Well at least one of the promises of the local politicians happened in the fact that the long awaited Aldi’s is actually opening tomorrow. (every time somethings a announced there’s a 80/20 chance it wont happen )
Having only been in one once back east when I was 14 to get soda for a family reunion I went back to appear in I don’t know a whole a lot about them …
So whats good bad or meh …?
Cash or debit cards, no credit cards.
It’s cheap.
That’s about it. We have one and I can’t be bothered to shop there for anything.
I like Aldi for certain things. Nuts, salad, chips are all good. It’s the best deal around on ground turkey. A lot of the cheeses are good and offered at a value. I prefer the Vie sparkling grapefruit water to La Croix and it’s a buck less. Some of the frozen pastas are good, some of the seafood ones are great. The frozen mussels are a steal.
They do accept major credit cards now.
Bring bags, though!
ETA: Bring a quarter if you want to use a cart, too!
I’ve always wondered why so many people insist on sticking an ‘s’ on the end of company names that don’t end in ‘s’.
Anyway, we’ve had an Aldi where I live for at least 13 years. It’s OK, but nothing to write home to mom about. Some of their prices are a little lower than the proper grocery stores, but not enough to be worth driving across town. Plus, the layout makes if feel like you’ve somehow gotten into the stockroom and you’ll be thrown out if you get caught.
Pretty much everything is a store brand, and selection is generally one variety, one size.
But if they have what you want, the price is low and the quality is almost always as good.
I shop there, but I always have to supplement with trips to other stores.
They’ll give you your quarter back when you return the cart to its proper place.
Yes.
And there’s a friendly little ritual that goes on in the parking lot: If you have just arrived and you see someone who has just finished unloading their cart, hand them the quarter and take their cart. Otherwise, you’ll have to go to the cart stand and put a quarter (cash only, quarters only) into the slot and get a cart. When you are done shopping, you either sell your cart to someone in the parking lot or you push it back to the stand to get your quarter back.
Stopped at the one in town today. Had Coke 2L for . 99 each. But no Coke Zero, only regular or diet. Wasted trip, not impressed.
GaryM
Just been to our nearest a few hours ago for a small black ceramic heater, but they were sold out. They have very good quality stuff, and their food is as good as any others.
Certainly cheaper, and the German no-frill approach > stack items up with the prices above is a welcome change; and people here go because the prices are lower. And yet they pay staff adequately: starting £8.40 an hour whereas busdrivers here get £8.03 an hour.
From previous threads here and elsewhere Aldis in America have two different systems, chains ? distributions ?, *not connected with the two separate Aldis both operating in America, Aldi Nord as Trader Joes, and Aldi *Süd as Aldi. One seems to be only adequate, the other as good as in Germany or Ireland. Or nearly so. *
I don’t care for sweetmeats, so these things aren’t interesting to me,
Weihnachten (Christmas) treats! Nearly every standard sugary German Christmas delight waited patiently, calling my name, begging to be bought. At the end of the display, I spotted our family’s absolute favorite – Spekulatius cookies.
But they do have a lot of interesting items…
It may come down to different shopping expectations between America, which already has massive choice, including Walmart, and continental views.
Cons: shopping there made me feel poor
Pros: Moser Roth chocolate bars, especially the 85%.
For anything you can get there, their everyday price is about the same or a bit better than everyone else’s sales. The only drawback is that the selection is small. There’s one or at most two brands of everything available, mostly store brands, there’s nothing very exotic, and some items are only available some times of year (for instance, you can only get hot cocoa in the fall and winter).
I do almost all of my shopping there (it helps that there’s one only a couple of blocks away), with a trip to Giant Eagle maybe every couple of months for fancy tea (Aldi’s brand is much cheaper and still pretty good, but I splurge), Life cereal, frozen bread dough, and Bertman’s mustard. Everything else, I can get at Aldi.
They’re really good for staple items-salt, flour, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, etc.
You haven’t been to one this year, I see. 
I don’t really see many cons. I had one less than 100 yards from my house as the crow flies for many, many years, but never went into it until I met my girlfriend/now-wife who was an Aldi fan. And you know what? I was a fucking idiot for never going in there. It’s fantastic for staples. Beyond D’Anconia’s specific suggestions, stuff like nuts, dried fruit, and general baking items is cheaper than pretty much anywhere else around here, and of very good quality.
Also, I like their random European products. They usually have some cheeses and sausages that are delicious, as well as various canned items and delicious chocolates. I’ve never purchased anything there and was disappointed with it.
It’s not a place I do my day-to-day shopping at, but it is a place I stock up for pantry items and snacks at. Plus I can usually find a good “Manager’s special” 1/2 off or $2 off in the meat section that is worth the money. We probably go there once every two weeks, while I shop at the regular grocery store about four times a week. (I tend to shop for a day or two at a time.)
I have one within walking distance of my house that’s been there for about 10 years. I think I’ve been there twice. It’d probably be great if I was trying to feed a large family or was on a tight budget but with just 3 of us I don’t mind the extra expense to have a large clean store with a large selection.
It’s the grocery store closest to my Kansas City apartment. Not everything they have is good - generally, the more complex the item, the less reliable. For instance, their cheese is excellent, but their soups vary widely in quality. Their ground beef is perfectly fine, and I’ve gotten excellent steaks - and terrible ones. You can pretty much be sure they will have the best price on a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk. Their chocolate is amazing!
They have items imported from Germany that are either being sold to German expatriates, or management just doesn’t understand that spatzel is just not a big part of the average American’s diet.
One of my favorite items is a juice drink sweetened with Splenda, available in lemon, mango, cranberry and pink lemonade - $.59 for a liter! As someone mentioned in an earlier thread, their house brand SPAM equivalent is actually better then SPAM.
The oddest part of the chain is one half of an entire isle is devoted to non-food items that are there for limited time. I bought a toaster oven for $19. You have to check constantly, because they’ll get an item in, sell it out in a week, then won’t bring it back for a year, if ever.
All of their chocolate is top notch and it is right inside the door. The Choceur brand is their captive import, European chocolate. And they do hazelnuts in many different bars, absolutely first rate. The Asian markets around here buy the Choceur bars at Aldi and resell them!
https://www.aldi.com.au/en/groceries/chocolate/
Their maple syrup is cheaper then the cheapest fake stuff elsewhere. Jars of olives, marinated artichokes, dirt cheap.
Dennis
Here is what to buy there:
Chips
Their brand of SPAM, which is cheaper and better than SPAM.
Milk is only $1.19 a gallon
Swiss rolls - better than hostess or other name brands and only 89 cents for a box
Bread
Bagels
Pizza(the bake yourself ones, not frozen)
Eggs(40 cents a dozen sometimes)
Mac N’Cheese - Aldi brand is the best in the business(33 cents a box)
They take credit cards.
Oh yeah! Their equivalent of the Little Debby “Nutty Buddy” is excellent and cheap as well.
I’ll have to try that.
That’s gonna vary tremendously by region. I went in the other day and it was just under $3. I was at my local supermarket and was like, fuck no I ain’t paying $3.49 a gallon, and then I went to Aldi where it was only marginally cheaper. I don’t ever remember seeing it as cheap as $1.19 here in Chicago. And the eggs are dirt cheap at times, but 40 cents a dozen?! Holy shit. I think 59 or 69 cents is the cheapest I’ve seen 'em. Typically more like 99 cents to 1.19 a dozen.
Oh, and if you’re into snacks (and I’m generally not except for a few things here and there), their Millville sweet & salty cashew bars are just about my favorite thing ever. For the longest time, my store would just stock the almond and peanut kinds and once every dozen visits, I might find one or two stray cashew boxes scattered within. It was like striking gold when I found them, and just stocked up on as many as I could. Now, over the last few months, they’ve finally gotten a steady stock of them, so I don’t have to hoard them. And the pretzel and almond bars are pretty good, too. But those cashew bars, man.