Adios Costco turkey wraps; cómo estás Costco Carne Asada Bakes!
Yes, you heard that right. The change has been propagating through Southern California Costco's food courts this summer, and now it has finally reached OC (at least the one at the District in Tustin): the warehouse giant has jettisoned their “healthy” turkey wraps for an item that, well, probably isn't as “healthy.” But man, does it look a whole lot better.
]
These new Carne Asada Bakes contain “USDA Choice seasoned beef, pico de gallo, guacomole, and cheese”, but frankly, it looks more like a burrito a la Alberto's and less like their Chicken Bakes.
This brings me to my next point: Did you know that Costco serves poutine in its Canadian food courts? Poutine, if you are not acquainted with Canuck cuisine, is simply fries smothered with gravy and cheese curds–a local favorite there. In Hawaii, they stock giant jars of dried squid jerky in the candy aisle.
These are just one of the many adaptations to local tastes that I find interesting about Costco. But until now with these Carne Asada Bakes, it seemed we didn't have anything that reflected our area's food likes…well, not counting the churros.
UPDATE: I've just been informed by a reader that the Garden Grove Costco has a Beef Bake, which is actually uses Korean bulgogi sauce, a nod to its Korean neighborhood.
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.