer.
Avoid the ones sitting under the lamp at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday.
And if your local warehouse's version has gone downhill, say so in the member survey — Costco actually reads those, especially when food court scores dip.
There's also a bigger consumer story here.
Every dollar you spend at a food court is a dollar not spent at a competing fast-casual chain, and those chains are watching.
Costco's ability to hold a $1.50 price point while McDonald's and Taco Bell push $5 value meals tells you where the real pricing power sits.
Our take: the churro drama is mostly noise, but it's useful noise.
It shows how thin the line is between a beloved bargain and a cheap disappointment.
Final Thoughts
Costco can afford a mediocre pastry — it cannot afford to look like it's cutting corners on the things members brag about.