IKEA Cafe

67 West Ikea Way
Draper, Utah
801.572.4532
www.ikea.com

Taste 3 stars
Value 4 stars
Service 2 stars

Price range:
Items up to about $5.99

Distance from temple:
Oquirrh Mountain Utah: 1.2 miles
Jordan River Utah Temple: 7.5 miles

Insane. Or, as my husband said, “When you go to IKEA, you have to pretend you’re going to Disneyworld. Then the crowds and the lines won’t annoy you ?as much.” Have you ever seen parking attendants directing you to the lone, empty stall and “event parking” signs at a store? And what’s with that name? Don’t they know that ALL CAPS is screaming in the internet age?

Anyway, we actually spent our date last night trudging through IKEA (!!!). I mostly saw lots of people and tons of college-dorm style furniture. I lost Sam three times. But I did get a good workout. The suggested tour route is about 3.5 miles long.

Finally we shoved clawed maneuvered our way into the .5 mile line to the cafeteria. Boy, that food must be awesome! Which is a good thing, because after the handcart trek, I was starving.

The coolest thing about the cafe is the food tray carts. Unlike the retarded hanging-bag shopping carts in the store proper, the tray carts should be in every fast foodish place on the planet. The wheeled carts hold three trays that can be loaded down with food. So if you have kids with you or just want to eat like a pig you won’t end up doing a juggling act to the table. They also have a place to park your retarded-hanging-bag-shopping-cart while you eat. Costco could learn something from that.

The IKEA (!!!) Cafe is a cafeteria-style restaurant. You order a la carte and pay at the counter. Because of the crowds, we stood in a convoluted line formation that was so disorganized that dozens of people walked right past the crowd (and the cafe employee) and went to the counter in front of those already in line. It was noisy and is cluttered enough to make navigating the loose children moderately challenging.

When we finally got there, the ordering line was incredibly slow for a reason I could not discern. Either some of those who had been in line for 30 minutes still couldn’t decide between the two entrée choices or the servers were trying to a achieve a certain presentation style.

Sam ordered the meatball plate that came with a couple of red potatoes ($5.99). I ordered the poached herb salmon that included mixed vegetables and two red potatoes ($5.99). We also got an open-faced shrimp and egg sandwich ($2.99), a side salad ($1.49 with entrée), and a slice of Swedish apple cake ($2.29). We had to ask for our parsley sprig that was shown in the picture. I am not one to be slighted.

One of the two cash registers appeared to be broken, so a second cashier was jury-rigged off to the side ?kind of. No one seemed quite sure who was in charge. As a note, be sure to tell the cashier if you want water. The beverages are self-serve and if you have a glass on your tray, they will charge you for a soft drink. (There are no glasses near the beverage island.)

The salmon was very tasty, and the vegetables and potatoes cooked perfectly. The meatballs were also good, with an unusual spice mixture we couldn’t identify. The sauce was creamy and very good as well.

The sandwich tasted like, well, shrimp, egg, and a bunch of mayonnaise on a slim piece of bread. Nothing to brag about. The apple cake was fine, but not as good as German apple cake or apple pie. The crust tasted like graham crackers, which isn’t my favorite.

The salad bears noting because it might not be what Americans expect. The cafe has a “salad bar” where you can get a side salad or a larger bowl. But the salad bar only has six items: mixed greens; shredded carrots; sliced mushrooms; cherry tomatoes; and sliced (?) Swiss and American cheese. They also only offer two kinds of salad dressing (ranch and Italian) which are, inexplicably, only available at the drink counter.

In addition to the things we purchased, they were offering a ham and cheese sandwich, panini, soup, and a variety of beverages. They also have kids meals from 99¢ to $1.99.

The food was OK and not too expensive, but I suggest you call ahead and find the day and time there are only 40,000 other people there. Wear ample sunscreen and take one of those personal fans and a water bottle.