The Discontinued Costco Pizza We Wish Would Make A Comeback

Costco's food court offerings have an almost cult status, with legions of loyal members calling a visit to the food court the highlight of their shopping trip. Known for its generous portions and often outrageously low prices (the $1.50 hot dog combo; 'nuff said), the food court menu is hallowed, and changes to it do not come lightly. Unfortunately, this also means that dishes that have been axed from the menu are unlikely to return.

After the hot dog combo and the fresh rotisserie chickens that are never more than two hours old, pizza is possibly the food court's most value-for-money offering (especially if you get a full pizza instead of a slice). During the pandemic, the holy trinity of Costo pizzas — the cheese, the pepperoni, and the combo, was reduced to a duo. The combo pizza, loaded with pepperoni, sausage, onion, peppers, and mushroom, was taken off the menu and fans of the pie continue to bemoan its loss. There's even an online petition on Change.org that has garnered over 18,000 votes to bring the combo pizza back.

While the situation seemed hopeless for a while, a spate of Costco food court favorites getting a comeback has renewed hope for combo pizza fans. There were also some rumors about the pie actually coming back. However, reintroduced Costco food court items are rarely exactly as they were the first time around. We'd love to get the same old combo pizza back. Will a modified version of it suffice?

It appears that one of the major reasons we may not see the combo pizza back at the food court is because of how valuable real estate on that menu actually is. Notes from a Costco shareholders' meeting in 2022 show that in response to a question about the fate of the combo pizza, the company said that food court offerings were limited so that product quality and service could remain the focus. Given how streamlined the process for making Costco pizza is, it is likely much better suited to making simple cheese and pepperoni pizzas than one with as many assorted toppings as the combo had. Thus, it could be a purely business consideration, with the combo pizza proving to be too complicated and expensive to offer at the same low price of $9.95 as the other two. It would also be too inconvenient to create a separate price point just for a single pizza.

Additionally, it could have something to do with Costco seemingly shifting away from their pizza and hot dog staples. Sure, these timeless fast food classics will remain bestsellers. However, recent additions to the menu include the rotisserie chicken Caesar salad, the turkey Swiss sandwich, and the already unpopular chicken and bacon sandwich. All of these are priced at a relatively more profitable $6.99 than the pizzas and hot dogs, which could signal a shift in Costco's food court strategy.

There were rumors at one point that the combo pizza might return as a Take-And-Bake product in the warehouses' deli sections. While the unofficial Reddit post that first floated the idea was deleted, a few months later the much-awaited combo pizza was actually spotted at a warehouse in Honolulu, Hawaii, and shared on another post. It appears that the original rumor was true because the newly introduced product was a Kirkland Signature Take-And-Bake Combo Pizza.

Despite its much-awaited return, the response has been lukewarm largely because the new pizza is priced significantly higher at $16.99. With customers used to getting a ready-to-eat combo pizza for $9.95 for so many years, an uncooked counterpart at a significantly higher price just doesn't seem to cut it. While it was only spotted at the Hawaii warehouse, the Reddit thread following the shared picture also suggested that it would be priced the same across all US outlets.

Though you can sometimes ask the person behind the counter of the Costco food court to run your pizza through the oven once more to make it crispy, it's unlikely they'll oblige if you hand them an uncooked pie and request they give it a few minutes in the oven. Essentially, the combo pizza that we love doesn't seem to be coming back anytime soon and it's unlikely that the uncooked version will fill that void.