IKEA Restaurant — Restaurant in Portland

1/2025 update: They seemed to have food👍. Only one side open so big line👎. Cream AND coffee 👍👍.

Btw I used to eat their Chicken Tenders all the time. Since about a year ago they bother my digestion... I suspect they started using paprika for coloring, paprika (all bell type peppers) causes me major digestive problems.

6/2024 update: They took my advice on the half and half👍.

They had some salads and desserts👍. They were out of the plant nuggets, but seemed to have most other food. Out of lingonberry drink, but they had coffee👍. And since they took my advice on the half and half, being out of their normal cream is not a big deal (actually I prefer the generic half-and-half over their cream).

So up to 2.5... I'll make it 3.

2/2024 update: Decided to add some pics of the cold cases (salads etc.) at dinner time. Out of coffee.

11/22 update: We've been to a few other IKEAs lately (Seattle, Wisconsin, etc.)... ALL of their restaurants were better. A great deal better.

Pre 2022 review: Rarely have anything in the cold cases when we visit... 0% on salads. 10% on desserts. Ran out of cream for coffee more than once (hint - buy a couple of boxes of shelf stable half and half as a back up). Run out of some hot foods on some visits.

Basically not what it used to be. Still mostly ok, but you can't even count on that.

Old pre covid (2019) review 4*: I'd rate lunch and dinner 5 stars.

The holiday buffet 4 stars (good quality, but odd choices).

And the breakfast (I didn't know they did bfast) I'm eating now 3 stars. Most of the hot foods are room temperature... Bit of a food safety no no. Doubt they are out long enough to grow anything but...

So for $3.29 for everything in the pic I expect heating? I should...

We love(d) the restaurant, but recently (18 months) we have experienced a less-than value-added meal.

We intentionally arrived very hungry. We ordered the original Swedish Meatball platter which is 12 meatballs, mashed potatoes, Lingonberry sauce, green peas. Obviously, the food must be previously frozen in order to serve so many customers quickly. We understand a bit of flavor is sacrificed for quick and affordable meals. However, the mashed potatoes were runny and flavorless beyond bland. The meatballs were rubbery AND greasy. The Lingonberry jam was the only item that tasted as expected.

We also ordered the chicken tenders w freshly fried fries. Both as tasty as one would expect.

Our server was very friendly and knowledgeable. Our cashier was friendly, also. They both made it worth eating here.

On tap (fountain drinks) were mildly Carbonated, but we expected them to be as carbonated as a can of store-bought soft drink.

Yes, we almost cleared our plates, not because the meals were so delicious, but because we were hungry.

Ikea has a fantastic reputation, and of course we will try other menu items, but overall, this was...

Ikea has stores in 41 countries, exactly the number of nations I have visited thus far, so you can get a reasonably priced bookcase or meal pretty much anywhere in the world.

Ikea's cafeteria has a minimal selection of simple, Swedish entrees, salads, soups and desserts, but the food is good, the portions decent and the prices GREAT! If you are an Ikea member, free to join, you also get FREE COFFEE and FREE SOFT DRINKS whether you are eating there or not.

Their famous Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and veggie meal ($5.99) is an excellent value. They also have salmon filet ($6.99) and braised beef ($8.99) dinners, both served with potato or rice and a vegetable, or you can get breakfast for just $2. A full dinner for two, including soup or salad, entree, bread, drinks and dessert will run you around $20.

Do not expect much ambiance at Ikea. It is a cafeteria after all with basic tables and chairs, you serve and clean up after yourself, and it is pretty noisy. But if you are doing some minimalist shopping, it is a quick, easy and cheap place to grab a bite.

CombatCritic Gives Ikea Restaurant and Bistro 7 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More...