IKEA — Local services in San Francisco

**This review is focused on the food court.

I was curious and wanted to know if the food was just as good as I remembered it to be when Ikea opened its first store in Emeryville (2000).

The food court is simply decorated; tables/chairs clean and no debris on the floor. The restroom is located on the same level and is located in the food court area. There are three restrooms which are monitored by a security person. Security is cordial and when I told them that the restroom needed cleaning, they had someone clean it in a reasonable amount of time.

In most food courts, you can smell aromas. This food court didn't have any. You order on a kiosk and pay. You wait for your number to be called on your a receipt; pick up your food and look for a table. It reminds me of any fast food places except that this place is clean and not greasy. The wait was about 10 minutes for my food to arrive. The containers/utensils/napkins are recyclable. The bins are clearly labeled: compost/recycle/trash. The only complaint I have is that the recycle bin was overflowing. It seems weird that the workers didn't notice this when Ikea is all into recycling. I just disposed my trash in a bin that wasn't filled. Yes, that's bad but didn't want my trash to overflow onto the floor.

Meatballs are 4 for $1,50. It comes with a tiny flag - well presented. The bite size meatballs are smaller than what I remembered. The gravy tastes better than the meatball. I suggest you get two orders of the meatball.

Cinnamon bun ($1.50) wasn't warm nor hot. It looks like it was there for a long time and stale looking. I would not recommend this.

Mac and Cheese ($3.99) looks awful but surprisingly it did not taste bad. I ate it with the meatball gravy and it was yummy delicious. I would order this again with an order of the meatballs. When mixed, it was great.

The Cappuccino ($3) was luke warm and served in a stained cup (the lip of the cup looked like lipstick stains). I told the cashier and he said it was probably some strawberry syrup that got on the cup. I asked for a Cappuccino replacement. The cashier had to ask his supervisor if I could get another Cappuccino. I then had to reexplained and showed the supervisor the stained cup. After some hee hawing between the supervisor and workers, they agreed to make me a new Cappuccino. This experience should never happen. How can they expect a customer to drink from a stained cup and make them pay for a replacement?

My total bill for lunch was $10.85. I won't go out of way to eat here but if you happen to be in the area, give it a try. It's fast, clean environment and efficient. Food is decent for the price.

After eating, I roamed the store. You can find sale items throughout the store. I had to remind myself that "I don't need anything." It was difficult but I did end up purchasing a panda stuffed animal that I couldn't resist. Their self check out is great and there are many staff standing by to offer assistance. The staff is personable, approachable, friendly, and pleasant to deal with. This is a great place if you need anything - from furniture, linens, food items to measuring spoons.

I will return to buy the frozen meatballs and other entrees. They are all reasonably priced. When I return, I might try the the hot dogs in the food court. I never had Sweden hot...

Wow, where do I start.. just walked out... Wanted to get hot dogs found out they were on the second floor. It's was really cool like the taste the but it could be browned more. The menu is difficult as i don't do technology well and I had to watch the other guy figure it out, how to purchase a hot dog. It's funny when I say as a suggestion and had the employee see what I was talking about. He thought I was a idiot.. just for a suggestion to let us know what to tap to add the menu items to BUY.. it just erks me that you think I should know even though you had training to do the job.. the issue was that I had to tap a tip section apparently to pay. Yet you don't do tip.. wtf? I totally felt like a maroon at the order keokis. I'm not sure if I'll go back .. ibcan afford 3.00 hot dogs with nicer people..

Review.. your As-is employees with the dreadlocks is awesome.. That employee needs a raise or cultivated for management. His professional attitude, clean appearance, and posting energy was refreshing.. want to leave a word with management but was told to write a review.. That employee turned my crapy hotdogs' purchase around. I got a pot with soil.. dead plant.. like I said ( As-is ), great employee.. don't let that one go easy.. on a side note.. your security guard .. I was. I don't know why, but seeing a guard with both hands occupied ( phone and coffee cup ) at the same time just didn't strike me as safe.. I mean you're wearing a taser gun on the side or a gun but you can't access it cuz they're holding a cup and you're holding the phone at the same time. Why have security on a phone web searching ?? Looking down.. I guess when you have money to burn security doesn't matter..

Main level. Both security guards were alert and doing great. The female officer at the exit door and the officer at the desk in my opinion need better chairs. Especially the one with the monitors. The employee if tall and intimidating ( which is awesome for security ) yet the chairs are too small. If you put larger chairs with better back support, it will benefit your employees overall health vers a worker compensation claim down the road.

Lastly.. the greeter at the main door was delightful and had a warm inviting glow. I had to ask were your hotdogs were.. she explained they were upstairs.. then I saw the robot stairs and did some shopping.. 3.89 or something for a Christmas nome and a rented candle to knock out the lingering turkey festivities smell lol.. Shopping was good.. food court hotdogs goatee guy probably not again. We'll you know what they say.. 1 out of 3 ant too bad..

One last thing.. the guard rails on the upper floors really need to be higher that the height they are now.. to be honest if I tripped there not high enough to stop me from falling over.. especially being over six feet six inches tall. It was actually kinda scary I mean we have random earthquakes.. and you put glass panels as barriers to 20-50 foot drops. Aesthetics are great but...

This Swedish Walmart is the lowest rated furniture store on Yelp and Google Maps in the entire San Francisco Bay Area and it might be because of these 10 convenient benefits you'll be missing out on if you come here instead of going to Emeryville or Palo Alto, CA.

1: This location will not help you out the door, even if you're disabled.

2: Click & Collect isn't available at this location. (Buy online, pick-up in store and we will bring it to you)

3: There's no self-service warehouse, which means most of the furniture isn't in stock.

4: No free parking. You'll have to pay up to $40 behind Market Street in a narrow alley (Stevenson Str) at a private garage.

5: Nobody will watch your kids. Småland Play Area doesn't exist here.

6: There's literally one cashier present here for the entire store and she's too busy watching 6 self-checkout registers. So it's either self checkout or maybe this store isn't for you.

7: Instead of a full-sized restaurant, this location features a significantly smaller "Swedish deli".

Yes, they do serve Mystery Meat Balls, which contain ground pork, beef and TWELVE other ingredients, including Breadcrumbs which have 3 additional ingredients. Why breadcrumbs? The same reason IKEA's fake furniture isn't solid; to cut costs. It's also why the first protein ingredient is pork (72%) and not beef (28%)

8: Despite having multiple floors, this location not only offers significantly smaller showrooms but there's a fraction of them compared to the other two stores, simply because the other locations offer as much as 320,000 square feet while this location offers a measly 52,000 square feet (83% less space when compared to E. Palo Alto IKEA)

9: No loading zone! Not only is there no loading zone, but private vehicles are prohibited on Market Street eastbound from 10th to Main. This went into effect in 2020 as part of the Better Market Street Project and IKEA still decided to move in, knowing they will not be able to offer parking.

10: Don't want your IKEA McFurniture? They don't want it either! This location will refuse refunds for larger items and you'll have to to go the other two stores even if you ordered it from...