You're This Much Closer To Eating Ikea's Swedish Meatballs

By next summer, shoppers will be carting Billy bookcases and Kallax shelving units to their vehicles to drive them home to build instead of flipping through the Ikea catalog, dreaming of home improvements. Now Ikea is taking shape with its steel frames in place and those iconic blue panels are starting to wrap the 351,000-square-foot store and 215 Beltway at Durango Drive near Sunset Road. That means Swedish meatball and lingonberry dreams are that much closer to coming true at the 450-seat restaurant.

“Installing the blue panels is a construction milestone that ensures the store will open summer 2016, and it reflects the unique architectural design for which Ikea stores are known worldwide,” Ikea says in a press statement.

Ikea made many dreams come true when it announced plans to open its very first location in Las Vegas last year in July.

The two-story building will feature 242,911 square feet of retail on the ground floor and 108,187 square feet on the upper level. Included will be 16,350 square feet of Swedish-inspired dining in a restaurant with room to seat 450. That makes the footprint of the dining room bigger than 1OAK Nightclub at the Mirage.

Meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates have already been promised for the menu. For take-home dining, a 1,200-square-foot convenience store will offer frozen meat, fish, seafood and easy to prepare dishes alongside Nordic-inspired desserts, candy, sauces and condiments.

Also promised, "10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room settings" and three model home interiors to help inspire you.

Once completed next summer, Ikea already has plans to open an additional 63,987 square feet of shopping. That includes 49,722-square-foot downstairs and 14,265-square-foot up top, ultimately making Las Vegas at 415,085 square feet equal in size to the second largest Ikea in the country.

Carry on.