dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Dec 19, 2017 14:54:26 GMT -5
An Aldi recently opened nearby. What is Aldi like? Is it good? Will I like it?
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Virgil Showlion
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Post by Virgil Showlion on Dec 19, 2017 14:57:55 GMT -5
Is that Aldo's evil twin?
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WholeLottaNothin
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Post by WholeLottaNothin on Dec 19, 2017 14:59:38 GMT -5
Tagging Sam_2.0 (or attempting to)
Depends on what you're after. It doesn't have as much variety as a regular grocery store, but the prices are better. They recently remodeled the one by me, and I haven't been there yet since they have, so I can't speak to what an up to date one looks like inside.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Dec 19, 2017 15:21:25 GMT -5
they opened one in my town a couple of months ago and I go there for pretty much all my staples. It has less selection of things (1 brand of oat cereal/sugar/chips/etc), but the prices and quality can't be beat. You have to bring your own bags. The only thing is that they don't have a lot of specialty items (tahini) and sometimes the meat and produce selection is a bit limited. But most times I can make Aldi my only grocery stop. On Sunday they had 1/2 price 90% lean ground beef that had to be used or frozen by Monday so I got about 5 lbs and separated/froze them into ~1 lb portions.... so under $10 for about 5 lbs of beef (will last at least a few weeks). I like it - it suits my needs.
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dee27
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Post by dee27 on Dec 19, 2017 15:25:46 GMT -5
If you want a good selection of fresh produce, Aldi will disappoint. The prices on dairy are decent, and most of their canned/boxed brands are fine, but there is nothing in the frozen section that I would buy. The store nearby is often understaffed with only 1 or 2 checkouts open.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Dec 19, 2017 15:42:06 GMT -5
I haven't been to one in the U.S. only when we lived in Germany. It's a deep discount no frills market. We would shop there every few weeks and stock up on certain staples but didn't go out of our way to shop there because we had two markets within walking distance of our house. Since we had to drive to shop there we found parking a problem since there was only street parking.
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ken a.k.a OMK
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Dec 19, 2017 15:42:31 GMT -5
I believe you have to insert a quarter to get a cart. You get it back when you return the cart. Their way of not having carts all over the parking lot. Some people are so lazy.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Dec 19, 2017 15:55:01 GMT -5
Aldi is my main grocery store, if I can get everything I need there, I don't bother going in Tops at all (maybe just to cherry-pick a loss leader). But I buy basic staples and generally cook from scratch, I don't slavishly buy name brand processed stuff.
It's a nice, small store, quickly and easily navigated (no free-standing displays clogging up the aisles, no millions of versions of cereal). There's a mix of everyday staples and weekly specialty items (often seasonal non-food like Christmas gifts, socks, bathroom racks, baking supplies, small appliances, etc.).
Sometimes their quality is inconsistent, but generally items are quite good. Most things are their house brand, but there's a few name brand items.
Bring a quarter to release a cart (you get it back when you return the cart), your own bags (or pay for them, or use an emptied box), and plan to bag your items at the end.
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chapeau
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Post by chapeau on Dec 19, 2017 16:02:52 GMT -5
The produce at the ones near me is generally excellent, much better prices and at least slightly better quality than the local high priced grocery store. I also do the majority of my shopping there, but since the three near me are all a bit out of the way, I grab milk and fill-ins elsewhere. I was just at Aldi during lunch today, grabbed $20 worth of stuff, including fresh mozzarella, feta, bagged spinach, and prepared hummus. DH or I go to Aldi every two or three weeks for staples and produce, then fill in at a closer store. I have several friends who live close to a very nice Aldi who do all of their shopping there. Despite being near 3 of them, it’s at least a 20 minute drive each way from home or office, so we don’t shop there exclusively.
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Dec 19, 2017 16:04:27 GMT -5
I do the nulk of my grocery shopping there. I get everything except produce there. There's nothing wrong with it, I just like Sprouts better for produce.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Dec 19, 2017 16:13:07 GMT -5
Aldi is my main grocery store, if I can get everything I need there, I don't bother going in Tops at all (maybe just to cherry-pick a loss leader). But I buy basic staples and generally cook from scratch, I don't slavishly buy name brand processed stuff. It's a nice, small store, quickly and easily navigated (no free-standing displays clogging up the aisles, no millions of versions of cereal). There's a mix of everyday staples and weekly specialty items (often seasonal non-food like Christmas gifts, socks, bathroom racks, baking supplies, small appliances, etc.). Sometimes their quality is inconsistent, but generally items are quite good. Most things are their house brand, but there's a few name brand items. Bring a quarter to release a cart (you get it back when you return the cart), your own bags (or pay for them, or use an emptied box), and plan to bag your items at the end. This. I shop at Aldi for staples and chocolate. I love their chocolate. I have found their produce to be inconsistent too. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s not. I bought blackberries there last week and they were much sweeter than the ones I’ve gotten at the other stores lately.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Dec 19, 2017 16:50:23 GMT -5
Cool! It sounds like Aldi is worth a try. I will check it out after the holidays. We also just got a Sprouts, so that sounds like a good thing, too.
Now, if they would just put a Panera at this end of Rt. 40, all of my food requirements could be met in the (relatively) immediate neighborhood.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and tips for Aldi's. I had heard of it, but the only one I knew of was far away so I had never sampled it. My bad knees like the idea of a smaller store. Now, if their prepared hummus is made without cumin, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. (I cannot abide cumin, and many prepared hummus products contain cumin. It makes me sad.)
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Dec 19, 2017 17:03:36 GMT -5
I'm a big fan like the others here, I have one really close by. For what they have it is usually good quality and great price. But I rarely can get everything I want there.
You just have to get used to their process (quarter for cart, bring your bags). But they will sell you bags if you need them. It is pretty easy to spot a newbie with the carts or checkout.
They also have limited hours. Mine just changed from 10am Sunday open to 9am, which made me happy since I am early morning weekend shopper. I go to Aldi first then to Walmart for the rest.
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Value Buy
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Post by Value Buy on Dec 19, 2017 18:13:01 GMT -5
An Aldi recently opened nearby. What is Aldi like? Is it good? Will I like it? Try it out. Milk is usually under $2 a gallon, (month ago, $1.69 a gallon, large eggs anywhere from 69 cents, limit six, there breads are usually ok, bananas are cheap, head lettuce $.99 and lots of specialty salad lettuces, and any basic item is about as good flavor wise as your major brands. They have started expanding their organic lines, and seem good also. We seem to skip the cleaning supplies for whatever reason, so not sure about them. Lots of non known six pk beers, some very good, and good cheap wines, if you are not a person who wants to spend $15 on a bottle....... Our local newspaper in Indiana has even had a peel off $5 off coupon on a $30 purchase about every three weeks on the front page making them a real bargain. We had one open in Cape Coral this year, and even Wal Mart had to lower their milk prices over a $1.50 a gallon Checking out might be tight, but it goes a heck of a lot faster than at our local WMT or grocery stores.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Dec 19, 2017 18:16:08 GMT -5
You just have to get used to their process (quarter for cart, bring your bags). But they will sell you bags if you need them. It is pretty easy to spot a newbie with the carts or checkout. This is common throughout Europe only it's a Euro coin (just over $1) so you can bet they get their carts back!
Almost all of CA bans the "free" plastic bags so we're used to it here. They will charge you for a thicker reusable bag if you forget your bags <sigh>. At least fewer of them seem to be littering the freeways.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Dec 19, 2017 18:20:44 GMT -5
It’s the go to place for food bank supplies unless Publix is having bogos
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Value Buy
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Post by Value Buy on Dec 19, 2017 18:22:33 GMT -5
You just have to get used to their process (quarter for cart, bring your bags). But they will sell you bags if you need them. It is pretty easy to spot a newbie with the carts or checkout. This is common throughout Europe only it's a Euro coin (just over $1) so you can bet they get their carts back!
Almost all of CA bans the "free" plastic bags so we're used to it here. They will charge you for a thicker reusable bag if you forget your bags <sigh>. At least fewer of them seem to be littering the freeways.
It seems like every time it is windy, I have to make a trip through the yard picking up plastic bags caught in the bushes and spruce trees. We never use to use the cloth bags, but we do now. Our garbage pick up does not pick up plastic bags for recycling, and I was tired of storing them in the garage, forgetting to take them back and building a gigantic ball of them.....
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Happy prose
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Post by Happy prose on Dec 19, 2017 18:27:25 GMT -5
Aldi is the best. I only go to the regular supermarket for coupon items now. I get my oats, yogurts, coffee, paper products, most produce, tortilla chips, salsa, cheeses, spices, etc there. And the middle aisle is great. That's where they sell non food special items. I got an enamal coated cast iron 6qt pot for $30, a set of 3kettle bells for $20, and a bunch of other stuff. But if you like it when you see it, buy it, because it won't be there again.
It did take me a while before I liked it. The first time I went I thought it was a junk store. Little by little I discovered more items that were great.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Dec 19, 2017 18:30:24 GMT -5
An Aldi recently opened nearby. What is Aldi like? Is it good? Will I like it? Try it out. Milk is usually under $2 a gallon, (month ago, $1.69 a gallon, large eggs anywhere from 69 cents, limit six, there breads are usually ok, bananas are cheap, head lettuce $.99 and lots of specialty salad lettuces, and any basic item is about as good flavor wise as your major brands. They have started expanding their organic lines, and seem good also. We seem to skip the cleaning supplies for whatever reason, so not sure about them. Lots of non known six pk beers, some very good, and good cheap wines, if you are not a person who wants to spend $15 on a bottle.......Our local newspaper in Indiana has even had a peel off $5 off coupon on a $30 purchase about every three weeks on the front page making them a real bargain. We had one open in Cape Coral this year, and even Wal Mart had to lower their milk prices over a $1.50 a gallon Checking out might be tight, but it goes a heck of a lot faster than at our local WMT or grocery stores. Sadly, here in Maryland, grocery stores are not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages. The liquor stores maintain a stranglehold on the lucrative wine, beer, and spirits business and have many friends in the state government, so we doubt that we will ever be able to purchase the reasonably priced alcoholic beverages we hear other people can get at places like Trader Joe's, Costco, and now, apparently, Aldi. This is a sad thing. (Not as sad as cumin in hummus, but still sad.)
I will definitely be checking out our new Aldi as soon as the holiday hysteria dies down.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2017 18:31:40 GMT -5
The remodeled ones are much better than the originals, the produce at mine is fine. I appreciate their costs savings they pass onto the customer, from offering few selections to putting boxes straight on the floor to the quarters in the cart to paying for bags. All of it with cost savings in mind.
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Value Buy
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Post by Value Buy on Dec 19, 2017 18:35:56 GMT -5
Biggest problem with Aldi, at least for me, they keep adding more stupid non food stuff. Even their circulars have more "non food general stuff" than groceries some weeks. Fortunately, they do not carry health and beauty items yet!
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on Dec 19, 2017 18:40:49 GMT -5
I believe you have to insert a quarter to get a cart. You get it back when you return the cart. Their way of not having carts all over the parking lot. Some people are so lazy. At my local Kroger several months ago, I saw a woman roll an old tire into the cart corral because she needed more room in her car's trunk for her groceries. She then left her empty cart in an ampty psrking spot.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Dec 19, 2017 18:55:45 GMT -5
An Aldi recently opened nearby. What is Aldi like? Is it good? Will I like it? It depends. My Aldi has a great produce section - because it moves quickly and is quickly restocked. The owner? of my Aldi also listens to the customers and tries to keep produce that flies off the shelf/bin/fridge in stock.. but I'm not sure in how much say each store has on what products/how much products they get. The two other nearby Aldi's I've been in (a couple of suburbs over) have TERRIBLE produce sections (almost scary) and I'm assuming you'd get ptomaine poisoning if you were to buy and eat any of it.
Be sure to check out the eggs and dairy sections. Aldi has heavy whipping crème for example! And all the standbys (milk, 1/2 and 1/2, yogurts, cream cheese, sour cream, even soy milk, almond milk and lactose free milk). Generally any "basic" dairy product is fine and less expensive than other stores. I like Aldi's plain 0% fat greek yogurt - but do not care for the flavored yougurt cups. You have to try somethings to see if you like them or not. Their cream cheese and sour cream and butter is 100% fine. They even have Kerigold butter if you like that.
Try their fancy cheeses... the regular cheddar/swiss/etc slices/blocks are so-so (a lot like Kraft) - but the Kerigold or other Aldi 'gourmet' cheeses are awesome. Their crackers and cereals and breads are good too (and less than the local grocery). The baking staples (flour, sugar, oils, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar, powdered sugar, etc) are perfect and a lot less expensive. Love their Box Brownie mix and bagged nuts (pecans, walnuts, sliced almonds). their cocoa powder is fine too. Didn't care for their pudding and jello mixex (i'm a Jello brand name kinda girl). Their croutons and chips/pretzels were fine too.
I like their canned chickpeas (for making hummus) and refried beans.
I don't buy much meat so I don't have an opinion on Aldi's offerings. Their frozen veggies are tasty and their whipped topping tub is ALWAYS less expensive than the local groceries. I also discovered the Cheese HomeRunInn pizzas - which are great when you add your own toppings (I like mine with tomatoes, basil or spinach, and garlic. and then alittle extra cheese - parmesan or goat... basically whatever odds and ends of stuff I have goes on top of the pizza).
Go in with an open mind and a sense of adventure and try some of the products - decide that it's ok to not like some of them - it doesn't mean everything in the store is bad.
Here's a little secret - some of the Aldi products are actually Trader Joe products just relabeled (and sometimes alittle less expensive).
Take a quarter (to get a cart) and your shopping bags and have fun.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Dec 19, 2017 19:01:40 GMT -5
FWIW: friends and I did a taste test of assorted things - Aldi Faux triskets and Faux wheat thins. Aldi goat cheese. Aldi frozen veggies (broccoli cuts and greenbeans) and Aldi Faux Cool Whip... and no one could tell the difference. And the prices for those products were dramatically lower than at the Big Name grocery store. Aldi is also nice for us singletons. Some of the package sizing is smaller (and less cost) which is nice when you only want 2 or 3 servings of something versus 4 or 8 servings.
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Tiny
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Post by Tiny on Dec 19, 2017 19:04:56 GMT -5
Cool! It sounds like Aldi is worth a try. I will check it out after the holidays. We also just got a Sprouts, so that sounds like a good thing, too.
Now, if they would just put a Panera at this end of Rt. 40, all of my food requirements could be met in the (relatively) immediate neighborhood.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and tips for Aldi's. I had heard of it, but the only one I knew of was far away so I had never sampled it. My bad knees like the idea of a smaller store. Now, if their prepared hummus is made without cumin, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. (I cannot abide cumin, and many prepared hummus products contain cumin. It makes me sad.) Go now and see if you can still get their specialty cookies and crackers that are only available at Christmas. There's almond windmills and butter cookies and rosemary crackers (and original plain ones) and gingerbread and stolens.... This stuff sells out quick at my Aldi. The same with the specialty cheeses... there's brie and gouda and all sorts of only available until it's gone stuff.
OH!! I also scored a frozen leg of lamb (marinaded with wine and rosemary) these bad boys are only available at Christmas and there's not a lot of them. A little pricey but very good. And the Shrimp rings... totally get one for your holiday get together.
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chapeau
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Post by chapeau on Dec 19, 2017 19:41:20 GMT -5
And the cranberry white cheddar cheese! I’m trying to save the one I got for a party I’m hosting. But I don’t know why—that means I have to share it with my guests!
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Dec 19, 2017 19:56:37 GMT -5
It all depends on the area. The one in Reisterstown was flat out scary. Germantown was fine but it's right by Wegmans so why bother? I go in now and then when the ads catch my attention. Produce I don't buy unless I plan to use it immediately like for a party or tailgate.
I have lots of food allergies so some of their processed food has things I'm allergic to. I feel I do well enough shopping the sales and stocking up.
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Happy prose
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Post by Happy prose on Dec 19, 2017 20:08:06 GMT -5
Biggest problem with Aldi, at least for me, they keep adding more stupid non food stuff. Even their circulars have more "non food general stuff" than groceries some weeks. Fortunately, they do not carry health and beauty items yet! My store does carry health and beauty items, but they're more expensive than the regular supermarket. Small selection also.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Dec 19, 2017 20:12:34 GMT -5
An Aldi recently opened nearby. What is Aldi like? Is it good? Will I like it? It depends. My Aldi has a great produce section - because it moves quickly and is quickly restocked. The owner? of my Aldi also listens to the customers and tries to keep produce that flies off the shelf/bin/fridge in stock.. but I'm not sure in how much say each store has on what products/how much products they get. The two other nearby Aldi's I've been in (a couple of suburbs over) have TERRIBLE produce sections (almost scary) and I'm assuming you'd get ptomaine poisoning if you were to buy and eat any of it.
Be sure to check out the eggs and dairy sections. Aldi has heavy whipping crème for example! And all the standbys (milk, 1/2 and 1/2, yogurts, cream cheese, sour cream, even soy milk, almond milk and lactose free milk). Generally any "basic" dairy product is fine and less expensive than other stores. I like Aldi's plain 0% fat greek yogurt - but do not care for the flavored yougurt cups. You have to try somethings to see if you like them or not. Their cream cheese and sour cream and butter is 100% fine. They even have Kerigold butter if you like that.
Try their fancy cheeses... the regular cheddar/swiss/etc slices/blocks are so-so (a lot like Kraft) - but the Kerigold or other Aldi 'gourmet' cheeses are awesome. Their crackers and cereals and breads are good too (and less than the local grocery). The baking staples (flour, sugar, oils, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar, powdered sugar, etc) are perfect and a lot less expensive. Love their Box Brownie mix and bagged nuts (pecans, walnuts, sliced almonds). their cocoa powder is fine too. Didn't care for their pudding and jello mixex (i'm a Jello brand name kinda girl). Their croutons and chips/pretzels were fine too.
I like their canned chickpeas (for making hummus) and refried beans.
I don't buy much meat so I don't have an opinion on Aldi's offerings. Their frozen veggies are tasty and their whipped topping tub is ALWAYS less expensive than the local groceries. I also discovered the Cheese HomeRunInn pizzas - which are great when you add your own toppings (I like mine with tomatoes, basil or spinach, and garlic. and then alittle extra cheese - parmesan or goat... basically whatever odds and ends of stuff I have goes on top of the pizza).
Go in with an open mind and a sense of adventure and try some of the products - decide that it's ok to not like some of them - it doesn't mean everything in the store is bad.
Here's a little secret - some of the Aldi products are actually Trader Joe products just relabeled (and sometimes alittle less expensive).
Take a quarter (to get a cart) and your shopping bags and have fun.
I love fancy cheeses! And Kerigold is my absolute favorite. I just bought a giant brick of same at Costco today. Also a big fan of chickpeas. Thanks for the recommendations!
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Happy prose
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Post by Happy prose on Dec 19, 2017 20:16:02 GMT -5
Someone mentioned they didn't like the flavored cups of yogurt, but try the toasted coconut vanilla. It's better than ice cream.
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