Going to the cafeteria section of IKEA is always the highlight of our furniture excursions. Chowing down on some meatballs slathered in gravy and partaking in some smoked salmon was always a pleasant way to start or end an exhausting day of furniture shopping.

It looks like IKEA has heard our satisfied sighs after such meals, because they're seriously thinking about opening a stand-alone restaurant devoted solely to the food.

Fast Company reports that the company is taking a look at all the things that work within their food business and actively communicating with a salmon farm in Norway to see if a restaurant concept could work for them.

Because of IKEA's booming furniture sales numbers, how much they made in the food sector remained unnoticed until they compared their earnings to other restaurants. In 2013, IKEA reported $1.5 billion in annual food sales.

Wonder if a stand-alone restaurant serving IKEA food would affect their furniture sales?

We've been guilty on more than one occasion of gorging on the company's cafeteria food and then just walking it off in the store. Furniture may or may not have been purchased through these trips.

Photo: IKEA