IKEA opens new-look restaurant with £3 'Dish of the Day' meals and free brews

The place is expecting to serve up 50,000 of its much-loved meatballs every week

The new-look restaurant inside IKEA, Warrington(Image: Darren Robinson Photography)

A new-look restaurant has reopened inside IKEA offering extra seating and some money-saving perks.

The revamped restaurant has opened inside the Warrington store with a fresh look, ‘designed to offer a more modern setting for visitors’.

The renovation has allowed space for 550 seats – nearly 100 more than before – and as well as traditional seating areas familiar to all IKEA restaurants, it also has tables designed for solo-working, more relaxed casual seating and family-friendly spaces for children of all ages.

The place is expecting to host 6,650 visitors each week and will serve approximately 50,000 of its much-loved meatballs.

There’s a children’s area(Image: Darren Robinson Photography)

Bosses of the Swedish retail giant say the restaurant ’embraces IKEA’s iconic style’ by creating ‘a serene and inspirational space for shoppers and diners’.

The redesigned restaurant reflects broader modernisation works which have happened across the Warrington store over the last five years.

IKEA Family members can take advantage of a number of perks at the site, including free tea and coffee and a different £3 ‘Dish of the Day’ meal every weekday. These are:

Monday – Salmon fillet

Tuesday – Plant balls

Wednesday – Meatballs

Thursday – Sausage & Mash

Friday – Fish & Chips

First opening its doors in 1987, IKEA Warrington was the retailer’s first store in the UK and has become a favourite shopping and dining location for residents. Having been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands over the last 37 years, the much-loved restaurant required modernising, which has seen features like digital screens and more relaxing seating options introduced for visitors.

The retailer has also opened a new work zone(Image: Darren Robinson Photography)

In addition to the relaxing environment where visitors can rest, recharge and enjoy the retailer’s range of meals, snacks, drinks and desserts, the space also features a children’s seating area. Alongside the front and back of house restaurant refurbishment, the retailer has also opened a new co-worker restaurant in the store.

Kim Prior, market manager at IKEA Warrington said: “The renovation of IKEA Warrington’s restaurant marks an exciting new chapter – not only are we able to welcome back visitors to enjoy the IKEA classics loved by many, but we’re seeing the rejuvenation of a key community meeting space.

The revamped restaurant(Image: Darren Robinson Photography)

“Whether you’re coming in for our plant balls, affordable children’s meals or a coffee and a sweet treat for a traditional Swedish ‘fika’ break, we’re excited to welcome you.”

The re-opening follows the launch of IKEA’s first standalone high street restaurant which opened in Hammersmith in the autumn.

The IKEA Warrington restaurant is open 9.30am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 9pm Saturdays and 9.30 to 4.30pm on Sundays.