I picked up Prime NY strips at the Costco on Clybourn on Sat for $11.99/lb. They had Prime ribeyes as well, but the strips just happen to look better that day. Haven't had a chance to try 'em yet but man, you just can't beat that price!

FYI, the foam trays that have the Prime meat are blue instead of the usual white. There's also a sticker that labels them as Prime.

What we did end up eating on Sunday were the tri-tip "steaks." The ones that are cut into long strips. This was my first crack at making them at home. What a great cut of beef! A quick marinade of garlic, herbs, and oil followed by time on the grill til medium yielded a beefy treat!

I picked up wild sockeye salmon filets at the Costco in Orland Park on Saturday. I grilled it via my usual method, brushing it lightly with toasted sesame oil and sprinkling a little Jane's salt on top. This time I also added some fresh dill from the garden. It was a really fabulous meal. In fact, it was so fabulous that this is actually the second time in two weeks I've made this. I had it before my older daughter left for camp (at her request) and grabbed more on Saturday because it was so delicious last week.

Suzy

No ribeyes today at LP Costco, but they had the strips. What a steal, especially when I got them home and saw the bottom side was even more marbled than the top side!

Based on the top side (customer facing) I would have given them a Prime- (slightly abundant), but on the bottom it looked more like Prime° (moderately abundant).

Wow, grabbed a 4 pack of strips this eve for dinner (they did not have USDA Prime ribeyes I was hoping for). Easily one of the best steaks I have had in awhile. Super tasty, with that melted butter texture.

Go grab a pack or two before this goes the way of the flap steak!

Jamie

Jamieson22 wrote:Wow, grabbed a 4 pack of strips this eve for dinner (they did not have USDA Prime ribeyes I was hoping for). Easily one of the best steaks I have had in awhile. Super tasty, with that melted butter texture.

Go grab a pack or two before this goes the way of the flap steak!

Jamie

Jamie -

You and I must have been at Costco at the same time tonight, as I snagged one of the last few packages of "Prime" strip steaks.

Here they are, pre-grilling:



Even as a hard-core rib-eye gal, I concur that the texture of these strips was, indeed, very buttery. And a great deal at less than $9/steak. The remaining two steaks are being "poor man's"-dry aged a la Cook's Illustrated, which just means in the fridge for 3-4 days, uncovered, on a rack, and to be enjoyed this weekend.

Couldn't agree more about the Costco steaks. We threw two prime NY's on the grill last night w/ a bit of Northwoods seasoning (Penzey's). While I'd prefer to only eat beef from "happy cows" and agree with the previous poster about ribeyes being better, it's hard to beat the quality and price. These were seriously tasty steaks, and only about $12/lb.

With a great bottle of red, a farmer's market green salad, sauteed garlic scapes, and grilled fingerling potatoes, I couldn't have asked for a better Tuesday night dinner.

Okay, so the steaks weren't as good as the dry aged bone-in ribeyes I recently enjoyed from Fox and Obel. But, they were less than half the cost. This wasn't a $70 dinner.

I look forward to snagging a few more of these lovely steaks in the future.

I grilled some of the Prime Ribeyes last night. Indeed, quite yummy.

I used one of the big cans of Seawatch chopped clams purchased at Costco the other day to make a Rhode Island style clam chowder. I was disappointed with the clams in that they were not so much chopped as finely minced. The chowder was great tasting, but I wanted the clam pieces to be more substantial. The previous time I got these clams they were coarsley chopped so I hope this can was just an anomaly.

I forgot to mention that there was quite a bit of sand in the clams too, which is unusual for canned clams. Next time I use the clams and the broth I'll have to strain the broth and rinse the clam pieces.

dukesdad wrote:We had the prime ribeyes from Costco in Oak Brook tonight, they were outstanding. Nice beef flavor and tender as a mother's love. They had choice ribeyes for $8.99 and prime for $9.99, I don't get it.

Oh yeah? Well Butera has UTILITY grade ribeyes on sale this week for 3.79/lb!

It's only a mere 5 grades below prime.

Hi,

Most of my visits to Costco are between 6 PM and closing on weeknights. Recently I was there at 7 PM in search of whole chicken for 79 cents a pound, though I would buy their chicken breasts for $1.89 a pound as a back-up plan.

The refrigerated cases had whole organic chicken, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, but not my favored whole chicken. I walked over to the only employee in the meat department, the guy working the chicken rotisserie. I inquired if there were any whole chickens in the rear, he reported, "Everything we have is out there. You should come back tomorrow."

I went back to the chicken case to dicker in my mind over what to purchase. Meanwhile a stocking clerk begins filling the bin with the very same whole chickens I had just inquired about. I took what I needed, then headed over to guy I had just talked to. "Excuse me, the chickens I was just talking to you about are now being stocked. Why did you tell me to come back tomorrow?" "That's not my department, I didn't know we had any chickens left." "Why didn't you find someone who knew the score? I live 20 minutes away and make a deliberate choice to come here. You were just blowing me off, weren't you?" In the modern era of no answer seems like a better idea than an apology, the guy simply continued working.

I found the manager to comment on this situation. He did apologize and appreciated the feedback. I told him I have talked to those same people in the past who always provided the same answer, "Come back tomorrow."

Around the 4th of July, I recall once asking them to check stock for spare ribs at the front of the store. The computer had indicated an inventory of over 200 units, though none was found when I got back there. I made a similar inquiry to be advised to return tomorrow. I thought at the time their inventory may have been out of date. Now I wonder if I got the same lazy brush off.

I am now a bit wiser, perhaps a bit more skeptical and will ask a few more questions . Probably the primary question will be: "Are you from the meat deparment?" If the answer is no, then I am going to ask them to find the correct person.

I do like Costco quite a bit. This is the only service glitch I have encountered, though I thought some might benefit from the information.

Regards,

Some of the best beef deals at Costco are the full top loin and tenderloin cuts, you can get a lot of great Strip Steaks out of the top loin and Filet Mignon and Chateaubriand cuts from the tenderloin.

cathy,

i empathize with you. this is one of my biggest pet peeves. i like the way you handled it. a lot.

it's a shame that costco has absolutely no competition that you might shift your business to on a moment's notice. oh, wait a minute, they do! perhaps it's worth mentioning this inconvenient truth to the store manager next time you're there.

costco has absolutely no competition that you might shift your business to on a moment's notice. oh, wait a minute, they do!

Who is this masked-competitor?

montwyn wrote:

costco has absolutely no competition that you might shift your business to on a moment's notice. oh, wait a minute, they do!

Who is this masked-competitor?

Sam's Club.

My Costco membership is an annual gift from a friend. My sister goes to Sam's Club, which I occasionally accompany her. From our family, we have our bases covered.

foo d - Thanks for the comments. I was so angry to realize I was being brushed off to save himself some effort. The manager was very professional in how he interacted with me. He said he needs this feedback to straighten these issues out, but cannot do a thing until it is called to his attention. I hope to see some improvement.

Regards,

Realizing that this whole CostCo USDA Prime steak thing is too good to be true I went again yesterday trying to grab some ribeyes.

I was in luck as they had 10+ packs ($9.99/lb) available, so I grabbed one as well as a cryo-pack of tri-tips ($4.19/lb). Have to say it was one of the best ribeyes I have ever had at home. All 3 steaks were 1.5" thick and glorious!

Just look at this thing:


Jamie

Hearing of the prime steaks, the last time I was at Costco on Clybourn we picked up a pack of the NY Strips. Great price, good marbling. We vac sealed them and I threw them in the freezer. Last night, needing a meal that required little prep and cooking time, out came two of the steaks.

They looked delicious. They were horrible. They had thick, heavy fat, akin to silvering but thick (couldn't even cut it), throughout the interior. The one I had was decent - I got maybe 2/3 of it as meat, with only one end of it filled with this fat. Mr Views was not so lucky. At least 60% of his strip steak was fibrous, nasty, inedible fat. I'm all for that lovely soft fat on the outside that gets crispy when grilled, but this was nothing like that! I am by no means a steak expert, but we choose strips because neither of us likes fatty meat, but we want some flavor. I know other steaks are more flavorful, but they require dissection by us. A strip doesn't. At least not usually.

Anyone else had any problems?

We've gone through most of two packs of those strips so far, and haven't had that problem yet. I've skipped buying trays on days where the meat didn't look that hot, though.

Now, the whole point of prime beef is that it has more fat, especially more fat within the fibers of the meat itself. Generally cooking will melt this, but who knows. Of course, you could have just gotten a steak or two with a streak of bad gristle.

Agreed that prime has more fat...but in my limited experience it's always been the melt-into-the-steak fat that makes your mouth have an orgasm. It makes sense that sometimes it might not be that melty fat, though.

Hi,

Cranberries are now at Costco. The price is good. They can be frozen. They always appear briefly and disapeer before Thanksgiving.

Regards,

Not related to Costco, but IIRC, Marketplace on Oakton usually has frozen cranberries most of the year.

Hi,

They keyword is most of the year, because by June even the frozen stock is very hit or miss to find.

I keep a few quarts of frozen cranberries in the freezer. I also can maybe 20 pints of cranberry sauce for the year. My parents associate chicken with cranberry sauce. If there isn't any on the table when we sit down, someone will run downstairs to get a jar before meal's end.

Regards,

In Costco today, sighted the Alinea cookbook for $30. Haven't seen a price any lower, although you do pay sales tax that reduces that value.
Made broad hints to MrsF that it would make an excellent xmas gift.

At the Costco on Clybourn yesterday and picked up one of the few remaining copies of the Alinea cookbook. Also - a case of Chimay Grand Reserve Ale (you can buy it by the bottle), a case of San Pellagrino Lemon and Orange sodas, and a big container of some nice big rasberries.

wak wrote:At the Costco on Clybourn yesterday and picked up one of the few remaining copies of the Alinea cookbook. Also - a case of Chimay Grand Reserve Ale (you can buy it by the bottle), a case of San Pellagrino Lemon and Orange sodas, and a big container of some nice big rasberries.

I'd have added a big ol' Costco container of Utz Cheese balls. Orange soda and Utz cheese balls seem the perfect nosh for reading through the Alinea cookbook.

Utz Cheese Balls

G Wiv wrote:I'd have added a big ol' Costco container of Utz Cheese balls. Orange soda and Utz cheese balls seem the perfect nosh for reading through the Alinea cookbook.

Nah, you'd get orange fingerprints all over the pages!

=R=

wak wrote:At the Costco on Clybourn yesterday and picked up one of the few remaining copies of the Alinea cookbook. Also - a case of Chimay Grand Reserve Ale (you can buy it by the bottle), a case of San Pellagrino Lemon and Orange sodas, and a big container of some nice big rasberries.

CostCo has Chimay? Darnit, was just there and didn't even see it. Where are they keeping it? Remember the price?

Also noted that they have A Day at elBulli cookbook at Clybourn (as of Friday they did).

Jamie

JoelF wrote:In Costco today, sighted the Alinea cookbook for $30. Haven't seen a price any lower, although you do pay sales tax that reduces that value.

You are right about that reducing the value. Just an FYI: Same $30 price tag currently at Amazon, with no tax and free shipping. Linky

Jamieson22 wrote:CostCo has Chimay? Darnit, was just there and didn't even see it. Where are they keeping it? Remember the price?

Also noted that they have A Day at elBulli cookbook at Clybourn (as of Friday they did).

Jamie

Maybe $8.99 a bottle (750 ml). There was a big stack of it on Saturday back by cases of beer.

I've never seen it there before.

mhill95149 wrote:they have
chanterelle mushrooms
(snip of food mag quality picture)
one pound for something like $10!

Niles Costco had chanterelles for $8.99 Friday. I sauteed them with garlic, onion, s/p, crushed red pepper, a dash of soy and served alongside silky soft scrambled eggs and a brown rice cake.*

*Leftover brown rice formed into a patty and pan crisped.

The new Costco in St. Charles opens on Friday. It's located on Randall Road, just south of Rt. 64 and just north of the Kane County Fair Grounds.

I'm excited because now I won't have to drive to Bloomingdale any more.

Costco - St. Charles
221 S. Randall Rd
St. Charles, Illinois 60174
(630) 549-2022