Whatever Happened To Costco's Shake Shack-Inspired Burger?

Costco's food court is the stuff of legend, as many members consider stopping by for a snack the highlight of their shopping experience. While the pizza and hot dogs are standard fare, the bulk retailer offered a different menu option not so long ago. In 2017, Costco debuted a cheeseburger in select West Coast locations that bore a striking resemblance to Shake Shack's burger options. It consisted of a beef patty on a challah-inspired bun, along with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and a smoke-infused Thousand Island dressing. The sandwich retailed for $4.99 and seemed to be a promising addition to the food court menu.

However, Costco's cheeseburger would only be available for three short years before vanishing. Signage appearing in Costco locations in 2020 stated that the item was simply being tested in the chain's food courts and that Costco had decided to cease offering it to hungry shoppers. While the chain store's food court menu is beloved, it is somewhat limited, so it stands to reason that something as popular as a cheeseburger would be a big seller. Unfortunately, the store's version of Shake Shack fare apparently left a lot to be desired.

Comparisons to Shake Shack's iconic fast food fare may have proved to be the Costco cheeseburger's undoing. Overall, the food court sandwich had a lot to offer. It was substantially sized, which seemingly made its price worthwhile to some. However, there was one major difference that left some diners disappointed upon sampling the new item.

The biggest letdown had to do with the patty used in Costco's cheeseburger. Shake Shack is synonymous with smash burgers, which are patties that are weighted down to flatten their shape. Along with a thinner patty, smashing burgers also creates a meatier flavor because the pressure from the weight creates deeper browning, which may explain why Shake Shack has so many dogged devotees. Costco's version was not actually a smash burger, so customers may have been flummoxed by the lack of flavor. Based on this, the Costco cheeseburger might have made a better impression if not for the somewhat misguided comparisons to Shake Shack.

As recently as 2021, Redditors have wondered why hamburgers are so hard to come by in the warehouse retail chain's popular food courts. One person mentioned the axed Shake Shack-style burger, stating, "Terrible. Absolutely reheated from frozen." Another commenter agreed with this sentiment while also claiming that the high cost of the burger was a major deterrent when compared with the lack of quality.

Another commenter chimed in and said that Angus beef burgers were once common in Canada years before the attempt at introducing a cheeseburger to select Costco food courts in the U.S. They went on to state that the burgers were only sold at the chain for "about six months," and posited that the time and effort needed to construct the burger probably had a lot to do with its demise. Based on this, it's unlikely that the food court will feature a new burger anytime soon in either Canada or the U.S. According to a self-proclaimed Costco staff member, that's perfectly fine. "As a food court employee, oh god please no."