Why Aren't You Going To Ikea's Food Court For Breakfast? It's Actually Genius

Want to know my favorite breakfast restaurant? It's not IHOP, Denny's, or some chichi little bistro that serves avocado tartines. Nope, I prefer to pull up in front of a furniture store and work my way through the heart of the maze to the Ikea restaurant, which, in my location, serves breakfast until 11:00 a.m. This may not be the case for all Ikea stores. As the company notes on its website, restaurants that open at 9:30 or 10 a.m. offer it, but ones that don't open until 11:00 a.m. go straight to dishing up lunch. Ikea's breakfasts are tasty, filling, and cheap, perfect for fueling your shopping trip.

The Ikea restaurant offers two bargain-priced breakfast plates. The smaller, cheaper option sells for just $2.99 and consists of a scoop of scrambled eggs with two strips of bacon and fried potato cubes. For $3 more, you can upgrade to a breakfast plate with all of the aforementioned items plus two Swedish pancakes topped with the same lingonberry jam that accompanies Ikea's famous meatballs. If you are a member of the free-to-join Ikea Family rewards program, an accompanying cup of coffee or tea comes at no extra charge.

Even if you don't want traditional breakfast foods, Ikea may offer a variety of what could be considered brunch dishes. I was in the restaurant shortly after it opened recently and was pleased to see that many of the cold items and desserts were already in place. The Stockholm salad with marinated salmon, which is one of my top unskippable Ikea foods, looked tempting. I was also pleased to see the Skagen shrimp salad croissant, which doesn't appear on the online menu at present but is often available in store. After some deliberation, however, I opted for a Scandinavian-style continental breakfast: a prinsessbakelser (also known as Kafferep cream cake with almond paste) and some complimentary coffee.

Other foods that may be available as à la carte items during breakfast hours at the Ikea restaurant include egg salad sandwiches, chicken wraps, and Caesar salads, while dessert items may include chocolate cake, strawberry shortcake, Swedish apple cake, or rainbow cake — some of the proceeds from the latter go to the LGBTQIA+ advocacy organization Rainbow Railroad. You could also stop in to eat at the Ikea food court – the Swedish Bistro – which opens at the same time the stores do. The only overtly breakfast-y item on the menu is the cinnamon roll, but should you be so inclined, you may make a morning meal of pizza, soft serve, or hot dogs. (Forget Costco; you can get hot dogs for less at Ikea.)