Dining at Ikea: How Swede it is!

Who says a trip to Ikea has to involve shower curtains and sofas? Listen my penny-pinching pals, the Swedish behemoth is a great place to dine as well. It's open seven days a week, from 9:30 or 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 or 8:30 p.m. so that covers any meal of the day. Here are some of their meal deals (and afterwards, hit the scratch 'n' dent room for great bargains):

Breakfast Scrambled eggs, 2 bacon strips and potatoes for 99 cents (!).
Cinnamon roll and Swedish coffee ($1.50).

Lunch or dinner
15 Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy and lingonberry sauce ($4.99).
Open-faced shrimp and hard-boiled egg sandwich ($3.75; at right in blurry camera phone shot).
Gravlax with mixed greens and a dill-mustard dressing ($4.99).
Organic penne pasta marinara ($1.99!).

Kids' meals (all children's menu items are 99 cents)
Organic pasta with tomato sauce
Baby carrots with ranch dressing