One Of 2026's Cheapest Food Court Meals Is A Loaded Breakfast Plate Complete With Pancakes
Out and about and looking to eat on a budget? This surprisingly inexpensive food court meal — served in an impressively large big-box furniture store — gives you a solid breakfast for very little chump change.
Ikea offers a Breakfast Plate that features eggs, potatoes, and bacon, topped off with Swedish pancakes, which are smaller and thinner than traditional American pancakes, and lingonberry jam. The meal costs $5.99 at the food court as of this article's publication, making it considerably less expensive than, for example, the price of a Big Breakfast with Hotcakes at a McDonald's in New York, currently costing well over $8.50.
Ikea's food court menu doesn't just offer up a breakfast meal; it's a complete meal that you can find right in the store. That's made it such a spectacle among shoppers of the furniture chain that people have confessed to coming to their local Ikea only to eat their breakfast.
Ikea shoppers — and bargain hunters — go to the food court as a breakfast destination
"I was shocked when seeing people at Ikea just for breakfast," remarked one Reddit user on an Ikea-based subreddit. They seemed surprised that people were showing up at the chain just to have the first meal of their day, but plenty of other customers admitted to having breakfast there because Ikea's restaurant is so cheap and the food there tastes delicious. "When I was a student and lived just down the road from an Ikea, I visited at least once a month. Whatever meal was on special that day was like £2 to £3 [roughly $3 to $4]. No washing up and perfectly edible and cheap," said one customer apparently based in Great Britain.
Subreddits dedicated to living frugally or coping with poverty are filled with folks who head to Ikea for the absolute best food court meal. "Use to bribe my kids with food at the cafeteria at Ikea — free coffee for me, cheap food for them and shopping at Ikea. Winner in my book," said one poster.
Others have found ways to stretch their food budgets, too. "IKEA for breakfast, Costco samples for lunch and dinner!" another poster said. Clearly, Ikea's hearty, filling, and incredibly inexpensive breakfast has plenty of fans.