Eating at Ikea?!? - They serve meals for $0.99 and up!

[Devil2U]

Awhile back, I heard an NPR story about the Restaurant/Cafe at Ikea. Sounded interesting enough...

Some time passed and I found myself near an Ikea today. So I went in for some dinner, not expecting much. However, I came out amazed. Who knew Ikea was a good, and cheap, place to eat?

For $5.99 I got the special:

• 15 swedish meatballs
  Some kind of fruit/berries
  Potatoes
  Breadroll
  Unlimited Soup or Salad bar
  Unlimited Soda or Coffee

Their various other low priced offerings consist of items like these:
$0.99
Breakfast of egg, potatoes, and bacon.
Meatball sandwich
Deserts

A hotdog and soda is $1.25. That even beats Costco's $1.50 deal!

Anyhow.... if you are ever near an Ikea, and want a good deal on a tasty snack or meal, they are worth trying at least once. Anyone else care to share their experiences?
:thumbsup:

LINKY

 

[hube235]

this I gotta try

 

[Powermoloch]

Some day I'm going back to ikea...last time I went. I spent a good 200 bucks...all worth it

 

[Ricemarine]

This is a hot deal?

 

[udonoogen]

the hot dog at costco is much better/bigger/tastier. ikea hot dogs are regular sized and tastes about as good as it costs. the swedish meatballs are really good tho

 

[mikeford]

I have no idea why Ikea does it, but upstairs in most they have a real dining room cafeteria type place, very limited menu, but cheap with great 99 cent deals like so many swedish meatballs or some other basic item. They also have a sort of snack food place near the front doors as you go out, but its hot dogs and ice cream, and not as great of a price as I remember.

Ikea is a hot deal though if you don't mind spending some time with a screwdriver. They aren't the cheapest furniture, but the cheapest good quality furniture.

For the real cheapskates check out the clearance stuff, which is between the pickup and warehouse at the stores I go to. People mess up and break a shelf, or whatever and return stuff, along with floor samples, and it all gets sold in the clearance room.

 

[essasin]

Not bad next time you get hungry shopping around ikea. IKEA quality is not that great at all but its cheap and gets the job done....ESPECIALLY when your in college and need something to last about 3-4 years.

 

[The Batt?sai]

mmm hotdog

yea it was pretty good. i've had it before. its pretty damn big for the price!

 

[curlykicker]

I'm surprised that you guys didn't mention that you can eat for free if you spend $100. All you do is show your reciept to the cafeteria cashier to prove that you spent $100 that day and you can eat for free up to $10.

Even if I'm not going to spend $100, I can never start browsing the store without getting the $1.25 cinnamon roll and coffee first

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: curlykicker
I'm surprised that you guys didn't mention that you can eat for free if you spend $100. All you do is show your reciept to the cafeteria cashier to prove that you spent $100 that day and you can eat for free up to $10.

Even if I'm not going to spend $100, I can never start browsing the store without getting the $1.25 cinnamon roll and coffee first

you can eat free? damn, when i think of how much i've spent at that store...


they have awesome meatballs.

 

[GrammatonJP]

I use to work by one.. and yeah, its damn cheap.. I couldn't believe how cheap it was..

and it taste pretty decent...

most ikea are isolated near me.. so its hard for employees to go out and get food and come back if they work a whole day... so having that in the store is easy for them..

 

[Thump553]

I heard a news story a while back on NPR that Ikea is the second biggest food chain in Germany, primarily becasue of their breakfasts.

 

[kki000]

Last time i was there, the mac and cheese was 99 cents, best deal imho.

As for ikea the furniture store, if u havent checked lately, their stuff is not all that cheap. We wound up paying just a little bit more for real furniture from a local store.
fwiw though, they do have some neat things there and the quality is actually a bit higher than what ppl think, it just wasnt as cheap as i originally thought.

Back to the food, the salmon was pretty good for lunch, was around 3.99 i think, pretty good for fish, veggies and taters.

 

[imported_OrSin]

I had no idea we could eat free from spending $100.

I spend $100 everytime I go int ot the store. And the food is good. THe ice cream is the best I have had long time. I go about every other week. My daughter loves the play room and I just got new house my GF is alway wanting something. And again the food is damn good and cheap. But free. I'm pissed I have been missing free. I need to call up IEAK now and find out.

 

[Trey22]

Went wild on the swedish meatballs last time... ate so many, I don't think I could stomach them again.

 

[loup garou]

Swedish Meatballs FTW!
Almost worth the trip to Jersey...hmm...

 

[solo717]

I love their Ice Cream....

 

[littlebitstrouds]

I had their salmon one time. Not bad at all. Spent like 5.99 on the entire meal I think. Considering it's less than a bigmac meal, I don't think anyone could complain.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Knowing Ikea, I bet you have to cook it yourself.

 

[bargainshopper]

Originally posted by: curlykicker
I'm surprised that you guys didn't mention that you can eat for free if you spend $100. All you do is show your reciept to the cafeteria cashier to prove that you spent $100 that day and you can eat for free up to $10.

Even if I'm not going to spend $100, I can never start browsing the store without getting the $1.25 cinnamon roll and coffee first

Is this valid for all the Ikea stores? In SoCal, they give you a coupon if you have dinner there on Monday thru Friday. The coupon is for 10% (maybe $10) off for purchase over $100.

 

[Project86]

I was at the Emeryville, CA location yesterday, and I did pick up some grub. It is all very good, especially for the price. I think they just sell it at cost to provide that service for their customers. It probably helps people not be so cranky, since they are likely shopping for several hours.

PS compare the furniture to stuff from say Target or even Costco. Ikea will usually be cheaper and better quality. Not always, but most of the time.

 

[kindlr]

If IKEA didn't serve food there'd be bodies littered among the particleboard. Last time I was there I got lost a good 5 times and ended up being there almost 8 hours. That said it's a great place to buy furniture if you move around a lot (college and the following few years). All the stuff can be assembled, broken down, and flat packed in about 20 minutes; the styles (well, some at least) are vanilla enough that they go well with whatever you have already and are pretty easy to re-sell if you don't want to take it with you when you move; and the prices are pretty damn good to boot. Got a full bedroom (bedframe, dresser, nightstand, wardrobe) for under $500.

And the cinnamon buns and swedish meatballs are outstanding (by the way, they sell them packaged too, where else can you get a couch and do your grocery shopping at the same time?)

 

[dude8604]

Originally posted by: LoKe
Knowing Ikea, I bet you have to cook it yourself.

Hey, that was my joke! Although my version is you have to assemble it yourself but same idea.

 

[esun]

I used to eat there quite often. It was near home and my mom liked shopping there, since they had a child place you could leave your children to play games and stuff while they shopped. Then go eat and go home. I do recall it being quite good. Never paid attention to prices, though.

 

[imported_bum]

I always try to eat there when I go to that store. The meatballs are pretty good, even compared to my families "genuine" swedish meatballs. I had no idea about this eat free after $100 purchase though. Unless you just want a lamp or something, it's hard NOT to spend that much.