Aldi

Excellent prices — This store has everything except the free bags and someone stuffing you groceries into those bags for you. They get fresh produce in every morning so as the day progresses you might start seeing things run out — set back but also a guarantee that what you get is very fresh. Competes easily with all area grocery stores in product quality though not in selection of different brand choice for the same thing. No need, what they have is good enough — who wants 30+ each different kinds of cereal, bread, juice, pop, bread, frozen peas, etc. Simple but good and at a significantly lower price does it. Staff is fast, efficient and professional. Customers are real people who smile and help eachother.

ALDI is how I got my budget in order, just the basics, not a lot of tempting extras. You basically can’t do your whole grocery list here, it is the size of a Trader Joes and is owned by the same company. Also, I have to label read like crazy you because I don’t like extra sugar in my peanut butter, for example, or BBQ sauce with high fructose corn syrup. But come summer when my kids want to buy five packs of blueberries, I can say yes because they’re so cheap! We made hamburgers on the grill with their ground beef and my husband said it was very good ground beef and he is super picky, usually only likes the expensive organic stuff. Staff is hit or miss, they go really fast but some are not super friendly. The checkout lady I had last week last time was really friendly though.

Aldi is a great place for staples, dairy, specialty cheeses (I could write a ton about their cheese! So good and really good prices. I love the aged white cheddar!), take and bake pizzas (delish), and prices on produce. Not all of their produce is good quality, but I like their bagged salad mixes, avocados, and bell peppers. I don’t buy a lot of meat there but I do like the ground turkey and their active/​healthy brand of turkey Italian sausage. Very affordable. The amount of racist twats who reviewed Aldi previously inspired this 4-​star review.

Baked a few of the frozen fish fingers. First one was OK. Second one had a huge chunk of a fin in it. Now I’ll only eat the dairy products and the produce.

Aldi’s as a store is great. This review is for Amy the cashier. You are rude, especially to someone with a very small child, who asked you in a pleasant way if I could keep the same cart I had been using so I didn’t have to hold my coat, grocery bags, coupons & ads and a small child while she rings everything up. The very rude tone and response wasn’t needed, Amy. Have a wonderful day. Amy.

It seems like a giddily discovered secret at first, then Le vrai visage du Aldi begins to reveal itself. The produce is quite cheap… and often of very poor quality… the house brands tend to be of very poor quality, and items like milk and meat are neither inexpensive nor sustainably sourced. Aldi is GREAT if you want cheap snacks, pasta sauce or coffee… or if you are subsisting on a high carb diet of processed food. The Hmong and other Asian markets in the metro offer much better value for fresh, healthy food.

I’ve been shopping at this Aldi for about four years now — it often has excellent produce and is a great place to get staples like milk, eggs, cheeses, yogurts, baking supplies, dressings, canned items, and crackers/​chips. There are some items that I don’t buy there, such as meat, but that is just personal preference. I’m surprised at other comments that are about the other customers — I don’t really care who else is there, what ethnicity they are, what their weight is, etc. I’m also not there to make friends with the staff, who, I agree, could improve their customer service skills drastically. I’m there to help myself stay on budget for groceries and to be able to afford healthier foods than I could if I were to shop exclusively at Target/​Cub. I am at the low end of a healthy weight and definitely do not agree that they only stock unhealthy foods. You can buy cheap junk food anywhere — Aldi is special because there is an equal amount of well-​priced healthy alternatives. They take credit cards as of a few months ago. It’s definitely not a trip to Byerly’s, but neither is the price tag.

I stopped in here more out of curiosity than anything else, after reading some business magazine puff piece about Aldi, and how it was the death knell for stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes, because of their incredibly low pricing on organic foods and such. Lol, I don’t think WFM and TJ’s have to worry too much. Without a doubt, some people will always dive for the lowest price, but outside of that, I didn’t find much to love here.
I’m not going to hate on the place, I’m just going to say I’m not in love with the concept. Goods are mostly displayed in the shipping cartons they arrived in; they’re just cut open so you can see and take the merchandise. Very limited selection. Unrecognizable branding. Sorry if it all sounds snobbish or elitist, it’s not meant to, I just didn’t find it a great shopping experience. Won’t be back.

Hey, if you want the best of the best, and a pants-​down spanking at the checkout isle, Lunds is right next door. If you want an inexpensive and very fast shopping experience, Aldi rocks. Go there for staples, stock up and save tons. They do a bunch of little things to make the process faster and minimize headcount (like the often discussed bags and carts), but I like the overall effect. It is much less expensive than even Target, and FAST! I don’t enjoy grocery shopping, so that’s my favorite thing about it– close 2^nd are the prices, and based on my one trip and what I’ve eaten, their store brands are just fine/​comparable with Target’s Market Pantry. There are plenty of vegetables– I could find avacados for 50 cents each! You won’t find everything– I couldn’t find sliced «real» cheese, for instance. So be it– save a ton, won’t be riddled with choices and redundancy, walk a mile to get to your car and you’ll be in and out in 10 minutes– beautiful! Because there is only one, maybe 2 choices, the store is 25% of the size! Plus the service is great (they have well-​paid union workers– remember, it’s a German company!). I’ll be back for sure.

I’ve never done the Aldi thing till now because I assumed everything was generic in a bad way and if the veggies are like that at TJ’s they MUST be worse here, and I’m a snob, but seeing sad green bell pepper at 1.99 for 2 peppers during a late night Cub run, I decided it’s time to try them.
Surprise surprise snobby produce hunters who scoff at the ickiness of TJ’s produce — this is much better. This is no worse than Cub Rainbow Target and even competes with Lunds on some produce.
If you’re flexible about your produce and you can visually tell whether something is looking good behind plastic, and you’re willing to eat conventional (I eat conventional lower down the food chain than things that have feet or are the products of things that have feet) then you, like me, may regret all the times you went to cub or rainbow or target during non famer’s market season.
Not only were the strawberries UNDER 2 bucks a pound, they were incredibly flavorful and suffering from none of the obvious forced-​ripening blah. You have to pick and choose and pass over some stuff, but you can fill your cart with green goodness and eat not a single processed carb here if you wanted to. You just have to be selective, and flexible (IE if the tomatoes look as bad as they did the day I was there, move on.)
Non BST milk and dairy are the default? Sweet. Cheaper than elsewhere for that, too.
Many an item is identical to TJ’s and just dressed up in a different package. No, you cannot expect to get *everything* here, but if you don’t like being rooked needlessly on your periodic junk food purchase OR on conventionally grown produce, then it’s worth putting down your quarter deposit and going here first.
Carts are horrible and massive in an obvious ploy to get you to stuff them with fattening processed ew. I get it, but I don’t like wheeling that tank around.
Checkout dude was lightning man. Took about as long as for me to get out my card as it did for him to ring everything.
DON’T FORGET YOUR BAGS!

I adore Aldi.
We started shopping here when our hours got cut, and we were a bit tight on cash. Honestly, now that we’re getting a bit more comfortable cash-​flow-​wise, I still prefer to do the majority of my shopping at Aldi.
There are a few differences from the standard American grocery shopping experience, which isn’t all bad. You deposit a quarter to get your cart, which will encourage you to put it back in the corral when you’re done. (Imagine if Cub had this policy – no more renegade car-​denting shopping cart missiles on a windy day!) You have to bring your own bags (which you should be doing nowadays anyway). The cashiers will check the groceries freaky-​fast, and directly into your cart, so you can take them and bag them yourself.
This is not at all what we’re used to, and some of us get cranky when presented with change. I personally have never had a bad experience with Aldi; anything I’ve purchased which wasn’t awesome was immediately refunded and replaced. And the prices really are much cheaper. I’ve gotten avocados here for 49 cents! A giant pumpkin for $ 3! Delicious, good quality bacon for $ 2.50!
They won’t have everything you want. No molasses, no enchilada sauce, no kale. But Lund’s is RIGHT next door, and you probably just saved 20% on your weekly staples, so no complaining.

Many of the reviews of Aldi are very harsh towards the people who shop there rather than the stores themselves. Aldi is actually owned by the same company that runs Trader Joe’s. I am guessing that the same people who left these bad reviews shop at Trader Joe’s and feel that it is far superior. Funny thing is they are most likely buying food off the same truck that is delivering to Aldi but for a higher price point.
My wife and I love Aldi. Aldi is an extremely efficient grocery. We get all our basic necessities here. Yes, there are a ton of processed food options but you can get that anywhere. They have very modestly priced produce and necessities.
They have a no frills approach to everything they do which allows them to run with only a few employees.
1. You insert a quarter for your cart so they don’t have to pay people to round up carts.
2. They charge for bags. You have to bring your own reusable bags (which you should be doing anyways) or you grab some boxes.
3. They print barcodes on every panel of their goods. Check out is super fast.
Honestly I wish more groceries would run this way but sadly as you can see people will say horrible stuff about a very no frills approach. People who shop at Aldi might not ever see Unilocal and thankfully so. People who left the other horrible comments should be ashamed. You all sound horribly privileged and deserve to get over charged for your «better» goods.
**they accept debt cards only**

Ok… if you only shop at Byerlys or your local co-​op, the possibility exists that you may be disappointed. On the plus side, if you need cheap healthy food sans hipsters, you are in luck.
Don’t bother with the processed food or meat here, although the hummus and refrigerated salsa are quite good. The meat is all injected with solution of god only knows what. Avoid.
You can get a pineapple for a $ 1.50. Is it organic? Of course not. But it is just as good as Rainbow. Watermelon, onions, mangoes, avocados, bananas, etc. all good, lower pesticide conventional produce. You can get pesticide free tomatoes and cucumbers here, fresh mozzarella and wild caught salmon in the freezer section. They have dried beans, eggs, milk etc. for when you have a week to go before payday and no food in your fridge.
Bring your own bags and a quarter for your cart.
Bottom line: you can definitely lower your food bill by shopping here and still eat very healthily. Just don’t be wooed by the cheap processed snacks. Stick to fruits and vegetables.

Let me start off by saying that I wish I could give this place zero stars.
I am not an Aldi shopper and would never be. However, my old granny occasionally pays me to shop here for her. It’s a good thing she throws a little my way, because if I were just relying on the goodness of my heart to get her groceries from Aldi, it definitely wouldn’t get me in the door.
Aldi is best understood by taking a look at its customers. Some reviewers claim that you cannot judge a place by its clientele, but I heartily disagree. The people that a place attracts make it… a business is only a reflection of its customer base.
I have never been in line here and not been behind a lady with five kids, a cart full of frozen meat and cheese puffs, and paying with an EBT food stamp card. «That is mean and cruel and surely you exaggerate! Heaven forbid those people read your review, they would feel insulted!» Tough luck, and I wish it was an exaggeration. «You can’t judge the people!» Well, as crappy and scamtastic as Aldi’s is by itself, it would be slightly less horrible if you didn’t have to dodge and weave your prepaid cart around massed Aldi customers blocking the aisles and talking loudly.
As far as food goes, Aldi sells crap. Underweight eggs. Moldy cheese. Moldy fruit. Perishable goods hours from their expiration date. I have never been here and not picked over an item that was visibly molding on the shelves. Their prices are also nothing to write home about. They advertise really «great deals,» but the items are sold packaged in large enough quantities that you have to buy a whole lot of it so as to negate the low unit price. I personally don’t have a need for five pounds of pink slime and guar gum-​enhanced ground beef, otherwise maybe I’d jump at that «deal.»
For payment options, Aldi will gladly accept EBT, but they don’t take credit cards. Or as the cashier with the teardrop tattoo once told me, «Sorry we don’t take curdit cars.» So I appreciate being treated worse than the welfare recipients who are clearly a big part of Aldi’s bottom line. Lesson learned – now I bring cash when shopping for granny. And quarters so I can get a cart, because they force you to rent a cart. In the collective corporate mind of Aldi, every customer is a potential homeless person who is going to make off with their carts. I also appreciate the cost-​consciousness of Aldi because they never have more than two employees on duty, one cashier and one stocker. This of course means the checkout line is at least five carts long, but you can be reassured that the food prices remain low as they mercilessly cut those corners. The cashier is always very good at scanning things as quickly as possible and violently throwing your items into a waiting cart.

I purposely went out of my way to stop here because I really like grocery shopping, exploring new foods, and being frugal. Alas, I didn’t particularly enjoy my experience here, nor did I find much of anything worth compromising health for saving money, so I won’t need to go back.

Man, oh, man — I can’t believe people are railing on Aldi! This is the first Aldi I ever visited after first learning about it, and given that 4 years ago the parking lot was always nearly empty and now the parking lot is almost always full speaks to the fact that Aldi can’t possibly be that dislikable from a consumer stand-​point.
I am going to strongly disagree with the last two Unilocal reviewers on a number of points, and hopefully the fact that my review is written 2 years after the last review was posted will speak to possible improvements Aldi has made over the years:
(1) Yes, you have to deposit (NOT pay) a quarter to get a cart, and yes, you do have to pay for plastic bags. But don’t you think this slight inconvenience is worth it when it comes to saving you money? Both Aldi and Trader Joe’s (which Aldi owns) sell great reusable bags that are are also thermal. At Aldi, the cheapest thermal bag starts at around $ 1.99 — which is nothing to complain about. Reusable bags are also environmentally friendly!
(2) Just because Aldi doesn’t carry a lot of name brands doesn’t mean the quality of food you get is any worse. In fact, Aldi carries a double 100% guarantee on all its items, such that if you aren’t satisfied with an item, you get a replacement and a full refund.
(3) Given the high price of produce, milk, bread, and eggs these days, it’s great that Aldi offers the perfect selection these items at steeply discounted prices. Don’t expect to find organic foods here (for that go to Trader Joe’s), but the produce you find here is just as high-​quality, if not better, than produce you’ll find at Cub or Rainbow. I’ve gotten Sunkist oranges and grapefruit at Aldi for ½ the price of non-​name brand citrus fruits at other grocery stores.
(4) My biggest gripe with the last two reviewers is how they complain that it’s not easy to find healthy foods at Aldi. Maybe they haven’t shopped at Aldi in the last 2 years, but I’ve never found this to be the case. Aldi sells, among other things, 100% whole wheat bread with no high fructose corn syrup, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, MSG-​free chicken broth, greek yogurt, soy and lactose-​free milk, all-​natural fruit spreads, shredded artisan cheeses, organic blue corn tortilla chips, low-​fat raw meats, a growing selection of organic produce, imitation Kashi cereals… shall go on? You won’t find everything you need or want at Aldi, but they certainly offer enough to meet a healthy, balanced diet.

Tuition due and you’re sick of eating ramen every day? $ 3000+ car repair bill? Aldi is your friend. The selection is not great, but you can find certain veggies and some fruit for cheap (tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, bananas, the basics). Aldi’s food is cheap, cheap, cheap. A couple of things you need to know when shopping here — you need a quarter to use their shopping cart (you get the quarter back when you return the cart), they only accept cash, and they don’t provide bags unless you want to pay for the bags so bring your own.
Aldi probably doesn’t carry many organic foods, but you don’t have to choose the high fructose, high fat foods. It’s not as easy to make healthy choices as it is at some other grocery stores simply due to the lack of choices, but it IS possible. When I was really, really poor (poorer than I am now!), I would scour the newspaper ads, pick out the coupon items from places like Jerry’s, Byerly’s, and Cub, and go to Aldi’s for some of the basic veggies. I will admit that Aldi is not my favorite place to shop, but they saved my butt from eating ramen every day so I am glad they’re around. If you insist on eating ramen, they do have ramen, too.

If you shop exclusively at Aldi, you are probably overweight. I’m not saying this as an insult (if you don’t trust me, I can tell you what size pants I wear) — if you are here even once you know that Aldi isn’t the kind of place you shop at if you know what foods are going to put you on the fast-​track to 500 pounds-​ville.
Unfortunately, the cheaper food is always the crappier food. But it’s not like Aldi can’t (doesn’t?) carry things that can be considered good for you. Sometimes they will have fresh fruit and veggies, but it’s straight out of the WalMart play book — totally covered in wax and grossness. You can get cases of sugary drinks for cheap, but not tomatoes? If it’s tons of cookies you are after, look no further! And if you love your frozen sodium at mind-​boggling percentages, Aldi is your man.
They charge you for bags. I think that’s a good practice if the store also offers paper bags, but I’ve only ever seen the plastic ones. I learned this the hard way the first (of only two total trips I’ve made to Aldi EVER) time when I had a cartload of groceries and no bags to put them in.