Opinions on Aldi?

bermudamel

I love Aldi! I can shop there for 1/2 of what I pay at my Stop and Shop. Plus I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, they seem to carry a lot of gluten free items in the store.

XXXMinnieXXX

Love it. Amazing store. Much cheaper. Can't get everything but get most of my shopping there. Great if you love to cook from scratch like me :-)

aldousmom

We don't have an Aldi's in my area (South Mississippi). We do however have Sav-a-Lot, which seems to be much the same thing. I love shopping there, as we have a tight budget. All the off-brand things, except the cheese, have been okay. The only thing I didn't like about the cheese was that it was a strange, neon shade of orange.

Sav-a-lot is nothing like Aldi. Aldi's own brand of stuff is gourmet quality, it's not "off-brand", or a lower quality, cheaper, poor imitation of name brand. I've shopped both pretty thoroughly.

helpthepiggys

I shop at Aldi all the time. The prices are very good. I always buy frute and vegtibles there and the dairy is very good too.
Not a fan of the meat unless it's chicken. You should check it out!

tuiccim

Love Aldi (Atlanta, GA, USA.) The have a light brand called Fit & Active and it is mostly very good. Great for produce (but can be hit or miss on lasting more than a few days.) They have cheeses at a very good price. I buy all my staple items here. Also, their chicken is named Kirkland, but is produced by Tyson. They do some 90 calorie fiber bars that I love (chocolate chunk and peanut.)

Just try it, if you like it great, if not then don't go back.

Tips: Make sure you have a quarter for a shopping cart. Bring your own bags (they don't provide any, but you can buy some.) They do NOT accept Credit cards, they do accept Cash, debit, and EBT.

They do get Branded items occasionally (mine currently has a bunch of Skinny Cow products.)

mmckee10

I love Aldi! I can get most of my groceries for the month at half the price!!! I fill up the cart for around $100.00 instead of around $200+ at wal-mart.

donna_glasgow

Great prices, but I find that I have to eat the produce I buy there rather quickly, or it'll go bad fast.

exactly this ...

we shop in aldi if we are doing a major cook in that day or the next ... their fresh produce goes off very quickly .... we don't buy meat there.

AmyMgetsfit

I love their toy prices at Christmas. Their seasonal baking items is pretty awesome. I found some darling Easter sprinkles last year for pretty cheap.

REDI4CHANGE60

I have been once and felt like it was a wasted trip. I live in a 'metroplex' area, so have a great choice of stores ... when Aldi opened, I was excited, as they had been really advertising for the Grand Opening here in Texas. I walked the entire store and bought one item - I don't have to have name brand, but to have NO name brand items in the store? Ok, I didn't do my research. Also, there was almost NO produce available ... tiny produce section. Anyway, I won't waste my time again. (Wonder if it will go the way of Food Lion after the chicken scandal??)

jmp1031

You definitely have to be a label reader when you shop there. High fructose corn syrup is in so many of the things they carry as well as other harmful preservatives (BHT). But if you take you time and read what you're buying, you can definitely find some great deals. The ones here (Illinois) have started carrying some organic items as well, mostly pasta sauces, canned tomatoes and cereals. You never know what you're going to find there. Worth a trip to check it out I'd say.

MoniMoni2u

My aldi's list includes:
Chips (for the family)
green & black olives
banana pepper rings
salt/pepper/spices
flour, sugar, brown sugar (we don't go through much sugar)
canned pineapple & mandarin oranges
canned green beans, beets, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce & tomato paste (fire roasted tomatoes when they have them)
Canned beans (black, kidney, great northern) and garbanzos when they carry
Canned tuna (the more expensive stuff there) and canned salmon
L/F chicken broth
Block cheeses (swiss, monteray jack, cheddar, colby jack, mozzarella)
Low fat cottage cheese
Low fat sour cream
eggs

Frozen veggies
Frozen fish (salmon, talapia, shrimp) I get all of our frozen fish here
Frozen whole chickens
100% grape juice concentrate
Frozen fruit
Keep the $1 pizzas in the freezer for the kiddos.

Veggies (Very picky) Can almost always pick up carrots, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cabbage & lettuce/spinach and sweet peppers
Can normally pick up potatoes & squash (zuchini and yellow summer)
Sometimes eggplant, avacados,
Fruit...sometimes grapes, apples, bananas, pineapple, strawberries (in season only)

I cook...don't eat a lot of processed stuff but I do fill in with some canned stuff. I start at Aldi's and get what I can for fresh and then fill in at another grocery.

Meat, I'm particular on. I get my beef from a local farmer. Chicken breasts I get on sale for a very good price at a local grocery. Other chicken products I get at Sam's club their "natural" stuff.

You have to get past the whole "NO NAME BRANDS" thing...then again, I made the choice to get over it 18 years ago when I decided to stay at home with my kiddos...Hmmmmmmm...name brand veggies/beans or stay at home with my kids? Yep, I chose my kids and to pocket the money! LOL

ETA that Aldi's is 1/2 block away from Super Wal-Mart & Sam's Club. Very easy to run in there first, get when I can and then go directly to one of the others and pick up the rest.

BTW, I NEVER buy meat that is in a container that has a lot of "dead air" space...I cant' stand whatever it is they fill that space with to keep the meat pink...not just at Aldi's but Wal-Mart/Sam's club too. YUCK.

wikitbikit

I was not terrifically impressed when I checked them out several years ago, but maybe I'll give it a try again. We do most of our fresh food shopping at Costco and I'm generally quite pleased with the quality.

girllovedcupcakes

I love my Aldi! Maybe the stores vary by region but in Missouri they always have fresh produce and it lasts longer than other grocery stores for me. In the last few weeks I was able to get strawberries 99c lb, blueberries for $2, Pineapple for $1.50, and today I got 3 bell peppers for only $1.

bhalter

I only just started going to Aldi's last year, but really like it. They built a new one in our town, and it's right across the street from Wal-Mart. I typically go to Aldi's first and try to get everything on my list, and then run into Wal-Mart afterwards for a few things Aldi's may have not had or were out of.

I actually still have my receipt with me, so here's what I purchased for this week:

100-calorie whole-grain sandwich thins, hamburger buns, bread, green beans, pasta sauce, organic canned tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese & colby jack cheese, bagged spinach, bananas, biscuits, orange juice, eggs, vegetable stock, cauliflower, and grape tomatoes.

They often have name-brand products too, so I also grabbed Fage Greek yogurt, Bolthouse Farms baby carrots, Mini Babybel cheese, and Uncle Ben's rice.

All of that for $42! (With several multiples of some of them.) I like their Fit & Active line, they have great lunchbox snacks for my daughter, I like that it is small and usually not crowded. I keep a quarter in my car just for Aldi's, so that makes it easy, and I don't mind using our own bags.

We just had a blizzard roll through, so their stock was low because they missed their delivery, so I had to pick up my meats from Wal-Mart, along with some random items I couldn't find at Aldi's (marshmallow fluff, etc.)

Dolci07

I adore Aldis Their produce is good if you plan on using it the same day but it spoils pretty fast. If you buy produce for dinner that night you will be fine, and MAYBE the day after.