@CaptAmehrican They used to have a whiskey cheddar from time to time that was absolutely amazing. I check for it every time I’m there, but it’s been a couple years now, so I’m afraid it won’t be back.
I buy all the stuff that I usta buy at Earthfare and Whole Foods. I get steel cut oats, Chia, Organic whole milk yogurt, chopped kale and almond milk They have a trail mix call serenity this is all raw nuts no salt, and cranberries and raisins. Their frozen blueberries are the best I’ve found yet.
@cranky1950 I noticed that there was tons of healthy choices that I love. I noticed a very good selection of gluten free items, I am looking forward to telling my gluten free coworker about it on Monday.
Aldi changes much of their wares on a weekly or monthly basis. My favorite items are usually one time offers. Over the past few months I’ve been able to do 90% of my grocery shopping with Aldi. While cutting my bill by 33% or more.
Today I purchased a single burner butane grill, from Aldi, for $14.99.
@connorbush Nice catch, I’ll have to see if mine still has those burners. Did they have the butane cartridges too? If not, look for local Asian grocery stores. For whatever reasons those stores seem to have stacks of these burners and their fuel available. I guess they’re popular to their main customers. And they are great for power outages or an extra burner while cooking outside.
Aldi tends to cycle things, sometimes a few times a year. They’ll have the heavy German food period 2-3 times a year (at least), they sell a small generator once or twice a year, they get various special ‘organic’ things in periodically. So if you are buying a ‘not always there’ thing and like it, go back and get more if possible. It may come back but it may be a while.
@connorbush I don’t think it has been mentioned yet but they usually have a very long warranty on non-food items. It is usually as long as 5 years! The catch is that you have to keep your receipt so if I have something with a warranty I have that put on a separate receipt.
Refunds on anything - including food items - is really easy but you do need a receipt. Just saying you didn’t like something will get you a refund without any hassle.
The stores do not have phone numbers but if you go on the web site you can email (or call - I think they still have that option) and someone gets back to you pretty quickly.
@PhysAssist I brew my own at home - it’s incredibly easy, and my culture has been working for years. You put the culture in milk and let it sit on the counter.
Try Cultures for Health to get a starter, or look around CL - most homebrewers have an abundance.
@magic_cave It’s been here since last year. South of OP practically next door to the branch of our CU. It’s small, not brightly lit and you have to bring your own bags to bag your groceries. Oh, you’ll need a quarter to rent a shopping cart, too.
I haven’t had the best success with the meats & cheeses, but it does have a pretty darned fine selection of crackers, and other assorted snack items. I just have to figure out a time when it’s not full of ratty kids, and people who have no sense of situational awareness.
@LaVikinga The Spouse (who sends you his greetings) went exploring this morning and discovered that the local Golden Corral [shudder] had moved down the road a bit and the new Aldi’s was ensconced in its place. Didn’t think the building was big enough to handle much merchandise, but apparently it is. We’ll have to make a trip in the next few days and check it out more closely.
@magic_cave My best back to him. Did not realize there were as many here as there are now. Think I might make a run on Monday to see if I can find things we really don’t need.
@magic_cave They don’t carry a lot of options, most if what they carry is a big seller then cases or flats are stacked on pallets. The refrigerator/freezer section uses case racks that are loaded from the inside. usually 2 people per shift run the store. The “punitive” 25cent deposit is there so someone will return the shopping carts so staff does not have to. In all, the staples are there and a few nifty things however, you have to shop elsewhere to round out your larder.
@f00l what’s not to like, small store about the size of a dollar general, low prices on the most commonly used foodstuffs plus low priced interesting special items like pork schnitzel, table wines, junk foods, popular health foods. you move fast. The down side is there is little customer service, you bag your own. Some don’t like, personally saving about 30% on the stuff I buy is worth the grief, there are things I have to buy at walmart or elsewhere. But Aldi sells enough of the stuff that I buy to make it worth the trip plus the cat only likes Aldi or Carnation condensed milk and Aldi is 69 cents for a 12 oz can and carnation is 1.75 and you know whatever my widdle fluffy wants.
@Starblind so guess what? That chocolate you love is made in the good ol U.S.A. Aldi is private label company that has very high standards. The company my wife works for has made chocolate bars for them on and off for 10 years. They are located an hour outside of Philadelphia.
@starblind Doubtful. I’ve become semi-addicted to their Choceur dark chocolate with roasted hazelnuts. Package says “made in Germany” and distributed by Aldi.
I rarely go there. I haven’t had much luck with items I’ve bought except for the chocolate. I only buy produce if I’m going to use it that day. It seems to rot really fast compared to my regular grocery store.
I do like to peruse their random non food items. Sometimes there is good deals there.
@Hopkins3030 except it’s the same brands as the ones I buy. The strawberries come from the same plant in Florida (where I live) yet are rotten the next day. Everyone I talk to locally has the same complaint here. It’s fine if you’re going to use them for dinner, but I wouldn’t wait too long.
Except their potatoes. But potatoes last forever anyway.
The chocolate bundt cake - to die for, super moist. Chocolate cake, chocolate glaze, and chocolate chips. MMMMMMM!!! Smaller and size so perfect for me and my husband to have for a couple meals
Only found it twice, but they had some really yummy different flavored box mac and cheese. Both I had were delicious, made for great sides but I haven’t seen them again. Otherwise you can get organic chicken and produce really cheap. roughly 2 bucks a pound on the chicken.
@RedOak Why? I am interested in knowing why. Aldi is like 5 minutes from work, but 35 minutes from home, so as weird as it sounds, it is like a commitment to me to start shopping here on a regular basis.
But for us a few reasons: crappy products and produce in our experience not worth the lower prices, punitive 25 cent deposit to use a shopping cart, asshole Aldi checkout employee who body-checked my (at the time 12 year old) son who wanted to return a stray cart for the quarter (the employee also wanted it), we have Meijer, we have Meijer, we have Meijer, we support our home state store over an asshole EU-German store, finally no credit cards (we love our rewards) until recently and still no coupons… oh, and Meijer has real plastic grocery bags we can use for kitchen garbage.
I’ve been shopping there for years but there are definite ‘gets’ and ‘forgets.’ Excellent prices on nuts; their crackers are good and cheap; their generic cereals are good and cheap but not as good as Wegmans; good staples generally but I don’t care for their pickles or olives. Their dairy is all worth getting and cheap. I don’t trust their frozen fish. Meat is OK but not as good as Wegmans which usually matches on price. Trader Joes has FAR better cheese at comparable prices; however if you like cream cheese, Babybel, or Swiss Knight cheese wedges Aldi is for you. I too love their German chocolate bars with hazelnuts but they are not nearly the same quality chocolate as RitterSport (but you get more for the money at Aldi.) I’ve never had any problems with their produce but prefer Produce Junction EXCEPT for the Aldi baby lettuce collection - a nice variety, very cheap, lasts a LONG time. Mama Cozi is excellent frozen pizza, maybe not as good as Trader J’s but better than supermarket stuff. Their tuna is Chicken-of-the-Sea quality mush but cheaper; most canned goods are pretty meh; jarred stuff is better, esp salsa. Lots of cheap Tex-Mex stuff, good tortillas. OK pasta. Plastic bags, paper products not as good as Wegmans which is about the same price or cheaper. Good prices on soap and toothbrushes; their q-tips are pretty flimsy. Their bag bread is mostly pretty low quality; the special breads are good, the croissants are good. Frozen convenience food is generally OK.
Aldi specials are great but go fast, you have to find out when the next Wednesday stuff comes in; usually Sunday around here. Find their website and check out the weekly specials, they always change.
Remember they don’t bag, and you need a quarter for the cart. They used to not accept credit cards but that’s changed. I bring folding plastic boxes; not the ones they sell, those are OK but a little too lightweight. If you put the box in the cart AHEAD of yours just before the cashier starts ringing things up they will put the things in the box, and you can put the box right in the car.
@dannybeans I know they have the same parent company, but the products are really different. Both TJs and Aldi have pizzas, premade guac, cheese, etc, but the TJs stuff is way better quality. I wouldn’t bother with Aldi these days if it weren’t for the nuts and the specials. Aldi stuff used to be LOTS better. Somebody mentioned their butter, which used to be good and very cheap; now not so much. They used to have great dog jerky; now it smells really weird. Somebody mentioned their jar curry sauce; it was amazing when they introduced it but the current stuff is not as good. TJs chocolate is better quality too.
@aetris We like the canned small potatoes. They’re great sliced up and sauteed, and also work well if you are making a beef stew or pot roast in the slow cooker; you put the potatoes in 60-90 minutes before cooking is done and they come out wonderful.
They also carry a canned roast beef and gravy that (used to) come from Argentina; it didn’t have that ‘canned’ metallic background smell or flavor that Armour and other regular store brands had, and was great for making quick meals with rice or over mashed potatoes. Good stuff.
@duodec I’ll look for the canned beef the next time I’m there, but I tried their soups and stews and was highly unimpressed. It’s hard to go wrong with potatoes.
Alas, no Aldi’s near here, so it’s always a go-to stop when we are near one. Some items I like:
The Choceur chocolates already mentioned
Sparkling French Lemonade in bail-top bottles
Produce… lots of cheap produce (never had shelf-life trouble mentioned above)
Agree on the coffee and pizza comments
Canned tart red cherries (clafouti anyone?)
Different flavored Irish Creams (cappuccino for instance)
Assorted weird one-off items in middle of store (kind of like meh, but on a shelf where you can handle the products…)
I keep hoping we will get one down this way, but so far it hasn’t happened. Maybe one day…
and don’t even get me started on needing a TJ’s around here…
Aldi’s is awesome for my family because they have eliminated artificial colors from all of their own foods. I have an autistic son who can’t have any of the artificial dyes and Aldi is an awesome place to shop for him.
Short answer is there are very few items at Aldi that aren’t way cheaper and just as good as national brands. Pretty lucky near me. Lousy with Wegmans (HQ about an hour west) Family loves them, I won’t go near the place. Aldi is my idea of how to shop. Generally great quality and taste although certainly a few exceptions. Low fat, low sodium and gluten free options are good and much less expensive. Produce is usually very good but you do need to be careful and check it carefully. The meat is ok but we have a family owned grocery with a team of real butchers and the quality and price are incomperable. Worth the 20 minute drive. Plus we have a couple of regional chains that add to convenience and price competition. And the city’s only TJs opened on my side of town and I’m beginning to really like their dairy. They have an extra sharp Canadian cheddar that is outstanding.
They had Jaffa cakes in stock recently and I had never tried them and they were so goooooood. I had orange and raspberry, they were cleared out when we went back though.
@Bluedragon07 Oh, not monsters. Perhaps people suffering from a horrible taste sensing malaise, or who were fed bad food when young and so lost their taste for one of the most magical of all flavor combinations. But not monsters. I feel bad for them even though it means I get to keep more of the awesome for my own self…
I’ve always had massive fail with their milk. Their butter is great for cooking with, but the taste is a bit lacking if had on breads. Their egg rolls are fairly good, and their ice cream is also quite good. Oh yeah, and their organic fair trade raw sugar. Almost as sweet as fructose, so I can use less of it when I make tea, cook or do other jazz needing sugar. Oh and the wine selection is always rotating so you can try new stuff on a fairly regular basis. Not as stable as Trader Joe’s wine selection, but if you’re up for adventure, it’s good.
And they have these cherries that look like maraschino . They’re not, they are HORRIBLE! Wife yelled at me when she tried one, thought I was trying to kill her. Lol.
I don’t know if it’s the case everywhere, but my local Aldis does not have late hours, so I can’t really depend on them for food shopping. While I like some of their produce, the availability of what I buy is very hit or miss. However, I do like their seasonal and non-food items a lot. This weekend I replaced a Moen toilet seat with one I bought at Aldi. It was better quality and had a soft-close feature for under $15. The bathroom scale I got was at least as good as the one I bought on Meh and cost less too. While the lighted Christmas wreath wasn’t as good as Bethlehem Lights, it served the purpose for a fraction of the cost. I am especially fond of the mini exercise bike I got for around $20 that is equally as good as the Stamina brand for 3-4 times the price. I’ve gotten countless other good quality products such as tables and steam cleaners at very reasonable prices. The only item that wasn’t a winner was their blood pressure monitor. I didn’t know that talking was a feature, so I think my pressure shot up when it unexpectedly started getting chatty about the American Heart Association recommendations.
So I read this last night and went to Aldi’s…thanks…
Bought 3 kinds of salsa…Apple Bourbon is no bueno, Mango and Bean was meh(not in a good way) and the Peach Chipotle was edible.
Bought Nutty Bars and did a taste comparison with my kids. You can tell a difference but they are equally good compared to Little Debbie and at almost 1/2 the price.
Mushrooms for $0.69 per container, orange Jaffa cakes are good in a dad way(kids don’t like…sweet). Good price on sliced cheese, perfect for queso making with the Sodium Citrate from another forum topic.
Mac and Cheese for $0.33 is pretty good, close enough to Kraft for my kid.
So I just came bsvl from Aldi and I bought both the raspberry and orange Jaffa cakes. Also bought some various cheeses, kefir and the Aldi brand Red Bull. Looking forward to trying everything!
@huja I was looking in the German aisle and almost bought these biscuits that are dipped in chocolate, the sprinkled with almond bits. Looked amazing.
@ConAndLibrarian They are.
Kale yeah citrus salad bag
Kefir
Cheese all the cheese
@CaptAmehrican I was surprised how much cheese they had to choose from.
@ConAndLibrarian SO MUCH good cheese!
@CaptAmehrican They used to have a whiskey cheddar from time to time that was absolutely amazing. I check for it every time I’m there, but it’s been a couple years now, so I’m afraid it won’t be back.
Oh I love that about also
Also their chocolate is great too
Generic red bull!
Also the chicken salad is ok.
@medz I saw the energy drinks, but was afraid to try them. What do they taste like?
@ConAndLibrarian not terrible. Mostly like red bull. Better than the soda stream concentrate stuff I used to mix with seltzer water.
@medz My manager at work is borderline obsessed with the chicken salad.
@mossygreen we had a very heated discussion at work last week regarding chicken salad. I have to tell everyone about it at Aldi.
@ConAndLibrarian Hmm, what IS it with workplaces and Aldi chicken salad?
@mossygreen I like the normal stuff, my friends preferred the cranberry (almond?) version.
I scoop some onto a tortilla, sprinkle on some bacon bits and a little season salt, roll it up and enjoy.
The pizzas are really good- I think Moma Cozi is a house brand. We’ve also bought the creamer there, the generic Triscuits, and some veggies.
@dashcloud are the pizzas frozen or fresh? It is my son’s primary meal choice for dinner.
@dashcloud I saw the pizzas, and almost bought the 4 cheese one, which was 3.99. It was a great deal.
@mikibell I saw pizzas both in the frozen and refrigerated aisle.
@ConAndLibrarian the refrigerated ones are not as good as the frozen, they have a weird after taste
The organic, fair trade whole bean coffee is really good.
@mossygreen I almost bought some, it was right at the checkout. I will pick it up next time.
@ConAndLibrarian check the roast date, not the sell by date. Grrrrr people that sell fake good coffee
The German roast coffee is ok too, it’s not as good as Jacobs though.
Oh Oh the kitchen sink cookies! you’ll get so addicted and so fat.
@cranky1950 I will have to try them.
I buy all the stuff that I usta buy at Earthfare and Whole Foods. I get steel cut oats, Chia, Organic whole milk yogurt, chopped kale and almond milk They have a trail mix call serenity this is all raw nuts no salt, and cranberries and raisins. Their frozen blueberries are the best I’ve found yet.
@cranky1950 I noticed that there was tons of healthy choices that I love. I noticed a very good selection of gluten free items, I am looking forward to telling my gluten free coworker about it on Monday.
Aldi changes much of their wares on a weekly or monthly basis. My favorite items are usually one time offers. Over the past few months I’ve been able to do 90% of my grocery shopping with Aldi. While cutting my bill by 33% or more.
Today I purchased a single burner butane grill, from Aldi, for $14.99.
@connorbush Nice catch, I’ll have to see if mine still has those burners. Did they have the butane cartridges too? If not, look for local Asian grocery stores. For whatever reasons those stores seem to have stacks of these burners and their fuel available. I guess they’re popular to their main customers. And they are great for power outages or an extra burner while cooking outside.
Aldi tends to cycle things, sometimes a few times a year. They’ll have the heavy German food period 2-3 times a year (at least), they sell a small generator once or twice a year, they get various special ‘organic’ things in periodically. So if you are buying a ‘not always there’ thing and like it, go back and get more if possible. It may come back but it may be a while.
@connorbush I don’t think it has been mentioned yet but they usually have a very long warranty on non-food items. It is usually as long as 5 years! The catch is that you have to keep your receipt so if I have something with a warranty I have that put on a separate receipt.
Refunds on anything - including food items - is really easy but you do need a receipt. Just saying you didn’t like something will get you a refund without any hassle.
The stores do not have phone numbers but if you go on the web site you can email (or call - I think they still have that option) and someone gets back to you pretty quickly.
I haven’t really hated anything we’ve bought there, and my second happy place is Price-Rite.
The Kefir from there is at one of the lowest price points at which we’ve ever found it.
@PhysAssist I have become a huge fan of Kefir, I was excited to find it.
@PhysAssist I brew my own at home - it’s incredibly easy, and my culture has been working for years. You put the culture in milk and let it sit on the counter.
Try Cultures for Health to get a starter, or look around CL - most homebrewers have an abundance.
@ManBehindPlan I actually looked into this last night, it seemed to be a very simple process.
If they have it available, the frozen wonton soup. It’s similar to the one sold by their stepbrother, Trader Joe’s. So damn good.
@cinoclav I love wonton soup. I will definitely look for it next time.
@ConAndLibrarian It definitely has a different taste than your average Chinese restaurant version but I think it’s awesome. So does this guy apparently: http://thealdinerd.com/2017/02/27/fusia-chicken-wonton-soup-with-vegetables/
If you like Indian cuisine they have an amazing Chicken Tikka sauce. It’s not always available but worth checking out.
@mehgrl I’ll check it out.
tuscan trail mix
Steez tea for $9.99 12 pack
I think I read that my town is getting an Aldi’s soon. So I’m taking notes on all this.
@magic_cave It’s been here since last year. South of OP practically next door to the branch of our CU. It’s small, not brightly lit and you have to bring your own bags to bag your groceries. Oh, you’ll need a quarter to rent a shopping cart, too.
I haven’t had the best success with the meats & cheeses, but it does have a pretty darned fine selection of crackers, and other assorted snack items. I just have to figure out a time when it’s not full of ratty kids, and people who have no sense of situational awareness.
@LaVikinga The Spouse (who sends you his greetings) went exploring this morning and discovered that the local Golden Corral [shudder] had moved down the road a bit and the new Aldi’s was ensconced in its place. Didn’t think the building was big enough to handle much merchandise, but apparently it is. We’ll have to make a trip in the next few days and check it out more closely.
@magic_cave My best back to him. Did not realize there were as many here as there are now. Think I might make a run on Monday to see if I can find things we really don’t need.
@magic_cave They don’t carry a lot of options, most if what they carry is a big seller then cases or flats are stacked on pallets. The refrigerator/freezer section uses case racks that are loaded from the inside. usually 2 people per shift run the store. The “punitive” 25cent deposit is there so someone will return the shopping carts so staff does not have to. In all, the staples are there and a few nifty things however, you have to shop elsewhere to round out your larder.
had no idea Aldi’s was so well-liked. now have to bookmark this thread.
@f00l what’s not to like, small store about the size of a dollar general, low prices on the most commonly used foodstuffs plus low priced interesting special items like pork schnitzel, table wines, junk foods, popular health foods. you move fast. The down side is there is little customer service, you bag your own. Some don’t like, personally saving about 30% on the stuff I buy is worth the grief, there are things I have to buy at walmart or elsewhere. But Aldi sells enough of the stuff that I buy to make it worth the trip plus the cat only likes Aldi or Carnation condensed milk and Aldi is 69 cents for a 12 oz can and carnation is 1.75 and you know whatever my widdle fluffy wants.
@cranky1950 who are you and what did you do to. @cranky1950? Widdle fluffy?
@mikibell its saturday its raining I’ve nothing else to do but play on the internet.
@cranky1950
Do weird wimmen make you more cranky or less cranky? Or both?
@f00l definitely both, sometimes the same day
The candy/chocolate is always awesome. Way better than the US brands you see everywhere.
@Starblind They had some pretty nice Advent calendars for Christmas last year!
@Starblind so guess what? That chocolate you love is made in the good ol U.S.A. Aldi is private label company that has very high standards. The company my wife works for has made chocolate bars for them on and off for 10 years. They are located an hour outside of Philadelphia.
@starblind Doubtful. I’ve become semi-addicted to their Choceur dark chocolate with roasted hazelnuts. Package says “made in Germany” and distributed by Aldi.
I rarely go there. I haven’t had much luck with items I’ve bought except for the chocolate. I only buy produce if I’m going to use it that day. It seems to rot really fast compared to my regular grocery store.
I do like to peruse their random non food items. Sometimes there is good deals there.
@RiotDemon Maybe that means that their produce has less or no preservatives?!? That might not be an entirely BAD thing after all!
@Hopkins3030 except it’s the same brands as the ones I buy. The strawberries come from the same plant in Florida (where I live) yet are rotten the next day. Everyone I talk to locally has the same complaint here. It’s fine if you’re going to use them for dinner, but I wouldn’t wait too long.
Except their potatoes. But potatoes last forever anyway.
The chocolate bundt cake - to die for, super moist. Chocolate cake, chocolate glaze, and chocolate chips. MMMMMMM!!! Smaller and size so perfect for me and my husband to have for a couple meals
@tellatale And it’s $2.99! I see exactly the same cake at other grocery stores for $4.99. It’s madness.
Only found it twice, but they had some really yummy different flavored box mac and cheese. Both I had were delicious, made for great sides but I haven’t seen them again. Otherwise you can get organic chicken and produce really cheap. roughly 2 bucks a pound on the chicken.
Ricotta cheese cheesecake
I am as cheap as anybody. But I detest Aldi.
@RedOak Why? I am interested in knowing why. Aldi is like 5 minutes from work, but 35 minutes from home, so as weird as it sounds, it is like a commitment to me to start shopping here on a regular basis.
@ConAndLibrarian if Aldi works for others, good for them.
But for us a few reasons: crappy products and produce in our experience not worth the lower prices, punitive 25 cent deposit to use a shopping cart, asshole Aldi checkout employee who body-checked my (at the time 12 year old) son who wanted to return a stray cart for the quarter (the employee also wanted it), we have Meijer, we have Meijer, we have Meijer, we support our home state store over an asshole EU-German store, finally no credit cards (we love our rewards) until recently and still no coupons… oh, and Meijer has real plastic grocery bags we can use for kitchen garbage.
I’ve been shopping there for years but there are definite ‘gets’ and ‘forgets.’ Excellent prices on nuts; their crackers are good and cheap; their generic cereals are good and cheap but not as good as Wegmans; good staples generally but I don’t care for their pickles or olives. Their dairy is all worth getting and cheap. I don’t trust their frozen fish. Meat is OK but not as good as Wegmans which usually matches on price. Trader Joes has FAR better cheese at comparable prices; however if you like cream cheese, Babybel, or Swiss Knight cheese wedges Aldi is for you. I too love their German chocolate bars with hazelnuts but they are not nearly the same quality chocolate as RitterSport (but you get more for the money at Aldi.) I’ve never had any problems with their produce but prefer Produce Junction EXCEPT for the Aldi baby lettuce collection - a nice variety, very cheap, lasts a LONG time. Mama Cozi is excellent frozen pizza, maybe not as good as Trader J’s but better than supermarket stuff. Their tuna is Chicken-of-the-Sea quality mush but cheaper; most canned goods are pretty meh; jarred stuff is better, esp salsa. Lots of cheap Tex-Mex stuff, good tortillas. OK pasta. Plastic bags, paper products not as good as Wegmans which is about the same price or cheaper. Good prices on soap and toothbrushes; their q-tips are pretty flimsy. Their bag bread is mostly pretty low quality; the special breads are good, the croissants are good. Frozen convenience food is generally OK.
Aldi specials are great but go fast, you have to find out when the next Wednesday stuff comes in; usually Sunday around here. Find their website and check out the weekly specials, they always change.
Remember they don’t bag, and you need a quarter for the cart. They used to not accept credit cards but that’s changed. I bring folding plastic boxes; not the ones they sell, those are OK but a little too lightweight. If you put the box in the cart AHEAD of yours just before the cashier starts ringing things up they will put the things in the box, and you can put the box right in the car.
@aetris Fun fact: Trader Joe’s is actually owned by Aldi, so there’s a lot of overlap between them.
@dannybeans I know they have the same parent company, but the products are really different. Both TJs and Aldi have pizzas, premade guac, cheese, etc, but the TJs stuff is way better quality. I wouldn’t bother with Aldi these days if it weren’t for the nuts and the specials. Aldi stuff used to be LOTS better. Somebody mentioned their butter, which used to be good and very cheap; now not so much. They used to have great dog jerky; now it smells really weird. Somebody mentioned their jar curry sauce; it was amazing when they introduced it but the current stuff is not as good. TJs chocolate is better quality too.
@aetris We like the canned small potatoes. They’re great sliced up and sauteed, and also work well if you are making a beef stew or pot roast in the slow cooker; you put the potatoes in 60-90 minutes before cooking is done and they come out wonderful.
They also carry a canned roast beef and gravy that (used to) come from Argentina; it didn’t have that ‘canned’ metallic background smell or flavor that Armour and other regular store brands had, and was great for making quick meals with rice or over mashed potatoes. Good stuff.
@duodec I’ll look for the canned beef the next time I’m there, but I tried their soups and stews and was highly unimpressed. It’s hard to go wrong with potatoes.
Animal crackers. And when they have the industrial metal shelving units, snatch those babies up… they’re insanely well made for the price.
Alas, no Aldi’s near here, so it’s always a go-to stop when we are near one. Some items I like:
I keep hoping we will get one down this way, but so far it hasn’t happened. Maybe one day…
and don’t even get me started on needing a TJ’s around here…
Aldi’s is awesome for my family because they have eliminated artificial colors from all of their own foods. I have an autistic son who can’t have any of the artificial dyes and Aldi is an awesome place to shop for him.
@chuegen Best comment and reason of the week! I’m so glad that works so well for you and your son.
Short answer is there are very few items at Aldi that aren’t way cheaper and just as good as national brands. Pretty lucky near me. Lousy with Wegmans (HQ about an hour west) Family loves them, I won’t go near the place. Aldi is my idea of how to shop. Generally great quality and taste although certainly a few exceptions. Low fat, low sodium and gluten free options are good and much less expensive. Produce is usually very good but you do need to be careful and check it carefully. The meat is ok but we have a family owned grocery with a team of real butchers and the quality and price are incomperable. Worth the 20 minute drive. Plus we have a couple of regional chains that add to convenience and price competition. And the city’s only TJs opened on my side of town and I’m beginning to really like their dairy. They have an extra sharp Canadian cheddar that is outstanding.
They had Jaffa cakes in stock recently and I had never tried them and they were so goooooood. I had orange and raspberry, they were cleared out when we went back though.
@Bluedragon07 Be careful talking about the orange jaffa cakes; there are… people… here who get a bit upset at the chocolate + orange combination.
@duodec hmmmmmm do we need to page people… Ahem, @lisaviolet…
@duodec
If someone doesn’t like that chocolate-orange combo, just send it all to me. I’ll figure something out.
@duodec People or monsters?
@Bluedragon07 Oh, not monsters. Perhaps people suffering from a horrible taste sensing malaise, or who were fed bad food when young and so lost their taste for one of the most magical of all flavor combinations. But not monsters. I feel bad for them even though it means I get to keep more of the awesome for my own self…
@mikibell
@lisaviolet meeee??? I agree with you!!!
@mikibell Just my reaction to orange and chocolate. I’m sorry you were in range. lol
@lisaviolet ruined a really nice pair of shoes, thank you very muchly!!!
@mikibell You’re welcome. I aim to please.
@lisaviolet
@mikibell @lisaviolet I definitely need to poke you two every now and again; so entertaining!
@duodec be fair warned; at some point, I will grow up!!! (not likely anytime soon, though!)
I’ve always had massive fail with their milk. Their butter is great for cooking with, but the taste is a bit lacking if had on breads. Their egg rolls are fairly good, and their ice cream is also quite good. Oh yeah, and their organic fair trade raw sugar. Almost as sweet as fructose, so I can use less of it when I make tea, cook or do other jazz needing sugar. Oh and the wine selection is always rotating so you can try new stuff on a fairly regular basis. Not as stable as Trader Joe’s wine selection, but if you’re up for adventure, it’s good.
And they have these cherries that look like maraschino . They’re not, they are HORRIBLE! Wife yelled at me when she tried one, thought I was trying to kill her. Lol.
Their kefir is indeed great. I pick up a couple quarts of it at least twice a week.
Check out their frozen pizzas. They usually have a spinach and goat cheese pie that’s really good.
And, well, pretty much anything else they carry that looks good to you. I haven’t been disappointed by them yet.
I don’t know if it’s the case everywhere, but my local Aldis does not have late hours, so I can’t really depend on them for food shopping. While I like some of their produce, the availability of what I buy is very hit or miss. However, I do like their seasonal and non-food items a lot. This weekend I replaced a Moen toilet seat with one I bought at Aldi. It was better quality and had a soft-close feature for under $15. The bathroom scale I got was at least as good as the one I bought on Meh and cost less too. While the lighted Christmas wreath wasn’t as good as Bethlehem Lights, it served the purpose for a fraction of the cost. I am especially fond of the mini exercise bike I got for around $20 that is equally as good as the Stamina brand for 3-4 times the price. I’ve gotten countless other good quality products such as tables and steam cleaners at very reasonable prices. The only item that wasn’t a winner was their blood pressure monitor. I didn’t know that talking was a feature, so I think my pressure shot up when it unexpectedly started getting chatty about the American Heart Association recommendations.
Aldi’s German rival is coming to the U.S.
Lidl coming to the U.S. market
@huja We’re getting them both this summer.
@sammydog01 I nominate you as meh’s unofficial-official comparison shopper.
@huja another article . . . Possible price war at grocers
So I read this last night and went to Aldi’s…thanks…
Bought 3 kinds of salsa…Apple Bourbon is no bueno, Mango and Bean was meh(not in a good way) and the Peach Chipotle was edible.
Bought Nutty Bars and did a taste comparison with my kids. You can tell a difference but they are equally good compared to Little Debbie and at almost 1/2 the price.
Mushrooms for $0.69 per container, orange Jaffa cakes are good in a dad way(kids don’t like…sweet). Good price on sliced cheese, perfect for queso making with the Sodium Citrate from another forum topic.
Mac and Cheese for $0.33 is pretty good, close enough to Kraft for my kid.
@tightwad @mikibell @lisaviolet
Better watch out…orange jaffa cakes have been known to cause topic regurgitations…
@duodec everyone just needs to buy the raspberry ones.
Grocery karts… they are $.25 and they even hold on to your quarter for you!
So I just came bsvl from Aldi and I bought both the raspberry and orange Jaffa cakes. Also bought some various cheeses, kefir and the Aldi brand Red Bull. Looking forward to trying everything!
@ConAndLibrarian
What to buy, what to skip at Aldi