The Costco Food Court Trick That Makes Grabbing Your Order Easier

The Costco food court is a small but mighty perk for members of the wholesale retailer. There are a ton of great food items at the Costco food court, and practically everything on the menu is an absolute steal. If you like to end your regular Costco shopping trip by grabbing a cheap bite at the food court, there's one trick you should start using to speed things up. 

If you're getting your items rung up by a cashier, you can ask them to add whatever food items you want to the bill. That way, you don't have to go over to the kiosk and type in your food order. It's a small thing, but it is convenient, and if your store is often busy, it keeps you from potentially having to wait in a second line to access the food court kiosks. When you're done getting rung up, simply head over to the food court and wait for them to bring out your food like normal.

This trick doesn't work if you're going through the self-checkout lanes, as far as we can tell. If self-checkout is what you typically lean toward, you'll just need to stop over at the food court kiosks like usual. There's some chatter online that indicates not every store allows customers to do this, so be prepared to be sent to the kiosks anyway. Other stores have their cashiers proactively ask customers if they want to add food at the register, so it seems the practice varies pretty widely by location.

Maybe other locations are busier than the one I go to, but I've never really had an issue placing an order with the self-serve kiosks Costco uses for its food court orders. There are usually people there ordering something, but there are enough kiosks available and the process goes quickly enough that I've never had to wait in line to use one — and I almost exclusively shop at Costco on the weekends.

The kiosks themselves are a newer innovation that Costco began testing back in 2018, and the system was implemented nationwide shortly after. It gives you an order number, sends the order to the staff, and you just wait for your number to be called. It's pretty easy. However, if you're ordering food with the rest of your shopping order with the cashier, you won't get an order number. You'll have to go over to the food court, show them the receipt, and then they'll hand you your food. Definitely don't wait around expecting food to come out.

This trick works best if you already know what you want, though the food court menu usually hangs over the cash registers, so it's pretty easy to just look up and check what looks good. Some Costco food court items are healthier than others, but the best items are certified classics.