Coming from an area with 3 Ikeas within a 45 minute radius, I got my fair share of Ikea shopping trips in college and post college.  I LOVED it!  When we moved to Charlotte, I was disappointed that we didn’t have one nearby as shipping is so expensive.  One finally opened near UNC Charlotte earlier this year, but I haven’t had a chance (or really a reason – we have all the furniture we need) to go since it opened.  The Husband went a few weeks ago but I was out of town and unable to go with.  Last weekend, I finally got my opportunity!  We were looking for things to do and I wanted a new poster frame.  We planned to browse through the furniture displays (I love looking at the made up rooms) and grab some items quickly in the decoration (aka textiles) section.

Halfway through though (at the end of the furniture rooms), we realized that we were hungry and we weren’t sure how long we wanted to wait to eat.  We decided to check out Ikea’s cafeteria.

They had a HUGE selection!  There were salads of all sorts (pre-made), a salad bar, and a hot entree section.  I knew that Swedish Meatballs were a must and we’d see what else they had to offer to split.

We ended up getting Swedish Meatballs, Lingonberry Sauce, and french fries…

As well as Mac & Cheese of course

In true Ikea fashion, this all was super cheap and very tasty!  Ikea has a grocery section with frozen swedish meatballs and many other Swedish tasty items.  We didn’t get any this time since we had many more errands to run, but I can’t wait to go back to get some to stock the house.  Yum!