Costco Hints at the Return of Discontinued Food Court Treat

2026-09-18 companies

Issaquah, Friday, 18 September 2026.
Costco is bringing back its controversial twisted churro for a limited time across U.S. warehouses, strategically utilizing menu nostalgia to boost foot traffic and executive membership value.

Costco Teases Limited-Time Return

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) generated widespread customer engagement in September 2026 after teasing the return of a discontinued food court favorite on social media [1][2]. The warehouse retailer strategically uses its food court operations as a key traffic driver to boost executive membership value and increase overall store visits across its domestic locations [1]. On Wednesday, September 16, Costco took to social media to release a teaser video about bringing back a food court favorite to the menu at stores across the United States [6]. While the company has yet to officially announce which item it is, many fans took to the comments to share their best guesses [1]. On Reddit, a post about the mystery item has garnered more than 1.5 thousand comments, including several from people claiming to be workers at the box store chain [6].

Most recently, Costco has been teasing the limited-time return of twisted churros to the grocery chain’s food courts across the United States [3]. The twisted churro recipe was previously discontinued in early 2024, marking an absence of 2 years before this limited return [4]. For those unaware, the thin, straight Costco churros were a beloved staple of Costco’s food courts from the 1990s until 2020, when the item was temporarily removed from the menu [3]. Costco brought back the sweet snack in 2021 with a different recipe that swapped out the straight churros for the new twisted ones [3]. In 2024, Costco removed churros from its food court menus, replacing them with chocolate chip cookies [1]. The wholesale retailer posted a teaser video on Instagram on Wednesday, Sept. 16 featuring two people with their backs to the camera looking toward the menu of a food court inside a Costco warehouse [2].

Consumer Sentiment and Availability

However, many fans have already noticed that the returning churros are different from the ones they once knew and loved [3]. The retailer will actually be selling its newer version of the sweet treat [3]. Costco watchers noticed that on its social media pages, the big box store was hinting at the return of a fan-favorite food court item [5]. A few employees took to Reddit to share that it is indeed the Churro that’s returning [5]. The churros are expected to be back soon, but only for a limited amount of time [5]. While Costco has not announced which item is returning, the company said it will be available only at U.S. food court locations [1]. Some of their guesses on social media included fries, twisted churro, and the famous combo pizza [2].

Sources

Retail Strategy Costco Wholesale