Costco is testing a new chicken strip entree at six food court locations in Chicagoland, and the item debuted on May 4. The order costs $6.99, comes with five pieces and dipping sauce, and is listed at 1,640 calories.

At the location described by the writer, the chicken strips had already replaced the Combo Calzone, which had been on the menu last year. The test is notable because Costco does not serve chicken strips in U.S. food courts outside the trial stores, even though the company offers them in Canada and some other international locations.

The new item is being presented as a test run, so it may not become a nationwide offering. That matters because the strip entree is baked rather than fried; an employee said the chicken strips were baked, a detail that fits the company’s broader hesitation about the capital spending it would take to install fryers across its warehouse network.

The experience at the store was hard to miss. The writer said the chicken strips were physically heavy and came with a large tub of dipping sauce, while the orange sauce itself was described as reminiscent of Chick-fil-A’s signature sauce.

For now, the question for Costco shoppers is not whether the strips are available somewhere, but whether the trial is strong enough to push the item beyond six locations. The company has already shown it will keep the format in Canada and other international food courts; what happens next in the United States will say whether this is a temporary experiment or the start of a broader menu shift.