'Our Long National Nightmare Is Over': This Costco Food Court Fave Is Returning — But Not Everyone Is Thrilled

Cue the airhorn and confetti canons because it's finally happening: Onions are coming back to Costco's food courts.

A Redditor on r/Costco broke the news by posting a picture of a sign at a Costco in the Pacific Northwest. "Condiment Update: Diced Onions Returning," it reads to the delight of Costco hot dog combo fans everywhere. 

Under a picture of the $1.50 hot dog loaded with onions to whet our appetites, it also states the projected start date for the stinky return is "P10 - W1." We were as perplexed by that as you, but in the comments, the OP explains that in Costco corporate speak, that translates to May 8. So, if all goes well, you might see onions next to the ketchup and mustard again in just about a week.

"I can’t believe how happy this news has made me," said a delighted Redditor who just wants one more chance at onion breath. They are joined by a chorus of onion fans who declare that "nature is healing" and all is going right with the world once again.

But despite the general sense of jubilation, many Costco food court superfans are annoyed. According to the sign, there's going to be one huge difference when onions make their way back into your Costco store: They're going to be served in little individual plastic cups. 

Previously, before they were ripped away from hot dog lovers at the start of the pandemic, the diced onions were in self-serve dispensers. They worked with a crank mechanism, and while they made the whole condiment area pretty stinky, you could put as many onions on your dog as you want. 

Gallery: The Most Popular Costco Food Court Items, Ranked

Now, it appears the little cups will be stored in a fridge behind the counter, so you'll have to bug an employee for your allotment of onions. "'Upon Request' in a plastic cup," said u/airinmylung. "I wonder if we’ll ever get those crank dispensers back." 

"Only if they think people will stop showing up with gallon containers camping for when they refill them," replied another poster, pointing out the dilemma companies face with self-serve anything. "I legit watched a woman dump her drink cup, dry it, then fill it with onions from the dispenser," recalled u/ReadyZombie1.

Some Redditors are not pleased about the amount of packaging with this new onion system. "Kinda strange they’re heavily trying to cut down on single use plastics warehouse-wide but will choose to use plastic cups for diced onions," said u/chaosdrools. "Why not just bring back the crank?"

Others took the opportunity to complain (of course) about other Costco staples that still haven't returned to the food court, like spicy deli mustard, sauerkraut, turkey pesto sandwiches, and the as-beloved-as-onions combo pizza. But lucky for us, it appears that the no-onion Costco era is coming to an end soon. "Our long national nightmare is over."

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