Costco: Inflation Does Not Exist in the Costco Food Court

The post-COVID years have been tough on the economy—there’s no doubt about that. Volatile gas prices, a simultaneously booming and crashing housing market, soaring grocery costs—remember when eggs were like $7? That was wild. Though it made me feel better about splurging for those Vital Farms eggs they promote on literally every podcast.

But among the thousands of CEOs gouging their prices to make a pretty penny from an ugly economic situation, one hero rose above the rest. In 2018, former Costco CEO Craig Jelinek revealed he approached Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal about raising the price of the $1.50 hot dog-soda combo. The combo was first created in 1984 and debuted with the $1.50 price tag and has remained steady ever since. Jelinek told Sinegal “Jim, we can’t sell this hot dog for a buck fifty. We are losing our rear ends.” To which Sinegal replied, “If you raise the f$&%ing hot dog, I will kill you.”

Needless to say, Sinegal got his way. And most of the Costco food court menu, while marginally inflated, has remained consistently cheaper than most eateries in America. So, when looking for gift cards with my sister and brother-in-law, we were dumbfounded by the lucrative deals we saw as we scanned our items at the soon-to-be obsolete self-checkout.

Anyway, enough of a the modern history lesson. Let’s get to the fudge.

At first, the presentation had me worried the sundae would be disqualified from the blog. If you recall my flowchart, Is It a Hot Fudge Sundae, the dessert becomes a parfait if the ice cream and fudge is layered. As you well know, this is not Hot for Parfait. This is not Gay Paris.

But this was not layered fudge. The ridges of the soft serve ice cream created many gaps for the fudge to infiltrate. So no disqualifications today!

Quality of Fudge

This was an odd in-between of chocolate sauce and fudge—a middle ground of viscosity. But it was tasty, even if I witnessed it pumped out of those distressing metal containers.

Quality of Toppings

Non-existent, which may be a first for this blog? I’m too lazy to review the previous content. I’ll be frank, the lack of toppings certainly takes away from the experience. I don’t think the ice cream or the fudge are good enough to make this sundae stand on it’s own. But if it means keeping the sundae at a cool $2.50, I won’t complain about it.

Level of Comfort Ordering a Hot Fudge Sundae

I don’t think I’d ordered ice cream at Costco before. I’ve only ever enjoyed their savory treats (except the ever-disappointing chicken bake. I’ve had it, just didn’t enjoy it). But it felt perfectly natural to pivot to a sweet treat.

Would I Rather Get a McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae?

You may get more bang for your buck from the Costco sundae, but price isn’t the only game at play. I’m going McDonald’s for this one. Even if their fudge is usually the only topping, I at least like the option to have nuts.

Final Score: 6.3/10