Breakfast Gone Bad

I had originally planned on posting a rave about L.A.'s best breakfast deal: The $1.99 steal at IKEA. Yes, IKEA. Fluffy eggs, homestyle potatoes, bacon, a Swedish crepe with lingonberry jam and a refillable mug of coffee -- not bad.

Maria's brother Jason and wife Sherry first tipped us to the deal -- and we hit the spot several Saturday mornings, particularly as we were purchasing our kitchen cabinets. We even turned several others on to the IKEA secret.

So how disappointed were we a few weekends ago, when we made our first Saturday morning breakfast stop in a while at IKEA. The Swedish crepes? Gone. Replaced by cold pancakes -- and not even the guilty-pleasure-McDonald's variety. Homestyle potatoes? Replaced by tatertots, straight out of the frozen foods aisle. Eggs and bacon? Still there, but not as fluffy -- and pretty much an afterthought at this point.

The old IKEA breakfast was a simple pleasure, yet surprisingly unique for $1.99. Now the IKEA breakfast is as rote as a "Billy" bookcase. Nevermind.