Is Sam's Club Food Court Pizza Made In-House Or Is It Frozen?

Ever since its first hot dog cart in 1983, Sam's Club has been appeasing the cravings of its wholesale club shoppers with hot food to-go. That cart has since transformed into the in-store "Sam's Café," and the food menu's has grown beyond just hot dogs to include pretzels, sundaes, and arguably the most popular item of all: pizza. Served both as full 16-inch pies and by the slice, the Member's Mark Hot Baked Café Pizza goes beyond rival wholesale clubs in that it comes with three different topping options: plain cheese, pepperoni, or four-meat (pepperoni, ham, Italian sausage, and bacon). And at just $8.98 for a full pie, it's got Costco's pricing beat by almost a whole dollar. But if you're a true pizza aficionado, you may wonder if there's a catch — is Sam's Club serving frozen pizzas quickly heated up, or is the team actually making them in-house?

According to the Sam's Club website, all of the food court pizza is "made by hand each morning." However, this means that the Sam's Club team starts prepping pizzas in the morning for the busy food court hours. The pizza itself is indeed assembled by hand, but it's not fully made from scratch either. Instead, the team starts by opening packs of refrigerated pizza dough and rolling them out onto 16-inch pans. They then add sauce, cheese, and other toppings as needed before sending it all through a conveyor belt oven (similar to how Costco's food court operates). If you ever want to see firsthand that Sam's Club isn't just heating up ready-made frozen pies, you can go to the food court and watch this process through the windows.

For many Sam's Club members, there's nothing better than finishing a bulk shopping trip with some nice hot pizza from the food court. But what if you want to skip the café line and just head on home? The good news is that Sam's Club also sells a variety of frozen pizzas you can take home. Along with the store brand Member's Mark frozen pizzas, there's Red Baron, Jack's, Home Run Inn, and an assortment of other options depending on availability and where your local store is located. Sam's Club also has frozen Member's Mark café pizza dough available by the case at the food court if you still want to maintain some authenticity by building your own pizza at home.

Of course, you don't need to bother stocking up on any frozen options if you've got your heart set on fresh pizza from Sam's Café. If you happen to live within range, you can even get Sam's club pizzas delivered straight from the food court to your house. Just use the Sam's Club app (which can also save you if you forget your Sam's Club card at home) or go on the website, set your location, and choose "delivery" for the Member's Mark Hot Baked Pizza of your choice. While the Costco app is a must-have for a better shopping experience, Costco doesn't offer pizza delivery (and there's no indicator this will change in the future). So, if you're a Sam's Club member, you might not want to switch anytime soon.