Aldi Food Stores Review

I absolutely adore Aldi. How many times have you honestly looked forward to going to a grocery store? The values here are everywhere; I routinely save about 40% what I would buying the same things at the major grocery stores. Multiply that by what you spend on groceries over the course of the year and we're talking about very real money.

The quality of Aldis branded products is excellent - these aren't your black and white generic cans of old. And don't ever be afraid to try something at Aldi - if you don't like it - take it back for a full refund, no questions asked. I love that policy!

Some people think of this as a place to get cheap staples; milk, bread, flour, butter etc. - and it is, but it also has quite a few upscale products. Just try finding bleu cheese crubles, raspberry-walnut vinagrette salad dressing or Italian genoa salami at Dollar General! And some stores even have beer and wine. They've got a Corona knock off and a Heineken copy - both taste EXACTLY like their name brand counterparts. The 3rd beer is more of a premium German style beer. A bit bitter for my tastes, but certainly not bad. The wines are very decent.

The meats are not bad either, excellent center cut pork chops, marinated pork tenderloin and stew beef.

Produce - eh; I'm a fan of the grape tomatoes, tri-color peppers, cabbage and broccoli crowns, but the bananas and apples aren't great. It varies a lot on the season and just week to week. You get used to that once you're a regular.

Then there's the "special purchase" items that really make Aldi fun. I recently got a great flash memory card video camera, a reciprocating saw and a pair of shoes there - I love it!

 A word to the first time Aldi shopper - no credit cards, no checks. Cash or debit only, and bring your own bags or buy them there. You bag your own stuff. Carts are a quarter - refunded when you bring it back. There's generally only one lane open, but it moves fast.