The Costco Food Court Beverage That's Better Left Unordered

Costco's food court has garnered a massively viral fan following, with foodie TikTokers raving about their favorite items alongside various Costco food court hacks to make the most of the experience. However, not all Costco food court menu items are worth ordering. In a taste test of every food court menu item at Costco, Tasting Table ranked the fruit smoothie second to last. According to Costco's menu board, the smoothie has no added sugar, contains an impressive six servings of fruit, and boasts just 230 calories, all for the low price of $2.99. We did a deep dive into what's in a Costco food court fruit smoothie and found that frozen fruit like strawberries, açaí, and blackberries are the main characters that give it that lovely, deep maroon hue. 

However, there's also a significant amount of pureed fruit juice from apple, pear, and pineapple juice concentrate. While this smoothie is dairy free, you can definitely tell it lacks the creaminess even plant-based milk would provide. We tasted the berry forward flavor, but the fruit notes were a little artificial and certainly not fresh. But, what really landed the smoothie low on our ranking was its consistency. We were looking for a smooth and creamy, almost custard-like texture, but what we got instead was more like a runny slushie. This drink was by no means inedible and it's certainly healthier than most of the other menu items; we just thought it tasted cheap overall. So, the moral of the story with Costco's smoothie is, you get what you pay for.

Costco customers generally have mixed reviews of the berry smoothie, with many on Reddit complaining about its liquid and runny texture. One Redditor noted that it "tastes bland and has a weird gelatin/emulsifier additive that ruined it for me." Still, many other users love the smoothie, describing it as refreshing, not overly sweet, and a low-calorie refresher. One Redditor thought that adding bananas to the mix would help bring some much needed sweetness. We reckon that some frozen banana would also go a long way to creating that delectably creamy, thick consistency it so tragically lacked. Apparently, Costco has heard some of the Redditors, and our, grievances by debuting a strawberry banana smoothie that swaps the blackberry and açaí for pineapple juice and banana puree. 

Unfortunately, customers were actually much more disappointed in the strawberry banana smoothie than they were with the original fruit smoothie. To begin with, the new smoothie has 25 grams of added sugar, which tacks on another 100 calories. But, more to the point, customers felt that it tasted overly sweet and that the banana flavor completely outshone the strawberry, making it totally irrelevant. Be careful what you wish for, folks! If the fruit smoothie is bland and runny and the strawberry banana reboot is far too sweet, you're better off ordering another frozen sweet treat, such as the chocolate ice cream cup, which we ranked rather favorably. Whatever you do, stay away from the food court fountain drinks at Costco as shoppers have spoken out about how unbalanced and foamy they are.