IKEA Crayfish Party Review

Every year in August, IKEA hosts a crayfish party at their U.S. locations to honor their Swedish heritage. Crayfish (also known as crawfish or craw daddy) parties are common in Sweden during August.

I went to the IKEA Brooklyn store once a few years ago and decided it would be fun to go back last Friday for a different experience. IKEA crayfish party admission was priced at $2.49 for children 12 and under and $9.99 for adult. Tickets had to be purchased in advance.

We decided to take the Water Taxi from South Street in Lower Manhattan over to the IKEA Brooklyn location. The tickets were $5 per adult but children were free.

Boarding the Water Taxi was easy. We found seats by the windows for the kids and we sat in the middle area. 15 minutes later the boat arrived at IKEA Brooklyn. A quick walk through the parking lot and up the escalator led us to the IKEA restaurant. The line to get into the crayfish party was already very long but moved quickly.

A quick stamp of our hands and we were in the buffet line. The crayfish party was a buffet style dinner of crayfish (a freshwater relative to lobsters), Swedish meatballs, boiled white and red potatoes, ham, cucumber salad, Lox, deviled eggs with shrimp, cookies and cake.

There was also a live band entertaining guests with Swedish and American tunes. Lanterns decorated the ceilings and party guests donned bibs and party hats.

There were ample pamphlets to show how to eat a crayfish and ways to have a crayfish party at home. I liked when the band came over to our area of the restaurant and sang Take Me Out to IKEA with the party guests next to us. It was a fun atmosphere and lively way to have dinner at the end of the week.

After we left the crayfish party we walked through the store and then shopped in the Market Place. There was a mention that our Water Taxi ticket could be used for credit towards shopping at IKEA but the cashier later told us that wasn’t the case. We didn’t go there specifically to shop so it wasn’t a disappointment for us.

We left with quite a few goodies and laughed at the idea of eating some of the things on a regular basis. Crab spread anyone?

Although IKEA only has their Crayfish Party once a year they have buffet style events four times a year. Visit the IKEA website to find out about all of the parties.