IKEA Restaurant

So I went to Ikea around 1030 am on a weekday, a little after they opened. I was surprised to see their restaurant pretty full. But then I realized that they offer a $ 1 breakfast!
This restaurant is on the 2^nd floor of ikea, set up like a cafeteria. There’s food ready to grab, and other foods plated ala carte. No real wait, even though it was busy, and the prices were very fair.
So naturally I had to try their $ 1 breakfast. Scrambled eggs + turkey sausage + potatoes. All of it was nice and hot. The scrambled eggs were soft and I was a pleasantly surprised by the crisp exterior of the potatoes. Not necessarily fine dining, but still decent quality for cafeteria style food… I added ikea’s famous Swedish meatballs with gravy for $ 1, and it was pretty yummy with the potatoes.
The dining area was clean with plenty of tables. By the time we left ikea, the restaurant was already starting to serve their lunch menu.

While yes it’s a cafeteria style place in a furniture store it’s actually pretty good. It’s not a fine dining place by any means but the swedish meatballs [yes the same ones sold frozen downstairs] are surprisingly good. As are the sides, except the mac and cheese, it’s standard mass produced mac and cheese i’ve never been a fan of that any way. All in all it’s surprisingly good for a cafeteria in a furniture store.

Sweedish meatballs are always a must here the berries are always a goof add wether with the meatballs and gravy or their soda. Not really fond of their premade salads though and their their premade salmon plates tend to be dry. Get the actual salmon on the counter rather than the fridge.

This cafeteria deserves a solid 4 star because its pretty cheap and relative healthy options. You feel like you are in a school or a hospital cafeteria. It seems like they have a breakfast and a lunch menu. Each one with good choices. I happened to be there for lunch time. The menu has different options from meatballs, vegie balls, and grilled salmon among others. I ordered vegie balls with vegetables. This meal came with some type of black bean chilli. The overall taste was pretty simple with not much spices and salts. I mean is a cafeteria style food type I was not expecting rich flavor. But nevertheless I enjoyed my meal. I added a garlic toast and the total came out to be $ 5.69. This is a Great price for a healthy meal. The cafeteria is located on the second floor right after the long maze. Great way to keep customers happy and take their time while shopping at Ikea.

I love my Swedish Meatballs!
I have been wanting to come back
for my Swedish Meatballs and we
came during the dinner rush.
This place has an assembly line
that starts with desserts where I
worked my way through to the
one of the two cashiers at the end
where you pay and I picked the
the fastest lane.
When you walk up to the restaurant
be sure to check out the specials
for a cheaper price if you have your
IKEA card with you.
The Swedish Meatballs come with
mashed potatoes and gravy and I
loved how the gravy was spooned
out underneath the meatballs.
Plus the gravy is also for the mashed potatoes There’s enough there for
the mashed potatoes. I dipped them
into the gravy with my fork.
I wasn’t fond of the cranberry sauce.
It made my lips pucker up because
there was a strong tanginess to them.
I am very picky about my cranberry
sauce. I will only eat my moms. She
makes a pretty good one.
We found a perfect place to sit.
There was a good amount
of places to sit but the place
wasn’t completely packed.
I was kind of surprised since it was
the dinner rush but people usually
just eat and go so that could be the
reason why.
The experience and dinning
in was really nice once we got
situated and starting eating.
The line wasn’t too long so we were
able to sit down fast which was nice.
It reminded me of a home cooked Thanksgiving meal. I am pretty
much satisfied and I would come
back again.
See you soon!

The IKEA Restaurant reminds me of elementary school cafeteria food, but not in as bad of a way it seems. It’s nostalgic, it’s cheap, it does the job.
I’m half Swedish — and growing up my grandfather used to make Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce. It was home to me. Fast forward to tasting the IKEA version for the first time and it was so similar — I was so pleased. Plot twist, MY GRANDFATHERS WERE NEVER HOMEMADE — I WAS LIED TO! infuriating. But never mind all that, we’re not even going to get into the deceptions of my childhood.
You can’t beat the prices. Dirt cheap for a hot meal and a princess cake (because how can you not?) and they have insane daily specials. Is this a culinary destination you’ll run to? No. get real. But after wandering around room after room of housewares and you’re tired and grouchy and in need of some sustenance — this place will be your safe haven. It will fill your stomach, it might even fill your heart, but it isn’t anything to write home about. Unless of course you’re me and you’re writing a strongly worded letter to your family about the AUTHENTIC FOOD FROM YOUR HERITAGE they lied to you about… But never mind that again…

Came here for some shelving needs but more of an excuse to try the famous Swedish meatballs. They have a pretty good size cafeteria with desserts, salads, and, of course, the meatballs! Ordered the Swedish meatballs, wedge salad, a side item, and coffee, totaled at $ 9. Not bad for a full tray of foods! Quality was okay, more of cafeteria level. I had better meatballs somewhere else for sure. Portion was pretty generous for the price so the meat eater in me was happy. They also had chicken meatballs and vegetarian meatless balls. I was hungry so everything was swallowed in 5 mins. Self service and the cashiers had good attitude. Very casual as people come and go. Had free Wifi but wanted your email before letting you through. The place was spacious and clean with lots tables and seats. Overall, a good place to relax and recharge from all the walking through this gigantic show room!
If I come back to IKEA, will likely stop by again to try some of the desserts that had been calling my name.

Overall, it’s what you expect out of IKEA food. Cheap, quick, convenient. Portions are conservatively sized to keep you from falling asleep on the show floor.
Reviewing the Swedish Meatball dish at this point is like beating a dead horse so I’m going to go a different route.
So you got the Swedish Meatball dish, now the important question.
Do I get the Elderflower or Lingonberry juicebox? DRYCK FLÄDER or DRYCK LINGON?
I prefer the elderflower over lingonberry. Since the meatball plate already includes lingonberry sauce, getting a drink based off the same fruit with the same flavor is redundant and doesn’t add anything to the meal.
The Elderflower is nice because it adds a different flavor to the meal, it’s less sweet and the floral profile is uplifting and cleanses the palate. If you’ve ever had chrysanthemum tea, the taste is very similar.
I choose FLÄDER over LINGON.

It is cheap and quick. What else could you ask for? Who would have thought to put a cafeteria style restaurant along with some furniture shopping? Haha brilliant though!
We dine here a couple times and the food is not bad for the price.
Breakfast: they served breakfast from 930am-​11am daily. They even have $ 1 breakfast which comes with eggs, sausage and potatoes. Although we opt for a Swedish breakfast which is basically the $ 1 breakfast and Swedish pancake for $ 2.99 still not a bad price. Coffee is .75 cents and free refill.
Lunch: Swedish meatballs combo and I think I got a healthy bowl both were between 4.99−6.99 I believe
Not bad for a quick breakfast or lunch before browsing around :)

I come here for the swedish meatballs. There is just something about them that I crave. I love to get the extra 5 for $ 1.00. The kids meals are well priced at $ 2.49 although they no longer come with a drink. I personally think their salads and beverages are over priced, but you can get a free hot tea or coffee with your rewards card. Look on their website for their current specials for deals.
One con is the seating. Today there were not enough places to eat, more tables are needed.

Alright. I’m either bougie or this meal was genuinely gross. It probably didn’t help that I had lunch at Tender Greens earlier either but anyway, I came here to grab a snack with a friend after browsing IKEA for an item for her new place. I recalled a co-​worker a while back raving about the meatballs, so I ordered the chicken meatballs meal that came with mashed potatoes, gravy and lingonberries for under $ 6 or something ridiculous like that. I kept eating them hoping they’d get better and eventually stopped and just couldn’t finish. It just wasn’t good. Tasted meat-​like, not like meat. I would have preferred McDonald’s chicken nuggets.
My friend ordered the veggie wrap and found it to be ultra dry and lacking what I’ll call «food glue». It needed some kind of sauce. Sadly, it got tossed too.
I did however, like the lingonberries that came with the meatball meal, but that’s not enough to get me to come back. It all reminded me of the cartoon, Doug, and his loathe for liver and onions. Yea, no thanks. It’s cafeteria style, so keep it moving. Kind of felt like a hospital. Unless you have kids screaming their heads off and they won’t hush until you stick something in their mouths… you really don’t need to come here.

Things you should know before dining at IKEA: (if you’ve never been before)
This is a cafeteria style lunch room, if you ain’t down, get your bougie booty out.
You first go in line and get your tray. You then have several bottled and boxed drink choices such as the delicious lingonberry or elderflower boxes, water, or other typical American kid juices.
You then pass by the cakes/​desserts which you can just slide the cases open for, and grab yourself. Then on to the prepared salads. The salmon salad looked so good! Not a big heaping pile or anything, but a huge cut of fish, probably 3−4oz. It has some cut romaine and edamame, and other stuff from my quick glance. I also noticed the dressing was on the side, for those picky, «I like light salad dressing» people.
Next is the best part, the hot line. I’ve been eating at IKEA for years, they just fairly recently started offering other meatball options (chicken and veggie) but I drove all the way over here, so I’m getting the stuff I know is good, the Swedish meatballs. If you ask for them, the meal comes with 10, for $ 4.99. You can also add an extra 5 meatballs for $ 2 more I believe (I don’t remember). The meatball plate comes with a scoop of mashed potatoes, gravy, and a tiny bit of lingonberry sauce. Today I added a slice of garlic toast for $.69. With those, and my 2 lingonberry drinks, came out to $ 8.something and I was too full to finish my toast. But I’ll get back to that in a bit.
After the hot line is the build your own salad station and a soup station. There’s bread rolls, butter, cutlery and such in this area too. I didn’t catch the price on those, but again everything is fairly cheap compared to anywhere else. Then, the cashier! You can also buy fountain drinks since there is a fountain there.
Back to the meatballs. The meatballs are great, super tasty and juicy. The gravy is smooth and silky, and the lingonberry sauce adds a tad bit of sweetness and some tartness (?) to give you a break from the heaviness of the meat. The edges of the garlic bread were nice and toasty, but the middle was soggy. Another reason I didn’t try too hard to finish it.
Lastly, don’t be a dick. Clean up after yourself.
There are several signs around politely asking people to clean up after themselves in order to keep prices down (from hiring a clean up crew). There are several rolling shelves with plenty of shelves to place your trays and dishes. Be nice and empty your dish contents into the trash, then put your tray & dishes in the shelf. That’s all! Then you can shop in that maze and not be so hangry. They also have a mini market section downstairs, incase you absolutely LOVE anything you ate, and want to take some home.
In conclusion, the young, cheap skate, college girl in me will love this place forever. This place is great, I would live here.

Dear Bo,
1. Myra (black glasses): WORST Food Server Service!

The cafeteria inside of Ikea is worth dinning in for a quick snack before shopping. It’s nothing fancy, but it beats any fast food restaurants near by! They serve delicious Swedish Meatballs, mac n’ cheese, cornbread, salads, desserts, and the list goes on… I love that it’s kid friendly. They have a kid table and play area to keep the kids occupied as the parents are eating. Try the Swedish Meatballs — they’re tasty!
This was my 2^nd visit to IKEA and both times I’ve asked for a to go box. The line servers said they don’t to go boxes. Wished they did so I van take some cornbread home to my family.

The biggest draw to the IKEA restaurant is that it is in the middle of IKEA. IKEA can be pretty exhausting, so it’s nice to have the option to grab something to eat or drink. Even though I’d been to IKEA many times in the pet, it wasn’t until today that I tried out the restaurant.
I have heard about the meatballs for years– my sister in law is particularly obsessed. Clearly there was no other option but to try them. My husband and I split a plate of meatballs, mashed potatoes and jam. They were pretty good! Not better than meatballs I’d make at home or could find in any other restaurant, but still tasty. I have to admit the jam is a tangy and pleasant accompaniment.
The downside to the meatballs is that we left lunch feeing even more tired than before! It was a heavy meal that didn’t energize us for the rest of the shopping. Next time I’ll make sure to get a cup of coffee, too!

My wife and I stopped by for lunch and a brief respite from the shopping maze that is IKEA. We barely beat the usual lunch rush, and were able to get right into the cafeteria line.
I chose the chicken meatball special ($ 4.99), which included mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce alongside the 10 or so meatballs. A good meal ! The chicken meatballs were a wee bit different from the regular Swedish meatballs served here, but they were good, as were the potatoes. And I love lingonberry sauce.
She chose the veggie meatball special ($ 4.49) which came with steamed veggies, no surprise, instead of potatoes. No sauce, either. I didn’t care much for the texture of those meatballs, but again, no surprise there. She loved them.
I had my usual cup of Swedish coffee ($ 0.75, Take that !, Starbucks) and found it to be delicious, as always here.
Oh yeah, I’m a fan.

Furniture galore… its been a long while since i needed new furniture or appliances… anyway came here for lunch. First time eating at the restaurant. Not bad, definitely worth the price you pay. I had the salmon with potatoes and bread. I love their bread — so soft.

Fast food quality is way better than your Jack in the Box or Mcd’s.
However, the associates seem to hate life as they work through the line.
A little bit of friendliness would be appreciated, especially the asian lady at the register.
I wonder why this place costs still more than the restaurants back in Europe?
Oh well, at least they have it here and it tastes alright.

Simply put, I love IKEA food. Ever since my sister and her boyfriend introduced me to their Swedish meatballs, I don’t see any other meatballs the same way. Of course, the price has gone up $ 1 since the first time. I remember when it was $ 4.99, and I believe she said they were $ 3.99 at one point? Not too sure, but they’re $ 5.99 now, and you can add meatballs for $ 1.
I don’t come here for the customer service. Frankly, there is no customer service, just people who give you your food/​ring you up. They’re there to provide their service, but that’s all. I could care less since it’s not like there’s a waiter, and it’s not like they’re ever rude to begin with.
I’ve had their Swedish meatballs, chicken tenders, and breakfast (but at the IKEA in OC area!) The Swedish meatball dish is the perfect amount with the perfect blend of flavors. It seems pretty small, but 15 meatballs is a pretty good amount. The plate also comes with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce. The sauce for the meatballs surprisingly goes well with the sweetness of the lingonberry sauce. I typically mix the sauces when I dip my meatballs in them. The chicken tenders have tender meat, and they come with some good ol’ French fries!
If you’re ever at IKEA and want a cheap meal that’s pretty tasty, go to their café! There are a lot of entrees and desserts!

Surprisingly (perhaps), the food here is not too bad. In college, I used to go here for their half-​order of Swedish meatballs with potatoes and that lingonberry sauce, which was like $ 3.99 from what I could remember. Decent dinner for cheap!
Like some of the other Unilocalers have pointed out in their reviews too… they now give you mashed potatoes instead of the whole thing. Sounds like a trivial matter, but I definitely thought it was much better when it came with the whole potatoes. Other items that I like from there are the smoked salmon salad, the pollock fish and the garlic toast. They used to serve wine too, but I didn’t see it last time I was there. I guess that’s no more either.
It’s not a bad place to eat at if you need happen to be there (though it can be very busy on weekends). Oh… and the service… don’t get rung up by Tammie at the cashier… last time we were there, she put us all on one tab when we never asked her to, and when we told her that we were paying separately, she glared at me and said, «What? You guys can’t all pay together?». WOW. Talk about getting lunch served with an ample side of attitude!