Stop Overlooking Ikea's Food Court In 2026: It's Actually One Of The Cheapest Places To Eat

Costco members may boast about its food court and all of the wonders therein, but I feel no FOMO despite never having stepped foot in a Costco. Sure, $1.50 for a hot dog and soda is a steal these days, but I know a place to get hot dogs for just $0.50: the Ikea Swedish Bistro (this is the price for Ikea Family members, anyway). If you don't want to join the store's free rewards program, hot dogs are still just $1 while plant-based and veggie dogs (something Costco's food court doesn't offer) are $0.95 and $0.90, respectively. For $1.50 you can order a hot dog topped with mac and cheese, while double dogs (two on a bun) are $1.75. (Cringe alert: Ikea's signage awkwardly insists on calling the hot dogs "glizzies." No, Swedish superstore, slightly dated American slang is not a good fit for you.)

Ikea food court cheap eats don't stop with hot dogs, either. Another unskippable Ikea food item to be found at the Swedish Bistro is the meatball sundae, which is a mini taste of the most famous dish to be found at Ikea's sit-down restaurant which lies at the heart of the furniture maze. (The Bistro, like most mega-store food courts, is positioned to catch customers on the way out.) For $2.50, you get a scoop of mashed potatoes in a paper cup topped with a few meatballs in gravy and a spoonful of lingonberry jam. The food court also sells cheese pizza slices for $2.75, soft-serve frozen desserts starting at $1.65 for strawberry (vanilla costs $0.10 more), and cinnamon rolls for $1.50 (or half a dozen for $8).

Ikea may use food to get you to spend more, but you don't have to drop big bucks on a Billy bookcase to enjoy a snack at the Swedish Bistro. If you want the cheapest possible deal at the food court, check out an app called Too Good to Go. I saw signs for it a few weeks ago at my local Ikea in Wisconsin and promptly downloaded it onto my phone to see what deals it had to offer.

The way it works is you reserve a "surprise bag" from Ikea (or another local restaurant) and arrange to pick it up during a specific time frame. Currently on my app I'm seeing an afternoon Swedish Bistro bag selling for $2.99. I'll have to skip it since it needs to be picked up between 3:00 and 3:30 p.m. and I'll still be hard at work, but I did score a $2.99 Ikea restaurant breakfast bag one morning on one of my days off and received a heaping helping of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and pancakes. For another $5.99, I also acquired a Swedish Marketplace bag containing five large chocolate bars and a roll of cookies. The selection's entirely up to Ikea (or whoever the vendor is) so it can be a little random, but with a bistro bag you might get hot dogs, cinnamon rolls, and perhaps a pizza slice or two, depending on what items are leftover. It saves food from going to waste and saves you about ⅔ of the full price, so using the app is a win for everyone.