Costco shoppers have beef with pricey new food court item

Price-conscious shoppers are airing a beef with Costco — sounding off about the eye-popping price tag on the discount warehouse’s latest food court item.

The $9.99 roast beef sandwich that appeared on the menu at a Costco store in Lynnwood, Wash., last week was a huge departure for a big-box retailer that made its mark with its famously cheap $1.50 hot-dog-and-soda combo, $5 whole rotisserie chicken and $9.95 18-inch pepperoni pizza.

“Is the beef wagyu?” carped Reddit user wats6831.

“It should be for $10.”

The high-roller’s hoagie — a 790-calorie concoction of sliced roast beef, roasted cherry tomatoes, red onions, lettuce and onion relish on an “artisan roll” — drew more than 500 incredulous reactions when a Costco member posted a photo of the store’s menu board on Reddit Sunday.

“Only slightly more expensive than two whole rotisserie chickens,” sniffed one miffed shopper.

“A rotisserie chicken, a slice of pizza, and a hot dog with a drink combined are still cheaper than that sandwich,” said another bargain hunter. “Hard pass.”

“I just tried the sandwich,” another claimed. “It tasted good, but not $10 good … It’s hard to go for this when you know you could get a whole pizza.”

Costco CEO Craig Jelinek revealed in December that the big-box retailer has maintained its $1.50 price point for the hot dog-and-soda meal despite surging inflation by manufacturing its own franks — and by accepting the cheap eats as a loss leader to get hungry shoppers in the door.

“Do we make a lot of margin off of it? No,” Jelinek admitted.

Other items sold at Costco’s front-of-store food courts are similarly wallet-friendly. The chain charges $3.99 for a hot turkey and provolone sandwich, $4.99 for a BBQ beef brisket sandwich and $1.99 for a slice of pizza.

The Lynnwood outlet is located 30 miles from Costco’s Issaquah headquarters, sparking speculation that the new nosh is part of a nefarious corporate plan.

“It’s so when the next new items start coming in at $7-$8 a piece they look like a good deal,” one cynical commenter claimed.

“Costco brides” have become social-media famous in recent months as shoppers seek bargains in an inflation-hammered economy.