The 5$ roast whole chicken can't be beat. And 3$ for two live butter lettuce heads. And fresh pineapple for under 3$ apiece. These are my favorite Cost-co deals at the moment. They also have great prices on liquor. Most of the prepared foods I have had there have been quite tasty.

I haven't been to that one yet; I live in Queens and have been to the Costco in LIC and Brooklyn. Neither have a delivery service that I know of, but they are both in residential areas where a lot of people have cars. I do see people taking the bus to the one in LIC, but most people drive there. Both are always crowded, but I just assume that's because they have great prices. I took my mom to the one in LIC once and she said the prices there were cheaper than NJ. Interesting.

I'm sure the one on 116th would have a delivery service. I'm still a little surprised that the opened a location in the city though; who has space to store food and other items in bulk? On the plus side, at least this creates jobs in a grim economy.

Absolutely, yes! We live in Harlem so this is going to be incredibly convenient, considering we’d trek to Brooklyn to buy some Costco items in bulk. We love the cases of clementines, bags of mixed greens, fine cheeses, $5 roast chickens and La Brea Bakery rosemary bread! It’s a great place to shop for a party. It’s not so much about buying sundries or frozen food or staples in bulk as it is about getting more for your money on indulgent items, and eating free samples.

We live in Brooklyn and are lucky enough to have the space to store some bulk items. Some of the food items are now being sold individually i.e the chickens which are great and they have a lot of prepackaged main dishes now. A lifesaver for parties as the Costco size Sabra hummis goes a long way with the bulk bag of baby carrots!!

The one in LIC is definitely less crowded than the Bklyn one. Saved a mint on diapers for the twins!!

Costco has definitely moved beyond 20 gallon tubs of mayo and peanut butter. Sure, they have that stuff (in much more practical quantities), but they have so much more!

At my Costco I appreciate most their rotisserie chickens. They are delicious and only $5. You can't beat that price! When I'm having a lazy cooking week I'll pick one up and shred it into all kinds of things, like a Mexican casserole or quesadillas.

In summer you can't beat their price on fresh berries. For the same price as the grocery store you can get 4-6 times the quantity of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. No joke. Whenever I'm in the mood for baking with fruit I'll pick up something at Costco.

And their wine selection is pretty great and you can't beat their prices anywhere. I've looked around. And you buy by the bottle, not by the case or anything. Oh, and their beer prices are also great. I love their winter/summer variety cases.

Basically, the great thing about Costco is their prices. You just can't beat them. Sure, some things the quantity is rather ridiculous, but there are plenty of items that are sold in the same volume as the regular grocery store, just cheaper. And the things that do come in bigger volume, well there's always the freezer!

The Costco I go to has a beautiful produce section now with unbeatable prices. I've gotten gorgeous strawberries, blackberries, mangoes, etc. They have an excellent wine/spirits section with lots of variety. My most recent awesome Costco finds have been two pounds of low sodium deli turkey for $12.00 (the same brand at TJs is $4.99 for a 1/2 lb. package), and 4 lbs. of bacon for $12.00 (it would cost double that at the grocery store.)

The produce you have to make sure you eat because it DOES come in a large package, but the deli meat and bacon you can just freeze and use when you need it.

I live on the UES and the wife and I have our parents (who both live in Jersey) bring us staples from BJ's and Sam's club all the time. Aside from things like paper towels/toilet paper/soap and whatnot, we also stock up on energy bars and frozen items like bags of chicken breast. Chicken is like 5.99/lb in our grocery store verses like 10$ for 5lbs at BJs. Same goes for frozen shrimp.
I think I'd probably just take a cab home from costco. To my apt, it'd only be under 10$.

I got a 4 lb. bag of organic quinoa for $10. I was pretty stoked about that. As others have said, their prices are great, especially for produce.

I've bought steaks, chicken, and sausage, and they were all excellent. I also have enough shampoo to last me until 2034.

CHEESE!!!

Cheese, organic milk, razor blades, beer, fruit, croissants, laundry detergent, tp, prepared meals, crackers, olive oil, chicken breasts, fish, vitamins/supplements, nuts, coffee, TV's, spices, books, glasses, ... I have a long list even for the two of us in our small apartment. I estimate we save the $50 membership fee in just two visits.

Be really, really careful about sharing memberships. Even Costco down in NC is cutting down on card sharing. If you're not who your card says you are, don't try to use a check or card. (Basically, if there's any way they can see your name isn't the card holder's name, you may be in trouble.) My brothers got a membership, and when my mother tried to use a check there, they basically didn't let her buy her cart full and said that if she tried to use their card again that the membership would be cancelled.

Not to spoil anyone's party or anything, but there's no way a five dollar chicken has had what any of us would describe as a decent life.

And yes, I know prices are important, but if you really can't afford to buy ethically produced meat, how about bulk beans...?

i got a costco membership after i bought the book "fix, freeze, and feast" which is based on wholesale quantities of meat. the chicken breast i get is in individually-sealed packets which makes it easy to freeze and thaw out just what you need. i have not been disappointed. as the others mentioned, the cheese is also great.

however i don't set foot in costco without a detailed list and i always make sure i am not hungry when i go.

The cheese selection is AMAZING. I would drive great distances just to get their massive chunks of Jarlsberg for $10 (a teeny, tiny chunk at Whole Foods is like $8!).

They also have great baking staples that are great to buy in "bulk" because the sizes aren't actually that big but the prices are fabulous- ghiradelli chocolate chips, vanilla beans and extract, cinnamon, etc.

Unfortunately our Costco in Colorado doesn't have any alcohol, so I'm quite jealous to read about the wine bargains everyone else is getting!

Another good point about a Costco membership is that you can go to any Costco. So if you get a vacation rental home for a week or two somewhere like Hawaii or wherever, you can go to the local Costco and buy cases of bottled water, snacks, etc. I thought that was amazing the first time I thought of using it in that way...lol, I probably need to get out more.

I joined when it first opened in NC and found that often bargains ended up being rejected by my fussy family, I bought too many impulse items and the whole trip took a very long time. My daughter in NY loves it and gets some wonderful food there. White peaches were delicious two summers ago! I was thinking of joining again, but it really only makes sense if you have a large number of people to feed or very organized storage space. Sorry to hear I can't share a membership which would make me more likely to do it. again. I joined mainly to buy tires.

As someone mentioned previously, a list is of utmost importance. It's so easy to get derailed with so much (well-priced) selection.

We go through salsa like crazy, so we buy the huge jugs of it. We only have one fridge ourselves, but we opt for the slim one that fits in the door. It's less than $5.

I also like to buy cheese, organic soy milk, organic chicken broth (6 cartons of Pacific for $10), and liquor there -- liquor store is great (although we have an ABC wine and spirits store here, so we generally shop there.) You can get great cheeses at an excellent price, and we buy cases of organic soy milk (in the unrefrigerated carton). I always get a quart of heavy cream when we head there, too, because they carry a hormone-free one for under $3 (unheard of everywhere else!) and use it to make gratins, ice cream, and various cream sauces. I also second the above poster who mentioned spices and such.

I don't think I'd bother with a membership if it were just me, but my boyfriend and I share one with his parents and it makes sense for us. The prices are fabulous, but not if you're buying way more than you need and things you wouldn't normally buy at the store.

They have an amazing price for vanilla beans :)

DIAPERS DIAPERS DIAPERS (and WIPES). 'nuff said.

I'm with charybdis112 - I rarely buy large, bulk items (except for the items listed above!). They have plenty of smaller-sized items (non-perishable included).

I get Parmesan wedges, wild salmon when they have it, organic olive oil, bulk Starbucks french roast, my fave bulk soy sausages, org. peanut butter, org. bulk carrots and salad greens--and an impulse buy or three.

I love the whole company--how well they treat their employees, their independent testing of meat (recent NYT article), their high-quality stuff for the price.

I have literally NO storage space but I still go to costco all the time!

Two words: Wine and Cheese

I can't afford it anywhere else but Costco.

Anybody knows if its easy to get a cab coming back from Costco Manhattan. I live in UES and don't have a car.