Costco is known for its affordable fresh food selection and now, the retailer is expanding its Kirkland Signature sushi counters.
In the company’s Q2 earnings call on March 7, CFO Richard Galanti told listeners that the first continental United States sushi counter has been a success. Located in Issaquah, Washington, across the street from Costco headquarters, the company rolled out the in-house sushi counter with Kirkland Signature branding last summer, the Seattle Times reported at the time.
Galanti said it had been such a win that Costco has “two more planned to open in the very near future.”
He went on to explain that Costco locations in several Asian countries have operated in-house sushi counters "for years." Some Hawaii Costco locations also make sushi in-house.
“The sushi program has proven to be a category where we can be successful in both quality and price, and we’re looking forward to seeing more of that in the future,” he said.
Costco did not return TODAY.com’s requests for comment on March 8 to elaborate on where exactly the two additional locations would be opened.
The news of a Washington State Costco opening a sushi counter made the rounds on Reddit last summer, with many fans thrilled to give it a try.
“It was really cool,” retired journalist Evonne Benedict tells TODAY.com. “They had the refrigerated case where you could look at all the different sushi, but then behind the glass, you could see all the people making the sushi.”
TODAY.com tracked down several Costco aficionados in the Issaquah area and many agreed: While it wasn’t exactly gourmet, the Kirkland sushi was fresh, a good bargain and tasty.
Benedict says she’s not exactly a high-end sushi connoisseur — she eats the dish often enough but at her local restaurant, not fancy omakase experiences — but she enjoyed the Costco brand version and felt like it was a good bang for her buck.
“For a quick bite and the value for what you paid, I thought it was totally worth it,” she says. “I was pretty impressed.”
She likened the experience to going to Chipotle, another one of her regular stops.
“You can afford to do that a couple times a week,” she says.
Another Costco superfan, Chris Maglio, says he thought the Costco sushi “did the trick.”
“Obviously going in there you’re not expecting omakase sushi from a big box retailer,” he says, noting there were a few signs of mass production — like the spicy salmon and tuna seemed to be premade and then "piped into lines” for the large trays of sushi — but overall, he felt it was decent.
“I think it’s a good option when you may not have the time or budget to go for sushi, but still want to scratch that itch,” he says.
Costco already sells pre-packaged sushi platters in many locations across the country, which Maglio notes.
Maglio says he's tried some of those other pre-packed sushi platters and felt those meals "certainly seemed to be better quality and variety.”
Grocery store sushi doesn’t have the most amazing reputation, and last summer, when news of the Issaquah location surfaced, several Reddit users shared horror stories about their experiences with Costco’s premade rolls.
“We’ve already had it in shoreline. It is f------ terrible,” one person wrote on Reddit. “The rice is hard and the fish is near flavorless. I’m not saying this as a sushi snob. I’ve eaten grocery store sushi and thought it was ok in a pinch (is there such a thing as a sushi pinch?).”
“If it’s the same sushi as in South Seattle Costco, then I agree — nothing to write home about,” another person wrote.
However, other commenters urged people not to let their disdain for the premade rolls color their opinion of the new fresh sushi offerings.
“This is (supposed) to be freshly made and rolled in the warehouse- the other sushi they carry comes from a distributor and is known to be horrible,” one person wrote on Reddit. “Which is why everyone is excited.”
“People acting like it’s the same premade stuff the other Costcos have don’t realize this is a totally different (new) thing,” the original Reddit poster replied. “I’m going to try it and report back.”
