There is an Aldi's up the street from me. I have been there twice and plan to go back. Their brands are unique to them, so don't expect to find Kellogs' cereals, Daisy sour cream, or Starkist tuna.

I have tried and liked their frozen salmon, canned apricots, canned green beans and carrots (both for the pup's food). I did not like their sour cream. They had a pound of ground turkey for .99 that I got to make the pup's food. I plan to try their SeaNet tuna on recommendation. They usually have a package of 3 large bell peppers, 1 red, 1 green, and 1 yellow that is a good buy.

Take your own bags or get a box there. The carts are .25, but you get that returned when you return the cart to the front of the store.

This may be a place to "sample and try" items to see if you like them. The prices are way lower than other stores.

Teresa

Bobby, not impressed. For those that go to several stores to get the bargains it might be worth it....but 30 minutes a way?....no way! Skip it. The gas cost alone would eat up any savings. Not gourmet at all. It might be okay for those with little or no other choices....but not for folks that have other options IMHO.

Duane

My experiences with Aldi's, in Michigan... Everything there is cheaper but 90% of their stuff is store brand stuff, occasionally you'll find big name brands but not on a regular basis...

I don't care for their soups, canned chili and the like, way too much fat and salt ( and I love my salt ) ... I don't care for their meats, fresh or frozen, too much fat for my tastes but then again I buy bottom round and eye of round to grind up for hamburger... Although, when hubby could eat them, we did like their cheap all meat hot dogs and the odd cut bacon was very tasty...

Canned veggies are good but I now prefer the no added salt veggies, for hubby, at Save-A-Lot... Canned fruit is good but don't expect uniform cuts...

I won't buy my freezer bags any where else, very thick and very cheap... Their Raisin & Nut chocolate bars are to die for, creamiest chocolate I've ever had and just the right mix of nuts and raisins...

Aldi's is the place to buy your milk, it's usually fresher than the other stores and unless someone else is running a sale it's always cheaper, they have 3 prices, skim being the cheapest and whole milk costing more...

I'm not a big fan of their produce, none of it is refrigerated and if you're not there when they first put it out it could have been sitting there for days...

I don't do my regular shopping there but I will go for the bargains, only because I shop all the stores... I live within 10 miles of at least one of every chain grocery store in Michigan... As Duane said, if you're close to one and looking for cheap food check it out but if you're looking for gourmet run the other way...

Rita

Aldie's is wonderful! We had one in town....but the space for the store was deemed too samll and they closed out store...
When I am in "the city" I stop and buy produce....they don't refrigerate the produce in their display but sell it so fast, it's always fresh....and cheap!
I also buy some very wonderful olive oil....and great cheap wines....have bought frozen cold water lobster and scallops to die for...I don't go to Aldis for breads and for frozen precooked dinners....but for bacon. eggs, frozen sea food and produce its' great!
Linda C

With my $50/week food budget, Aldi is a great place for a budget-minded person. There is a thread in the Money Saving Tips forum on page 2 - Aldi Shoppers, that you may find ingeresting. (see link below)

Our store is always neat, clean and well-run.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb - Money Saving Tips Forum

Hey Bobbi, where will the Aldi's be? Boy, we sure could use some new grocery stores in this one horse town, we have Publix and Winn Dixie, and lost our Wild Oats earlier in the year because apparently they were bought out by Whole Foods. A demographic study was done in this area of Brevard County and Whole Foods decided it wasn't worth it to keep the store! HUH???? I know so many people that shopped at that Wild Oats, just for the bulk foods section which was great.

Maybe Aldi's will come to Brevard? Maybe Trader Joe's will come too!!!
DONNA

We have a brand new one opening soon, going in an old Winn Dixie store. It will be the closest grocery store to my house.
Although Wal Mart and Bilo are also very close and they are all within 1/4 of a mile from each other.

I'm really looking forward to something different here.
Now, if it were only a Fresh Market!

Dang it all, Bobby! I'm in NW FL (Panama City) and, of course, we rednecks never get ANYTHING good up here. Next time I'm down your way, I'll probably check one out just so I can say I did. When I graduate from Culinary school, I'm going to start looking or a job down your way.

Thanks for the responses. I look forward to trying it just to see what's there. If I happen to be in an area where there's one anyway, I may pick up some things there (sugar is sugar no matter where it comes from, right?).

When do you graduate, Pat? I'm going back to school in January (though not culinary) after a year and a half away... not looking forward to balancing homework and classes with work! Do you work and go to school?

Donna, apparently there will be one in Palm Bay, Merrit Island, and Rockledge. Not sure which of those is closest to you! My ex is in Malabar and when I did the shopping for him I always went to Publix because there wasn't much else close. I don't spend a lot of time in Publix because it reminds me of those days! Plus, I just went there to get a watermelon and they charged me 9 bucks for the silly thing.... I almost fainted when I got back home and saw the receipt. I got several things and the total was 30 bucks. They didn't have any watermelons on display, so I asked the guy who was stocking produce if they were out of them. He said they were in the back and got me one. I didn't see the price before I bought it, and never look at the price of individual things when I'm at the register. I learned my lesson! 9 dollars for a watermelon, half of which will spoil before I can finish it... but I digress!!!

I'm posting the link that has details of the openings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Aldi's Florida opening dates/locations

My daughter shops there in NC, she loves it. canned goods large cans are 39 cents and the small ones are about 29.
They put their on brand name on them but every thing she has bought has been good.

Linda

I shop there on occasion but rarely go there as a special trip - only if its on my way back from some place else. However, I do like to go buy walnuts & pecans there. They are decent quality and cheap. I've also liked their kiwis & bananas, canned mushrooms and olives, canned evaporated milk, canned condensed milk, tomato paste, and their liquid hand soap

Bobby, Yes, the parent company is the same company that owns Trader Joes, but they are two completely different concepts. About the only thing they do have in common is the parent company. (Which, I believe, is German.)

We used to have one across the parking lot from the store, so I'm very familiar with them. It's certainly not a "foodie paradise", but as you said "sugar is sugar". And we were on a tight budget, so I was happy enough with them.

We found the items to be hit or miss, so if we had not tried an item before, we bought only one. (The good thing is, if you absolutely hate something, take the empty clean package back and they'll refund your money.) For example, I didn't like their beef soups, but they had a good chicken vegetable soup. They had a great trail mix with lots of whole nuts in it, and their "no sugar, real juice" canned fruits were good (the ones in the blue cans, without the Splenda.) As someone pointed out, the cuts are uniform. Who cares? During the holidays, they usually bring in some holiday cookies/candies/stollens that are pretty good. I used to buy their egg and salsa breakfast burritos by the dozen for work lunches. On the other hand, their bread is usually awful (fluffy white, gluey stuff), the snack items are usually "meh" and every now and then you hit a canned thing that is just plain sub-par.

No, the produce is not refrigerated. It isn't in the fields, either. :) I knew what days they got their produce orders and would go that afternoon. There is not a big selection. You're not going to find six kinds of apples or white eggplant there, and the bananas and tomatoes are never worth buying. One the other hand, broccoli, peppers, onions, are usually good and very cheap.

The thing that used to amuse me is that they will have sales where they bring in the oddest items for just that week's sale: tents, computers, DVD players...all very, very cheap. It used to crack me up, but some of these items aren't bad at all. I bought a deep fryer and electric griddle from them -- two items I knew I would use very seldom so did not want to spend a fortune on -- and both cook circles around my friend's very similar brand name ones that cost four times more. LOL!

Well, the one in Palm Bay will be closest to me, about half an hour west over the causeway. So I'll be looking forward to visiting the store when it opens here in Central Florida. Which location are you going to visit Bobby?
DONNA

Bobby - I'm in my second (final) year of culinary school. I go to school full-time and work part-time. I'll be doing an externship in a local restaurant this semester also (200 hours!!!). I'll be as busy as a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest!

Thanks for asking.

I love Aldi's for most things except meat and veggies. I love their 12 grain bread and cream soups, the two they carry. Sugar and flour are cheap. The albacore tuna is the best and the catsup tastes just like Heinz. Their prices are inching up though. Vinegar is now more expensive than the supermarket. Cereal isn't bad either.

Bobby, Thanks for the link; it shows several stores that the newspaper didn't mention. The closest one is in a neighborhood that I am not comfortable in but it's good to know I have options.

Thanks for the shopping advice.

In my original post, I said, "I miss not having one close" in reference to Save-a-lot stores. I should have said, "I missing HAVING one close."

Donna, I will probably visit the one in Saint Cloud, or the one on West Colonial drive (50)... they are the closest (though 30 minute drive is probably too optimistic, 45 is more appropriate). The one on 50 might be a tad closer. We'll have to compare notes after they open if we try them out.

Pat... good luck with that externship! I know you'll keep us posted when you graduate.

Cathy... I noticed that too with Save-a-lot stores. I mentioned that on a previous thread and someone got offended because I said they were in the "not so nice" parts of town. You worded it perfectly!
This is way off topic, but...

BTW, fellow Florida residents, but just wanted to let you know that Downtown Disney is closing Pleasure Island for good on September 28th. I think most of you are family people, not so much party animals, but I though I'd let you know anyway. I used to work at Downtown Disney (Disneyquest), and I enjoyed going to Pleasure Island... I'll miss it, though since I went on average twice a year, I won't miss it TOO much!

I live in MI but go to FL frequently. It amazes me how expensive groceries are there! Publix has awesome stuff but they are soooo $$$$$. Albertsons, not as good as Publix and still expensive.

We end up driving the extra miles to shop at Walmart when we are there.

Bobby, I like Aldis too. Here in southern Ohio they carry a brand called Fit and Active that we really like. I buy the blue corn tortilla chips($1.69) -organic no preservatives, yogurt(.46)- fat free 40% fewer calories, and chicken and beef broth(.49) low sodium, dried fruit- cranberries apricots etc.($1.39) all much cheaper than most groceries stores in my area.
I also buy head lettuce(.99), baby spinach(1.69), unsalted butter(2.19)and whole wheat bread(1.69), sugar, brown sugar, walnuts, vanilla, potatoes and onions are all cheaper at Aldis.
Beanthere, I like their quirky sales too. I bought a good quality 16 piece bamboo utensil set in a rotating bamboo crock for $7.99, and a lined Disney character raincoat for my niece for 2.99!
I drive 18 miles to get to any grocery store so when I go I hit them all and buy the sales.
Di

Fit and Active - that's the fruit! Thanks for jogging my memory, Di. :) And, yes, those blue corn chips are very good.

Around the holidays they would bring in crab legs and lobster tails for a three day only sale, and there would be lines out the door for those. (You have to remember this was a Midwest small town location and no other grocery in town EVER had crab legs.) One of our friends there was just amazed that we, the "foodies" didn't think this was wonderful. *shrug* I don't care for crab or lobster. Now, had they had salmon, I'd have been in line, too. :)

Bobby - it's probably not worth driving that far to get to one, but if you should find yourself near one, it's worth checking it out. And don't worry about bringing your own bag. They let you take all the boxes you want, and that actually works out better anyway -- no groceries sliding across the trunk.

Last winter we were buying Chilean blueberries at Aldis for $1.39,they eventually went to $1.99 and at the local Kroger they were $3.99. The ones from Kroger were also from Chile.

A package of stop light bell peppers,red,green and yellow were $1.99 at Aldi and $3.99 at Kroger. They have a rather small selection of produce but their prices run about 50% less than supermarkets.

I found Aldi's to be a total waste of time. I tried it twice and was not at all impressed. Pay to use the cart, then bring your own container, watch your step so you don't catch your toe on a pallet and the products were not wonderful or cheap. Soup was horrible, etc. My closest is 40 miles away and so is my Sav-A-Lot. I make the drive every couple of months to hit Sav-A-Lot, but can skip Aldi's altogether.

I am getting an Aldi here in Lakeland! Any place I can get things for less than what I pay now , I would frequent. It opens on Sept 25th I can't wait!

Bobby, if you are near one stop in and look around. The ones here in the Chicago area aslo sell liquor, and they have a very good German and South American beer at good prices. Canned produce is much less than other stores as are snacks, butter, milk, eggs and cheeses.

They do have the quircky sales, one week Hispanic items, one week Italian or German. Stock up on those items as they may not have them again for months. The are the only ones that carry white asparagus here about twice a year and I always grab a case. Ihave bought humidifiers, electirc blankets, kitchen items all for good prices and they work very well.

The Fit and Active items are very good and they have a light mayo that is very good. I am a coffee freak, and I will say theirs is not very good nor is the frozen salmon, yucky! But the frozen mini cream puffs and eclairs are very yummy.

Thanks! Glad I don't like coffee (see footnote) and am allergic to salmon!

Mini cream puffs and eclairs... is this place going to test my diet/self-control?

*** I don't like regular coffee, but I bought some Barneys White Christmas coffee just to keep on hand for guests... it's been in the freezer since last December. Well, this morning I needed a jolt to wake up so I made a pot and it was WONDERFUL... of course a few tablespoons of sugar and a couple globs of vanilla ice cream helped it out a bit. Of course I burned myself on the hot water, and then there was a flood in the kitchen at 5 AM thanks to the "sneak a cup" feature on my silly 4 cup coffee maker... But we won't talk about that here, now will we... is that "stupid things we do in the kitchen" thread still lurking (oh yeah, I just revived it!).

Always on my Aldi list: ( prices may be off...guessing)
paper towel .59
double toilet tissue 2.29
paper plates .99
kitchen trash bags
bleech .99
cream cheese .99 flavored 1.29
sour cream .99
milk 2.99
pepperoni slices 1.89
brick cheeses 1.99 flour
powdered,brown sugar .99
crackers .99 gram crackes 1.19
buns for dogs and burger .69
salad dressings .99
canned veggies, black olives, pickles, mushrooms
cerael 1.69
bottled water
packets of gravy .29 taco seasoning .29 onion soup mix .59
oulion cubes
salt, pepper,garlic, olive oil
eggs, bagged salads .99 , butter 1.99
ketchup, mustard, mayo
they will also run weekly specails like frechettas pizzas for 3.99
produce can have really good buys but I look them over more.
Out of my weekly budget of 100-125 I spend about half at Aldi and the other at Price Chopper shopping with coupons.

And if you like chocolate, look for the big blue wrapper. It is made in Austria, and is absolutely the best milk chocolate I have ever had! last one I bought wal $1.89!!!! DS doesn't care for thier milk anymore, I think they changed the water they mix with it (every brank milk has water added, not just theirs) because he used to like it. I will buy eggs, bagged salad, produce if it is nice, which it usually is, bread if I need it when I am there, we really like their instant potatoes, in fact I like them better that Potato Buds. I am allergic to garlic and the onion soup mix they carry does NOT have garlic in it, which Lipton's does.

Pay a quarter for your cart, but get it back when you replace the cart in line with the others. It is to keep the carts out of the parking lot so they don't damage your car. Take your own bags or use the boxes they have there.

The closest Save-A-Lot to us is filthy. I've been in it once and DD had gone it for milk for me once before that. When she was there, there was blood from meat all over the floor. We refuse to go there. It's in a plaza with other stores. When we drive by & DH sees the price posters on the windows, he wants to stop. I always remind him we don't go there!

Tami

I agree with the people who mentioned bell peppers. You know how red bell peppers are so expensive at regular stores, but at Aldi you can get them at a low price.

Bobby, the Chicago Tribune did a taste testing of salad dressings and the Aldi brand scored the highest. And the pepperoni is really good, so good I stopped going to the Italian deli for it.

A freind wouldn't go to Aldi's as she thought of it as the "poor peoples" store until she realized the parking lot was full of Mecedes and Beemers.

It's been my experience that "rich" people are some of the most "frugal" (that's being politically correct) people in the world. I guess there is a certain stereotype about going to places like Save-a-lot and Aldi, maybe people think they will be looked down upon. I don't care about snob appeal, but I may be a little worried about the quality of cheaper foodstuffs. I would assume that the cheaper foods have more cancer causing additives and preservatives in them... but I guess none of us *really* know what's in anything we eat (unless we produce it ourselves) (I was SHOCKED to find high fructose corn syrup in bread crumbs of all things)!

Although the products at Aldi cost less they are not of a lesser quality.The products have their own brand name which we are not familiar with because of a lack of millions of dollars spent on advertising but the quality is equal to,or surpasses,what you will find in your major supermarket chains.
They have a double your money back guarantee which I have never had reason to use.

Sometimes it is not how much money we earn but how much we save. If you can save $25 dollars a week by going to a "poor peoples"store at the end of a year you will have enough to buy that new TV or take a short vacation. Something that your neighbor who shops at Kroger will not be able to do.

I went to my first Aldi's yesterday and was quite happy with what I bought. I basically bought the same products I would normally buy at Wal Mart but for less.
I bought frozen: boneless skinless thighs, canned oj concentrate, and stir fry vegetables.
Dairy: sharp cheddar, mozzarella, and salted butter.

Misc: walnuts, pure fruit juices, pistachios, wheat bread, and egg noodles.

The store was clean and organized. The only item I feel might end up questionable is the wheat bread but it will be fine for Dad's p & j lunchtime sandwiches.
The Wal Mart oj is 1.54 a can and the Aldi's was 1.19.
Everything was about .25 to 2.00 less than what I normally pay.
I went to the store 20 miles from us as we were out shopping but I'll be line for the new one coming in near our house.

I love Aldi. At first I thought it wasn't going to be a good experience, but I kept seeing people mention it in their blogs about how great it is and how it's saving them money. I now go there every week. They have low prices, the food is of high quality, the people are really nice. Sine this is a new store you might be interested in their employment training program. I have a friend who did it and he thinks it's great.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aldi District Manager

The next time you are there buy a couple of their frozen strudels. The Cherry and Apple are both excellent and the price is only about $4.00. They are made in Italy,also with Octoberfest coming they will have quite a bit of German food. I like their Black Forest Ham,almost like a Hormel Cure 81 but about 2/3 the price. They are a Smithfield product.
My wife likes the bacon wrapped turkey filets,they are a turkey version of Filet Mignon but take very little time to cook.

Thanks for the heads up and your favorites. While I won't go near the place when it opens, I will be well versed to check it out when the hype dies down.

Thanks everyone.

We love shopping at Aldi's for all the reasons posted by those giving positive reviews. For those of you who had bad experiences, I really think it depends upon the individual store manager too. I'm not crazy about the Aldi's near my mom's because they only provide one checker, and only one other person (if you can find/him yer)to help occasionally in stocking empty shelves. I have been known to open the cooler doors where the milk and eggs are kept and just walk right in to bring forward the full shelves...lol! The Aldi's near my house however is excellent - alwways several checkers and a couple other people who will help find a product for you if you can't find what you are looking for.

geesh, fast fingers. I meant "him/her"!

The wife just bought several pints of blueberries today for $1.99. They are $3.99 at Kroger.

"Sometimes it is not how much money we earn but how much we save. If you can save $25 dollars a week by going to a "poor peoples"store at the end of a year you will have enough to buy that new TV or take a short vacation. Something that your neighbor who shops at Kroger will not be able to do."

Wow Paddy - you certainly said a mouthful there! We do not have Aldi's here in Panama City - but we DO have a locally owned place called "The Grocery Outlet". The prices are sometimes HALF what they are at Publix or Winn-Dixie. My chef instructors ALL shop there. And they have the BEST meat dept. in town. I swear I have bought some prime beef there before. I encourage all my friends to shop there - even though it is in a run-down part of town, the aisles are extremely hard to navigate, and a cop is ALWAYS outside to prevent panhandlers - it is WORTH it! I just don't wear my diamonds when I shop there (hahahahahaha!!!)

I've never had Aldi's Italian dressing, but it was voted #1 in a Chicago Tribute taste test. They tasted 7 popular Italian dressings, and Salad Mate (Aldi's brand) came out on top. The price is $1.19.

Ours here in Ocala will open Oct. 27. I sure will try it--not only to save money, but for the fact they have stools (with backs) for the cashiers. I think it's awful stores make the cashiers stand for so many hours a day. So I say "Hooray for Aldi's".

I was in Aldi's yesterday to pick up just a few things. And I never noticed that yes! the checkers do have a tall stool to sit on. Why don't other stores think to do this for the checkers? It seems to be much more efficient and they are very quick when ringing up customers.

Teresa

We are lucky, have 2 stores within 10 minutes....I buy mostly everything there and we love it. I have noticed the prices have gone up but all in all, it's still a very good deal.....We have a Giant Eagle that charges 3 times what another store would charge and we also have a Shop n Save that's not too bad...But Aldi's really saves you money....

Well, I went to my first Aldi today! It was the one in Saint Cloud... I have a mail box there from when I used to live there so I stopped because I was in the area anyway doing errands.

It was very clean! Of course it is brand new. I was a little overwhelmed and only spent about 15 minutes in there. The problem for me is that if I see junk food, I will buy it. If I buy it, I will eat it! So, at a regular grocery store, I COMPLETELY skip the cookies/crackers/chips aisles... I don't even look down them! At Alidi, junk and convenience food abounds! It is right in your face because the store is so small. It's in colorful packages at cheap prices, and it's very hard to resist buying!

I managed to walk out with a ham for half the price I saw them for at Wal-mart and a gallon of moose tracks ice cream. I wanted to make split pea soup, and have been waiting for a better price on hams (20 bucks is jut too much for me to be OK with spending for one ham!).

The young lady who checked me out at the register was friendly and fast. She was sitting on a stool... and had blond hair, half of which was spray painted pink! Certainly not your typical supermarket! I told a friend about Aldi, and he said he'd shop there just because they let their cashiers sit down!

I caught myself wishing that some dominatrix had been standing at the door ready to apply manacles to me before crossing the threshold so I wouldn't have snagged any junk food during my Aldi endeavor. Alas, my self control was enough... after all, I only bought the ice cream for medicinal purposes. I woke up with a sore throat today (really I did!), and bought the ice cream solely to numb the pain.

I'm addicted to Aldi's Rodeo Bill potato chips: Sharp cheddar and Jalapeno. Hands down the best on the market I say as I munch on some. Also. Every week Aldi has specials on non food items and if you need it you get it at a bargain. I've never had a problem with the items I've bought. Even bought a generator from them when Hurricane Ike came through and knocked out the electricity.