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Costco

I've noticed a lot of peeps on the forum buying their cuts from Costco, I'm considering a membership for the meat counter along with other bulk items and wanted to hear some feedback if it's worth it?  Is the meat selection good enough to join? Is the discount and quality there?  


Houston, TX - LBGE
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Comments

  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,951
    edited March 2015
    jstnezell said:
    I've noticed a lot of peeps on the forum buying their cuts from Costco, I'm considering a membership for the meat counter along with other bulk items and wanted to hear some feedback if it's worth it?  Is the meat selection good enough to join? Is the discount and quality there?  


    The quality is for sure. it's not much cheaper (if at all) than the grocery store on most things but They have prime fillet, brisket, strips, ribeyes and other stuff all the time. I can buy prime brisket there for $4.09 when choice is $4.99 at the store and $4 at Restaurant depot. I assure you I don't save a dime shopping at Costco- I pay more when you include my membership but I love being able to walk in a sift through 20 prime packers to choose what I want.

    I don't think I have ever bought anything except meat there other than some Kirkland K cups which sucked. I'll stick to the meat counter- it's real good.







    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • GATraveller
    GATraveller Posts: 8,207
    +1 to everything stated by Cen-Tex above.  
    I really like Costco......so much that the wife no longer allows me to go unsupervised   =)  I'd say it is well worth the cost of membership. 

    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."

                                                                                  -Umberto Eco

    2 Large
    Peachtree Corners, GA
  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    I shop at Costco enough that the membership is free. Quality is excellent on everything and if you aren't happy, they make it right.
  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    I buy everything I can there. Nobody can touch their warranty. Also their prices on most things are much cheaper than supermarkets. My food saver quit working over a year out of warranty and I brought it in to see with no receipt and no box and they looked it up in their system and gave me a 100% refund. And yes their meat is good quality and much cheaper than the supermarkets atleast where I am in Georgia.
  • +1 to everything stated by Cen-Tex above.  
    I really like Costco......so much that the wife no longer allows me to go unsupervised   =)  I'd say it is well worth the cost of membership. 
    TFJ just rolls her eyes when I head right for the meat counter. She's wandering around looking at giant tubs of god knows what, 100 lb bags of dog food for our 20 lb dog, and 4 gallon drums of Pomegranate Juice while I peruse the meats. I'm easy to find in Costco. If I ever go Code Adam, just head for the brisket cooler. 
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX


  • +
    CenTex

    =


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,684

    Costco rocks......get a membership.  I spent more than enough there, so with the rebate membership is free.  Same goes for their gas card--I'm looking at my annual rebate from them for $82.

    The warranty is awesome--it's 100% customer satisfaction, doesn't even have to broken.  I've probably returned $300-400 worth of stuff this year that crapped out.  My patio heater, some motion sensor lights, salad spinner, and a few other little things.  I felt kind of guilty taking meat back that turned before the sell by date, but was $50 worth--they said no problem.  I always buy things like toasters, food processors, and things that are prone to fail or burn up.  Great place, much better than Sams.

  • I've got one Piggly Wiggly in my village, and the next closest store is a Costco in the adjacent city.  Amen +1 to all the good things said above.  Return policy is unequalled.  We buy everything we can there, and for what we buy, the quality is as good as anything else or better.  For example, the dog food mentioned above is cheap, but rated high in nutrition on the websites that review dog food nutrition.  Detergents are ridiculously cheap.  Meats are good, I can always count on Costco to have fresh lamb.  (We also have an excellent meat packing plant close to the Costco that has a retail room, and is a BGE distributor.  So it's about even on the meats.)  Our membership doesn't only pay for itself, we usually get several hundred dollars a year back (via store credits) because of the volume of purchases and the triple AMEX points on gas.   

    In dog beers, I've only had one.

  • jstnezell
    jstnezell Posts: 62
    Thanks for all the input guys, much appreciated!  I've been reluctant because I'm a little bit of an impulse buyer and that could be a problem at Costco (50 gallon drum of cheeseballs)... 
    Houston, TX - LBGE
  • bclarksicle
    bclarksicle Posts: 167
    It also may depend on where you live. in Texas, we have beef a plenty at Costco, as others have mentioned. I've heard in some other parts of the country that this is not the case.
  • anton
    anton Posts: 1,813
    If you have a Restaurant Depot near you, I would opt for it, you join KCBS ($35.00 a year)(Kansas city bbq Society), and your KCBS card allows you wholesale shopping with a day pass at any RD, Restaurant depot is like Home Depot for food, unlike Costco, it does not have clothes , or stuff other than food, or food related items.
     Using a MBGE,woo/w stone,livin' in  Hayward California," The Heart Of The Bay "
  • egger911
    egger911 Posts: 39
    Definitely worth it!  Most of my clothes, TVs, and a lot of my meat and beer, come from Costco. You won't be sorry. 
    Large BGE, Weber Summit, Weber Performer, Weber 22.5" Kettle, Offset Smoker, and a 1974 Smokey Joe. (Love that Egg, should have got it earlier.) Moorpark, (Southern) California 93021
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    I'm still on the fence as our Sam's is like 4 miles from us plus using back roads I can avoid traffic and have only one traffic light! Costco OTOH will be 16 miles all through heavy city traffic. Just the same maybe we'll pull the trigger. I assume the $55 is the basic membership and all that we would need - right?  
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • jonnymack
    jonnymack Posts: 627
    Several things on Costco that make it a must have for anyone. First, the quality of the meats you can get as well as the selection. One thing no one has mentioned is the seafood. It's legit and they have great wild caught salmon from time to time that is fantastic. Even the fabled copper river salmon which is the holy grail for me. Their skinless chicken breasts are much cheaper than the grocers near me and the money I spend on chicken alone pays for my membership. If you time the visits right, the gas is cheaper. Many of their other staples are of high quality and much cheaper. As a father of 3 young boys their battery pricing is greatly appreciated. Beer & wine are fair deals as well. Their clothes are good quality and fairly priced for when I need certain items.

    As to your point of impulse buying...well I wish I could say that I haven't ever purchased an industrial sized tub of artichoke hearts but they looked so damn yummy!!
    Firing up the BGE in Covington, GA

  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
    Costco is great - I go there at least a couple times a weeks since they are close.  

    Like Anton said though - Restaurant Depot is pretty amazing.  I had my first experience a couple weeks ago.  I just couldn't stop smiling walking through their meat department.
    Phoenix 
  • GATraveller
    GATraveller Posts: 8,207
    edited March 2015
    Seriously.....who doesn't need a vat of mayo large enough to drown a child mother-in-law in?

    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."

                                                                                  -Umberto Eco

    2 Large
    Peachtree Corners, GA
  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    I forgot to mention we have 4 Costco within 30 minutes or so of us. They all carry different things so its good to check the others out.
  • SmyrnaGA
    SmyrnaGA Posts: 438
    @Lit don't forget the Business Center Warehouse @ Morrow!  Went there once and picked up one of these guys around Christmas last year.

    http://www2.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=11590548&whse=BD_823&topnav=bd

    (Still haven't opened it yet)

    Large BGE, Small BGE, KJ Jr, and a Cracked Vision Kub.

    in Smyrna GA.


  • fljoemon
    fljoemon Posts: 757
    Prime Rib packer .. Only in TX ... I dream of the day those will be available here in FL :-)

    Costco is definitely worth it. I had their Amex Costco card and would get a nice check at the end of the year for purchases I made due to the reward system. Alas it is going to end in March of 2016. Hopefully Citi VISA will carry the same rewards. We buy most of our household items there as quality is decent and price is good!
    LBGE & Mini
    Orlando, FL
  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
    Wish I had one closer than an hour from me. Have SAMs which is decent. At best. 
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • we have Sam's, Costco and RD memberships. We are joiners.

    For food, RD is hard to beat. But they don't have prime brisket at mine and Costco does.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Spaightlabs
    Spaightlabs Posts: 2,349
    Don't they needle tenderize all of their meats or is that not a concern?
  • Terrebandit
    Terrebandit Posts: 1,750
    If you get the executive membership it's 110 per year. I'm not sure I get the full benefit out of that, but my 2% annual rebate covers about half of it.  I also have a Costco AMEX card which gives me another 1% rebate.  I'm told that AMEX and Costco are going separate ways in 2016, so I'm going to have to make a decision about my level of membership.  I buy lots of different stuff at Costco.  I like the meat department better than SAMs. 
    Dave - Austin, TX
  • Hi54putty
    Hi54putty Posts: 1,873
    I buy enough wings and boneless/skinless thighs there to justify it for me. Very happy with the quality of both. Also, we get stuff like pure maple syrup and coconut oil there cheaper than anywhere else. 
    XL,L,S 
    Winston-Salem, NC 
  • Lmidkiff
    Lmidkiff Posts: 442
    Try a membership for a year and if you don't like it don't renew. 
    McKinney, TX
  • mahenryak
    mahenryak Posts: 1,324
    RRP said:
    I'm still on the fence as our Sam's is like 4 miles from us plus using back roads I can avoid traffic and have only one traffic light! Costco OTOH will be 16 miles all through heavy city traffic. Just the same maybe we'll pull the trigger. I assume the $55 is the basic membership and all that we would need - right?  
    $55 sounds right for basic membership.  I belong to Costco and Sam's.  In my location, where they have the same items, Costco seems to be a tad cheaper--but not always, and not by much.  I think Costco's meat selection is definitely more robust.  The one nod I would give to Sam's is that you can buy some things in normal sized packaging, where as with Costco this is mostly not the case.  What I know for a fact is that we tend to gravitate more to Costco even though Sam's is slightly closer to us.
    LG BGE, KJ Jr, Smokin Bros. Premier 36 and Pizza Party Bollore



  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    Is there an Executive membership in the US? In Canada it costs about $110 year, but there is a cash rebate that always seems to pay for the membership at least twice over. Just got in from Bellingham on the bi-weekly cross border shopping adventure, only $200 this trip. 
    We find the veggie selection to be very good, 6 romaine hearts for <$4. The meat is always good, not had a problem in over 15 years. SRF Kobe corned beef on for $6.99 a pound today. (SRF web price is about $14 a pound so this was a great buy) 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • mahenryak
    mahenryak Posts: 1,324
    Is there an Executive membership in the US? 
    Yes.  I take advantage of the Executive membership here in Alaska and receive a dividend/coupon, if you will, once a year.
    LG BGE, KJ Jr, Smokin Bros. Premier 36 and Pizza Party Bollore



  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    @Spaightlabs not all their meat. They label what has been. 

    @Lmidkiff if you aren't happy with the membership, you can get your money back on that too. 
  • Terrebandit
    Terrebandit Posts: 1,750
    Is there an Executive membership in the US? In Canada it costs about $110 year, but there is a cash rebate that always seems to pay for the membership at least twice over.
    The rebate is 2%, so you would need to spend 5,500 per year to pay for your membership ONCE over. Do you spend 11,000 per year at Costco?  Wow. 
    Dave - Austin, TX