For the past few months, The Civee has been bugging me to go to the new IKEA store that opened up in Cincinnati.
She had gone there a few times on her own, but wanted me to go along in case we wanted to make any furniture purchases. Last weekend, we were in Cincinnati visiting relatives and had some extra time, so we stopped by Ikea.
I have to say the place actually made furniture buying interesting. The prices were decent, and the furniture was actually nice. But what made the place totally worth the trip was the meatballs. The Civee had told me that while shopping, we could get some metaballs, which I envisioned as getting two Swedish Meatballs with a toothpick off a tray somewhere. But no, this was much more. Not some toothpick-stuck meatballs on a greasy napkin, but the promise of a full meal.
There’s a full-scale cafeteria in the middle of the store, with plenty of menu options. I got the meatballs, with a side of mashed potatoes and jam. For like five bucks. And it was damn good. There were a bunch of other items on the menu (Gravlax, half-chicken, Prime Rib) that I intend to try on future trips to Ikea.
For the first time in my life, I’m actually looking forward to going furniture shopping. The Swedish are really on to something there with this food-in-the-middle-of-the-store concept. Who knows, if IKEA had been around when my parents took the younger King Tom furniture shopping, I might not have been such a bratty kid.
When I think food-in-the-middle-of-the-store, I think of the awful snack bars in places like Wal-Mart or Target. I assume the Swedes have taken this concept to a much tastier level.
And I’m still sayin’ you’re the only person I know who eats a half chicken.
What Ikea has is beyond the four-hot-dogs in the warmer setup you’ll find at places like Wal-mart or Target. The food is definitely tasty, and it looks like there are specials on the menu that change from day-to-day.
If I was the only person who eats a half chicken, then why is it on the menu at so many places? Huh?
Ikea is a fine store for SOME things. I’ve bought a few items from them – a desk, a dresser, but I try to avoid some things, like sofas. I find the quality of those to be sub-par and on the expensive side.
The best part of Ikea is the self-serve shopping area, where you buy plates and dishracks and picture frames and such. That stuff is not so bad, and the price is right (although you have to translate everything from Swedish). Plus where else can you purchase a Gestalt figure?
I’ve also found that my Ikea intentions are always high, but my item count turns out low. I go into the store planning to buy a big ticket item or at least a specific item, but then don’t buy it and end up buying something impulsive instead (like above mentioned Gestalt figure).
All this being said, we need to make an Ikea trip. And soon.
Evil Kneben- what is a Gestalt figure?
And yeah, most instructions are in Swedish, but the stick figure illustrations speak to people of all nations.