Costco's Latest Sushi Bar Is Giving Fans Mixed Feelings

Costco is synonymous with a lot of things — food court hot dogs, tire sales, baked goods — but most shoppers probably don't think of "Costco" and "sushi" in the same sentence very often. But for some customers in Issaquah, Washington, and beyond, that's starting to change. Costco recently started selling fresh sushi, made in-store, at its Issaquah location, and a fresh sushi bar could be coming to a Costco near you, too, depending on the success of the program (via The Seattle Times).

Costco apparently took a lot of care in creating the new sushi, which is different from the refrigerated sushi many Costco stores already sell (that sushi is made by a vendor, not Costco). The store's sushi chefs are using a specific type of rice, Tamaki Gold, which allegedly won't dry out when kept refrigerated. That's important for grocery store sushi, especially since rice is the one sushi ingredient you can't mess up, according to Iron Chef Morimoto. The store also plans on removing any sushi that doesn't sell after 24 hours, so the selection is always fresh. Now, reviews are finally rolling in, but fans still seem split over whether ordering sushi from Costco is ever a good idea, especially since reviews of the chain's previous sushi offerings include gems like, "It is f***ing terrible. The rice is hard and the fish is near flavorless," (via Reddit).

Costco shoppers online seemed kind of split over getting sushi at Costco. There were many that had poor experiences with sushi purchased at Costco in the past. "Premade sushi is always a let down the rice is never good," said one Redditor. "I honestly haven't seen a single person say the Costco Sushi is good," shared another. But still another pointed out, "This is suppose to be freshly made and rolled in the warehouse — the other sushi they carry comes from a distrubutor and is known to be horrible. Which is why everyone is excited." 

And it turns out, those who have actually tried the made-in-store Costco sushi have many positive things to say. One Seattle Times reviewer shared that the specialty rice used "is as good as advertised, sweet and nutty," and that it's "a class above the sushi offerings at many grocery chains." On Reddit, one customer shared that the sushi they got at the Issaquah Costco was "very good! WAY better than typical pre-packaged stuff." Another said it was "super fresh and really delicious." At the very least, it's got to be better than Costco's frozen California sushi rolls, which TikTok was not on board with. Only time will tell if Costco's new in-store sushi is a big enough hit that the chain expands the program to other locations, but in the meantime, we'll be watching the reviews roll in.