IKEA Restaurant — Restaurant in College Park

Two frustrating recent experiences. (1) On visit a 2-3 weeks ago, it was a mess. The whole underground garage was reserved for pickup and employee parking ONLY. That entrance was closed; could only park in open, unshaded lot. The elevator near food court/kids section was closed, which made it hard to get around with cart. And when it was time to check out, it was was terrible. There were two blocked off entrances for two lines. One line lead to 3-4 cashiers and the other to...ONE cashier. So as you can imagine the other line was going much faster. An employee in the area, walking around with walkie-talkie was unhelpful. When those of us in the one cashier line complained and requested that the cashiers be distributed more evenly between lines he said there nothing he could do about it. Um...okay. (And what was his purpose exactly?) It eventually happened but I think it was due to customers being very upset and badgering the employee instead of any customer service/helpfulness on the employee's part. (2) I went today to return an item.It was a convulted process. Had to stay outside of store and scan a QR code (one of a few options) which took you to a form to fill out and send. Then an employee would come out and call out your name and escort you inside. In my case, when I had went up to employee to ask about next step he mentioned he had called my name already. I was outside whole time. When calling names with a mask, he should have known he would need to speak louder and clearer. Look, I can appreciate their clumsy attempts to keep customers safe. But, the low customer service and etc just rubbed me the wrong way. Anyway, I will be avoiding going there for any reason any time soon. Hopefully in a few months they will iron out...

Shopping through IKEA can be an exhausting experience-- think: fumbling through masses of college freshmen and their families; breaking a sweat whilst avoiding delicate furniture ready to drop and break at the slightest touch. Make it through the showroom and you're greeted with the IKEA Cafe.

A Swedish cafe for adults and children alike, IKEA's restaurant & cafe provides a school-like meal that's paired with core IKEA values. You get decent food that is well-portioned, value-packed, and quick & easy.

Things I Liked: Chicken Tenders - What immediately hits you about these chicken tenders is how light and crispy they are. The breading isn't slathered on and fried, only to suppress the flavor of the chicken. Instead, the light breading serves to provide an initial bite with a slight crunch as you move on to the tender chicken. 4/5

Tomato Soup - Creamy and just acidic enough, the tomato soup pairs well with garlic bread and fries. 4/5

Chocolate Cake - An initial bite of chocolate mousse is followed by a passionate heap of light and airy chocolate cake. 5/5

Things I Disliked: Garlic Bread - Bland and not full of any substantial garlic flavor, this bread was rather...

Really horrified at how little IKEA College Park has modified since reopening in the COVID era. Absolutely no attention paid to reorganizing the space and flow of people to prevent choke points of people and crowding inside, no monitoring of numbers of people in the store (it seemed as crowded as ever under normal non covid conditions), no markers in the ground by the check out to annotate six feet of distance between customers (which no one was following) and lax mask wearing protocol by staff and customers, with noses out, some taking off to speak, no sanitation of carts by staff and only two puny sanitizers at the entrance and nothing at the exit. I was so uncomfortable I cut my trip short and left without making my purchase and will not be returning to this store in purchase. This is set to become a vector for super spreading. Governor...