4 Tips To Get The Best Costco Food Court Pizza

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Costco's food court menu is essentially just fast food, but that doesn't deter its devoted fans. While genuine fast-food joints are criticized for diminishing quality and ever-increasing prices, Costco fare remains satisfying and affordable. Take its pizza, which comes in individual slices and whole pies. Both options are very sizable, and Costco isn't at all stingy with its cheese. With that said, pizza is an endlessly adaptable food, and even exemplary slices can be improved with some ingenuity. That's exactly where these pizza tips come in.

We scoured the internet for the best Costco hacks and came across some topping innovations, including a partial recreation of a classic, but discontinued, Costco pizza. We also found a way to enhance the crispiness of your pizza and even stumbled upon a culinary creation that would give Victor Frankenstein pause. Most of our hacks are DIY, meaning you'll be responsible for assembling them. And as always, be kind and gracious when making any special requests. While there are many benefits to working at the warehouse retailer, Costco employees wish you knew to be respectful, conscientious, and friendly when patronizing the chain. 

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Like many businesses, Costco changed some of its policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Store members patiently waited a return to normalcy in the aftermath of these updates and rejoiced when the store brought back discontinued practices. This was definitely the case when Costco re-introduced diced onions to its food court, which had many customers jumping for joy. While diced onions are a staple topping of the famous Costco hot dog, they also make a fine addition to pizza slices. 

Pizza-craving food court patrons have just two options these days: pepperoni or cheese. Onions incorporate some extra flavor into the mix and may even call to mind the chain's beloved but discontinued food court staple, the combo pizza, at least partially. In addition to onions, the combo pizza included peppers, mushrooms, sausage, and pepperoni. With the exception of pepperoni, the other toppings are still MIA in the food court, but diced onions bring members one step closer to the coveted combo slice. Some Costco locations keep onions on the condiment bar, while others require you to pick them up from the counter. If you can't locate them at your warehouse, ask a staff member for help.

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While it's often said there's no such thing as a bad pizza, everyone has their own tastes and preferences. Take Costco's food court pizza. It may be praised for its blissful cheesiness, but some fans wish it was just a touch crispier. In this case, we have a great ordering hack. Patrons can request their slices prepared extra crispy, in which case the Costco employee will leave the pizza in the oven for longer than the normal cooking time.

A menu modification touted as improving the taste of pizza, a well-done pie can result in firmer cheese and a crunchier crust. However, we need to mention a few caveats that could apply to the extra crispy hack. One Redditor warned, "The crust and some cheese will have burn spots." And another commenter cautioned, "Just don't do this whenever it's super busy," explaining their location often lacked oven room when the food court was mobbed with people. 

Some ordering hacks and secret menus are intended to improve popular items. Others seem more like feats of strength and determination only the strongest foodie could survive. That brings us to the Jochizza, a mash-up of three beloved food court items: a hot dog, chicken bake, and pizza slice. TikTok users shared the deranged hack on social media. As for the name origins of this hacked item, jo comes from the Spanish pronunciation of the word hot dog, while chizza is a portmanteau of chicken bake and pizza. 

How to make it: Take a chicken bake and slice it open lengthwise. Place a Costco frank inside the sliced chicken bake. Peel off the layer of cheese (or pepperoni and cheese) from your pizza slice and use it to top the chicken bake-dog. A commenter on one TikTok post neatly summed up how this hack made us feel, "Na destruyes todo, solo dejas vivo al chicken bake." (Translation: You don't destroy everything; you only leave the chicken bake alive.) Because this hack does result in a lot of mangled food, it's best performed with a carb-craving compatriot who will happily gobble up the remaining hot dog bun and de-cheesed pizza. 

Kimchi is a fermented vegetable dish originating in Korea often served alongside savory bulgogi (aka marinated beef strips). Preparations vary quite a bit, but garlic, ginger, cabbage, radishes, and Korean red pepper flakes (known as gochugaru) often show up in recipes. Costco locations in the states don't stock kimchi in food courts, but an enterprising content creator on Instagram hacked the recipe using condiments like diced onions, mustard, ketchup, pepper flakes, and relish. In the clip, the quick kimchi was paired with a hot dog and calzone (which is reportedly being ousted by chicken tenders some time in the near future) with tasty results. 

The truth is, there are ways to use kimchi that you haven't thought of yet, including with mashed potatoes, cocktails, and even ice cream. We'd also like to add pizza to this list. Kimchi gets heat from the red pepper flakes, while the fermented vegetables (in this case, the pickled relish added from Costco's condiment bar) adds a bit of tang. We think these flavor elements will nicely contrast the rich meltiness of an ultra-cheesy Costco slice.