I mainly shop at 3 places for groceries. Aldi, Harris Teeter (Kroger), and Costco/BJ's. There is nothing wrong with Aldi, and for many things its high quality.

I've been shopping at Aldi for about 15 years and like it. I have noticed a decline in quality and an increase in price. The last thing to piss me off was a bag of salad mix - used to be 79 cents now $1.99 and the bag was mostly red cabbage and carrots the cheap stuff. The store brand oreos piss me off too - the package shows the creme center thicker than the cookie - the reality is the icing was spread so thin it only had one side.

Why the hate?

1. The shelves are bare for half the stuff on my list.
   
2. Almost impossible to find an employee on the floor when I need help.
   
3. Seventy people on line and one register open.

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Aldi Cashier: "Did you find everything you need?"

Customer: "Is this an audition for the Comedy Club?"

Lidl is better, but I've only ever seen one in the US and it was in Lawrenceville, NJ. Aldi is everywhere now and it's fine, but for the distance the nearest one to my house is, Mrs. Lee and I prefer Trader Joe's. I'd been going Aldi in Germany for many years before they started in the US. In Germany they sell booze and smokes too. And the Lidl in NJ had a killer bakery. I didn't buy anything, but it looked on par with the ones in Germany.

I don't get the hate. Some people hate Wally World as well. I think some people who hate those places only do so because then can afford to, maybe a little pretentiousness or some other weired psychological thing. Or, maybe they don't like being entertained by the occasional very strange people, or aliens, who show up from time to time. If I told you what I witnessed one time in my local Walmart, you wouldn't believe it. I'll never forget it, even though it's well worth forgetting. It was that strange.

I can afford to shop elsewhere precisely because I shop at discount or bargain places when I can. I don't pay more than I need to unless the (in)convenience factor outweighs the savings. I always drove my 911 to Walmart to by Mobil 1 for it. Why would I pay $3/qt more, especially when the cars takes 13 qts? I love Walmart and, if the left hates it, all the better.

Aldi is a primary grocery source for us. A couple years ago they were always the cheapest source for everything they carried. With all the increases in food costs these two years, some canned and frozen foods are actually higher at Aldi than places like Costco or Walmart. Still, quality and prices are good overall.

Aldi is coming to our town and I am looking forward to it I just checked their website and the steaks I saw are USDA Choice so what is the problem? Do these people think Aldi has their own private cattle ranches? I hate ungrateful snobs.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: grumpy1,

My favorite thing about Aldi's is the convenience. HEB (my normal grocer) and Aldi's are 5 minutes apart and it's common most weekends to be driving past both of them. Aldi's is 60 to 70 percent smaller than HEB which saves a lot of time.

However, I'm several orders of magnitude less of a fan of Aldi's after getting food poisoning from their pork tenderloin a few weeks back. I cooked it to 145F and cooked it prior to the expiration but still got food poisoning. In hindsight, as I was opening it I remember thinking HEB's pork tenderloins have a tighter vacuum seal.

I got no hate for Aldi, they used to be our main food source except for meat. There is way better meat for way less cost at Costco. Always has been.

I agree with RogueJSK's observations, they have definitely had to raise prices. Unfortunately for Aldi, that happened to coincide with the opening of several HEB stores here, one about 6-7 minutes away from us.
I have been to Aldi twice since the HEB opened. HEB has some HEB branded stuff that is better than national name stuff. We also love that they are a Texas company.

I shop at stores that give me disposable plastic bags to carry my groceries in. It's convenient for me.

I walked into one a couple of months ago for the first time. I just wasn't impressed by it. I've been to many Trader Joe's in Oregon, but not here in Florida yet, and compared to Oregon TJ's, they are not even close to the same, or even similar, store than I was expecting.

That was just my one-off experience here. But maybe it's because I'm in Polk County and it's kind of the sticks out here.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I walked into one a couple of months ago for the first time. I just wasn't impressed by it. I've been to many Trader Joe's in Oregon, but not here in Florida yet, and compared to Oregon TJ's, they are not even close to the same, or even similar, store than I was expecting.

Aldi is the budget/discount store. Trader Joes is the swankier/hipster store.

They're not really comparable.

That's like going to the Kia dealership and complaining that it's not even close to the same as the Mercedes dealership.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK,

I rarely shop at Aldi. The checkout line is always long, and I end up having to go to another store afterwards anyway since they won't have half of the stuff I'm looking for on any particular day. Regarding the prices, I honestly didn't know it was supposed to be cheap. I didn't notice any appreciable difference between Aldi and other stores around here.

No hate for Aldi but I don't understand the love. Yeah, there are a few things here and there they have that are good but it's usually not worth an extra stop for just those items. The whole quarter for a shopping cart thing is a PIA too as I never carry change.

If people come to our house to eat, free, and then complain about where we get the food.

Well they can take their happy asses out and leave. And never come back.

No hate here.
Some people won't shop there because they are a German owned corp.

After saving $10.00 on food there .
I am wondering if I should make some kind of a shopping plan organizer

Shop one place for these nine items, a second place for these 12 items etc.

I found out that I'am spending
$150.00 more for groceries than I did three years ago.

We love Aldi. Not only are they way cheaper, if you know what you’re looking for, you’ll get great quality too.

Specifically to the OP, their ribeyes are fantastic. Time to find some new friends lol.

Some people just have to have something to complain about...it's comforting to them. They prefer to be miserable. I've honestly found that the quality of meat varies by delivery more than it does by store...sometimes they just get some good stuff in.

Aldi thick sliced Applewood, Hickory and Maple bacon is the best! most of the time it is the leanest bacon you can get! It was 7.69 for a 24 oz package last Thursday, stocked up!