Visited on Saturday, March 29th
Ben's Review
Erin convinced me to go to Ikea against my better judgment - Ikea on a Saturday afternoon is hell. On the way there I remembered that Ikea has $0.99 breakfast so I thought at least we could try that out while we were there.
We got there a little before noon and we actually found a parking spot close to the door, amazing, I know.
When you walk in the front door there is a hot dog stand immediately to your left. It was closer to lunch than breakfast, so we decided to go for hot dogs instead of seeking out the cheap breakfast. Besides, it was $2.50 for two dogs, chips, and a soda so this would go down as the cheapest entry for 'we got served' ever. I even opted for just two hot dogs (50 cents each) which brought the grand total to $3.50.
The other patrons at Ikea are mostly in good moods, strangely, it must have been the decent weather. This is usually the reason for having an unpleasant times at fast food locations like this, people acting all bitchy with kids running around screaming and making a mess. Here, people had the kids inside of shopping carts to keep them reined in, and they seemed to enjoy the novelty :)
The guy who dished up the hot dogs stands in front of a huge 'hot dog rotator' like you see at gas stations, only bigger and cleaner. He was working up a good sweat by handing out at least four hot dogs to each person coming through the line, he looked like a real pro and was friendly to boot.
I quickly threw some ketchup on our hot dogs and grabbed some relish packets for me and a diet Pepsi for Erin and made our way to the table. 45 seconds later, we were through eating and moved on to shop through the store.
I think the highlight of the trip for me was hearing several employees speaking a cool sounding Scandinavian language.
Ikea's ratings:
- Service: The food service was quick, two registers and one motivated guy handing out dogs.
- Food: Hot dogs - you can't screw them up.
- Drinks: Severely lacking here, I thought you could drink beer anywhere in Europe???
- Ambiance: This was decent, the mood at Ikea isn't too bad and people are friendly.
- Price: The best price you'll ever find.
- Convenience: The parking lot here is bigger than any restaurant we'll ever review, but you'll have to venture to the suburbs.
Erin's Review
Unlike Ben, I do believe you can screw up hot dogs. We got some in NYC that were supposed to be "the best" (at Papaya King on the Upper East Side) but they were tiny and nothing special. The hot dogs at Ikea are fine - medium sized and served very hot. Obviously this entry is kind of a joke - we really don't believe that Ikea is fine dining, but it is nice that they have some food options when you are there.
The hot dog/ice cream/cinnamon roll area is right by the entrance so that is where we went - as we were walking through the store, we came to the main restaurant which has a lot more options - including the 99 cent breakfast. Have any of our readers eaten here? If so, please let me know how it is - I'm quite curious. People seemed to be enjoying themselves at any rate. I even saw real plates and silverware.
(the "real" IKEA restaurant)
Deets
IKEA
800 IKEA Way
Bloomington, MN 55425
Recommended ... if you have to go there, might as well get some cheap eats.
