Photo Essay: Holiday Shopping and Nine Courses of Costco Food Samples

Costco's TVs galore

It's become a bit of a tradition. Each year, my co-workers and I spend one of our November lunch breaks at Costco. The seven of us help each other shop and have a fun time trying to find some deals.

The first year we did it, someone posed the question: "But doesn't that mean we'll miss lunch?" Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks to the little food sample stands set up at key locations around Costco, it's a treat for the taste buds, and with so many options, it makes one feel like a judge on Top Chef. This year the store outdid itself. We tasted morsels from nine different tables and I daresay it might've been the best lunch break all year.

After the jump you'll find more store photos and images of all nine courses. Thankfully, the politics of restaurant photography don't seem to apply to the sample tables. The Costco employees were more than happy to let me take some photos of their food during yesterday's excursion.

Costco rules

Costco Penguins and Angels

Costco Horsey

Course 1 - Pistachios
Costco Pistachios

Course 2 - Harry's King Crab and Sweet Corn Chowder
Harry's King Crab and Sweet Corn Chowder

Course 3 - Yakitori Seasoned Chicken
Yakitori Seasoned Chicken

Course 4 - Ling Ling Potsticker
Ling Ling Potsticker

Course 5 - Pasta Prima Italian Sausage Ravioli
Pasta Prima Italian Sausage Ravioli

Course 6 - Mrs. May's Cashew Crunch
Mrs. May's Cashew Crunch

Course 7 - Caffe D'Vita (it's a drink but I'm still counting it as a course)
Costco Caffe DVita

Course 8 - Guylian Belgian Chocolate
Guylian Belgian Chocolate

Course 9 - Island Way Sorbet
Island Way Sorbet

At the end of our little trip, I ended up purchasing one of the sampled items: Mrs. May's Cashew Crunch. It seems like the perfect salty and sweet snack food, and I think I'll be going back for more.

Photos by Michele Reverte for LAist

Email This Entry


Comments (7) [rss]

Mrs. May's is awesome... even better, that ginormous bag lasts forever. I heart Costco.

We've been running the sample game at the Van Nuys location for while now. If you are ever there, give some love to our favorite sample lady Hannelore.

Oh, Costco. I love that you can get so much free food there. All these pics sort of remind me of the Costco Cakes blog:
costcocakes.blogspot.com

this is a photo essay i can totally get behind
wish i was there@!

That cake link is great. And I think I might have to make a trip to the Van Nuys Costco sometime soon. ;)

Let's hear the reviews! What was good?

PS Thanks for the shout out!

Post a comment (Comment Policy)

Tips

About LAist

LAist is a website about Los Angeles. More

Editor: Zach Behrens Co-Editor: Lindsay William-Ross Publisher: Gothamist

Contribute

Latest Tip:

Any ideas why the 110 off/on ramps will be shut down for 1 year starting tomorrow from the hours of
[more]

Latest Photo:

Subscribe

Use an RSS reader to stay up to date with the latest news and posts from LAist.

All Our RSS

Links