The Viral Costco Food Court Hack That Makes Its Hot Dogs Even Better

When it comes to creating fresh takes on staple food classics, human ingenuity knows no bounds. One of the latest illustrations of this comes — not surprisingly — from TikTok. Videos on the social media platform show folks marrying the Costco hot dog and the retailer's pizza by wrapping a slice around the frank. The resulting combo blends cheese, tomato sauce, and the hot dog meat into a captivating pizza dough-encased wrap. One TikTok video showcasing this controversial combination had some in the comments section calling it "the ultimate combo," but another was far from impressed, calling it, "cursed Italian food." Wherever you fall on that scale, it's undeniable that the amount of food you get with this concoction for the price you pay is unbeatable.

The price of Costco's hot dog and soda combo hasn't changed since 1984 when the membership warehouse started offering the deal at $1.50. Though it's cheaper to buy a whole Costco pizza, a slice only costs a mere $1.99, so combining these two food court options gets you a hearty meal for less than $4 before tax — plus you'll have a drink to wash it down. If you're interested in pairing cheesy Italian food with a hot dog for yourself, one thing you will have to do is decide how best to eat it.  

While the novel Costco food court hack might be tasty, figuring out how to eat it could leave you scratching your head. The pizza slice won't stay rolled-up around the frank, so you are forced to grip the curled-up slice as you chow down. Alternatively, you could get some toothpicks to hold the dish together, though this takes away from the grab-and-go convenience. Creator @kyleistook shows one way to use your hands.

Reddit users have debated what the appropriate positioning of the hot dog should be, one commenter proclaiming, "I'm on team parallel. I will fight any perpendiculars!" Another clapped back, "If you want to hamburger your hot dog instead of hot dogging your hot dog, that's all you." The argument, which is adjacent to the "is a hot dog a sandwich" debate is may seem (and even be) trivial, but we say have it out. If you lay it out across the pizza, the ends will stick out, and you won't get a complete bite of meat, cheese, and tomato sauce in every bite. Placing the dog vertically down the middle of the pizza won't allow the slice to fully encapsulate the weenie, but you will get complete coverage with something that one could rightly call a pizza-dog taco. Speaking of which, when are we going to get our Costco food court taco?

The pizza-dog is far from the only imaginative way folks are upgrading or combining meals at Costco. Not long ago, the "forbidden glizzy" was making rounds on social media; this trick involves taking a Costco chicken bake, biting the end off, and slipping a hot dog inside. The innovative dish received mixed reviews, but folks are certainly not leaving any stones unturned in this space. 

There is also the unhinged Costco food court hack called the Jochizza — a prime example of taking things to the extreme. This beast of a meal combines not two but three different Costco food court items. First, a chicken bake is cut in half like a hot dog bun. The weenie is then placed inside and topped with a layer of cheese peeled away from a slice of pizza. Comments on a TikTok video from @eatitkatie seemed mostly dubious, one stating "My tummy hurts watching this." The obvious drawback to entree piling is, not only might you not like the effect of combining their taste, but you're out the cost of not one but three dishes. As cheap as they are, there's a reason you don't fool with the classics.