Who loves Aldi and what's your latest "Find"

[N227GB]

The first time I was in an Aldi was about 25 years ago in Ohio. I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed by the store layout—it was like navigating through a long winding "S" through all the aisles from the entrance to the checkout. And the brands? They were unfamiliar to me. Plus, they only accepted cash or debit cards, which was a hassle.

Years later, I visited some friends, and they set out a platter of meats and cheeses. Where from? Aldi! They convinced me to give the store a second chance. There is no more mouse maze, and they take credit cards. Their store brands are excellent.

These days, I make it a point to stop by Aldi almost every afternoon. Why, you ask? Well, these fantastic specials called' Finds' are so unique that they can be gone in a day. I remember this one time: I spotted bottles of Spiedies sauce. I had just learned what it was from an article I read and was thrilled to find it at Aldi. But alas, when I returned the next day, it was gone.

Here's today's "Find"

Chicken corn mini tacos. Yes, I can get something like these at Publix, but they contain wheat (not Paleo-friendly). This was the last bag in the freezer case.




Two pounds of large white peeled shrimp for $15.



So, what's your latest "Find"?

[Huskee]

Huge Aldi fans here in my house. You're right, their brands, for the most part, are indistinguishable from major brands except cheaper. Their fresh ribs, other meats, off brand crackers, etc all great. Their cheese and salami etc for charcuterie boards are excellent. My wife just got back from groceries as I was typing this so I asked her if Aldi had any good deals today. She said she grabbed some cheese, salami, butter (regular and Kerrygold), baby spinach, apples, garlic mini naan breads, and garlic knots. All on sale. Win!

[Donw]

When an Alidi opened near us Kathy decided to try shopping there but ended up not buying anything. Her observations were she didn’t recognize most of the brands and wasn’t willing to risk just buying something we might just have to toss out nor could she easily find things.

[Huskee]

That's what name brands want Kathy to think....

[Alan Brice]

Give them another shot and try the look/sounds alike brands. Great flavor and way more inexpensive. At a time when stretching the dollar counts, I stop there much more than I used to. I still have name brand St. Louis cut pork ribs in the deep freeze that were incredibly inexpensive.

[SheilaAnn]

I’ve been in one Aldi. It was filthy. Never been back to any location.

[Richard Chrz]

I despise our local Aldi, their isles are so narrow, that I can never wheel through without asking people to “pardon me” so I can get by, will never go in another one.

[Huskee]

Richard Chrz Sounds like an older one before they built things to be more friendly to all. That would be frustrating. The ones I remember have enormous aisles.

[Mosca]

Likewise. Mrs and I went to one after all her friends at work were raving about it. We both found it cramped, old, dirty, and unfamiliar. I liked the English muffins, though; they’re better than Thomas’, if you can believe that. But otherwise? Nah. We got a Wegman’s that is closer.

[LA Pork Butt]

Aldi is our go to store! Deli, dairy and canned goods are our basics along with produce. Sometimes we pick up a find in their seasonal offerings like their food saver bags and just now their corned beef.

[Huskee]

Have you used their corned beef before, and if so is it good stuff too?

[LA Pork Butt]

Huskee I have used it after desalinating it for corned beef and cabbage and also for pastrami. I am not sure how refined my palate might be, but the family didn’t leave leftovers.

[Steve R.]

The last time I was in our Aldi, there were some eye-popping prices on nice produce. The meat dept isn't huge, but pretty good for what they do have.

[J-Melt]

We love everything about Aldi, except their meat department. Their ground beef has always been chunky and we get better deals on meat at the butcher shops or at Cermak Produce. We do about 80% of our shopping at Aldi, then just get what we can find on sale at Jewel/Mariano's/Costco.

[Rob Johnston]

We love Aldi. We do most of our shopping there.

[swartzster]

Never been in one

[HawkerXP]

+1

[BBillFleet]

ALDI is always in our rotation! They have very good specials, and generally good value overall. I especially enjoy their nuts and crackers.

• Their Triscuit and Wheat Thins lookalikes are very close to the original, at 2/3rds the price.
• Their In-shell Pistachios are currently $5 / lb, and I can't find that price anywhere else.
• Their Pumpkin seeds are good, and also cheap.
• Their dairy items and cold cut meats are also staples for us.
• The frozen packaged meats and meals are maybe not so good.

The above items cost a good bit more at LIDL. As for the weird branding on the rest of their products, I just take it with a grain of salt. I figure some items will be as good as their 'real' name-brand versions, and some won't. It's up to me to find that out. But sometimes I find it jarring to see a 'real' name brand item on their shelves, when I wasn't expecting anything but 'imitation' labels.

[DavidNorcross]

A fan of Aldi. Do not shop there as often as we should, but great quality and prices.

[dubob]

Okay, I'll bite - what the heck is an Aldi?

[Starsky]

For those living in the Chicago area, you may have heard of Stan's Doughnuts. They are being sold in Aldi under a different name. Too sweet for my taste but a lot of people seem to enjoy them.

[J-Melt]

I didn't realize that! I'll have to look at that. I'm not a huge Stan's fan as they just seem to have too many toppings. But I imagine some of them are okay.

[Purc]

Aldi just announced they plan to open 800 new stores over the next 5 years. No exact locations were given.

[fuzzydaddy]

I love Aldi's. We shop there a lot and it is very close to our home. Recently I saw an article that said "Aldi acquiring Southeastern Grocers’ some 400 Winn-Dixie and Harvey Supermarket stores." Here's one article.