The Costco twisted churro return is on, with the warehouse retailer confirming on Friday that the fan-favourite food court item will be back in U.S. locations for a limited time, according to Fox News. The expected price is $1.49, Fox News reports.
The announcement follows a teaser Costco posted to its official Instagram account earlier this week, in which the returning item was deliberately obscured. Employees on Reddit were quick to fill in the blank, with multiple self-identified food court workers stating the censored product was the twisted churro. ‘As someone who works in the Costco food court I can confirm the churro will be back for a limited time,’ one user wrote, though no specific dates were given for the run.
A Food Court Staple With a Complicated History
Churros have been part of the Costco food court since the 1990s, originally sold as a classic straight churro at 99 cents. The twisted format arrived in 2021 and brought a price increase of 50 cents with it, which did little to win over the membership. Complaints at the time centred on the newer version being softer and lacking flavour compared with its predecessor.
The twisted churro was pulled from menus in early 2024 and replaced by the Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie. Since then, the only cinnamon-sugar option available has been the limited-time Caramel Churro Sundae, which appeared earlier this year.
Costco Twisted Churro Return Divides the Membership
Reaction among members has been broadly positive, if not entirely without reservation. ‘This is the best news,’ one Reddit user wrote. Another described the original discontinuation plainly: ‘Getting rid of the churros in the first place was a horrible mistake.’
Not everyone is fully satisfied, however. A portion of the membership would prefer to see the original straight version come back rather than the twisted format, pointing to the texture and flavour criticisms from 2021. The twisted churro drew consistent complaints when it replaced the straight version, with members arguing the corkscrew shape produced a different, less satisfying bite.
Whether those objections gain traction is another matter. Costco has confirmed the return of the twisted churro specifically, and at $1.49 it sits 50 cents above the long-standing 99-cent price point that made the original a fixture of the food court for decades. The limited-time framing also means the window to weigh in will be short.
For context on just how embedded churros became in Costco’s food court identity: the item survived largely unchanged from its introduction in the 1990s until 2021, when the switch to the twisted format prompted considerable pushback. Even after the twisted version was removed in early 2024, the conversation about bringing churros back never really left social media or the warehouse’s own comment sections.
Costco has not announced a specific end date for the promotion, per Delish, meaning members will need to move quickly once the churro reappears on local menus.