ALDI

CHA-​CHING. The sound of $$. Savings. Oh and lets give a check mark for very good stuff. Uh huh, that would be Aldi, as in the same family as Trader Joes. Yep, you have to pay 25¢ for a cart, products are private labels, CASH or DEBIT CARD only, and you bag your own groceries (like schnell!), but it all adds up to value shopping for some real quality items.
They have you when you come in the door: chocolates, alcohol and snacks prominently displayed. You will find common grocery selections as well as specialty items, all for less than most other stores. In general, I am not a fan of their fresh produce or meats. But, there are exceptions like lemons, kielbasa sausage and the bomb thick sliced applewood bacon! The limited offers items and freezer selections are really good. Almond milk @ $ 2.25, 2.25 lbs mixed nuts @11.50, etc. They even have a small home goods section. You will be surprised at what you will find here whether planning a party or preparing a family meal.
Keep in mind, all Aldi stores are not the same. Just like TJ, you will like some better than others. This one has recently been remodeled and looks all bright and new. The one on Silver Dr. is closer to my home and more familiar, but nothing fancy. There are many around so go ahead and stop in. You’ll find one you like.

I generally like Aldi’s and shopped there sometimes until they closed for renovations recently. The renovation is what I have an issue with. You see, I live directly behind this store and they have been doing construction at night. Dragging dumpsters across pavement and dumptrucks backing up at 3am is not OK. That is a noise code violation and I will be making a formal complaint. I tried to sleep through it tonight but I just couldn’t manage and will have to call-​off because of this. Laying here in the dark, I’ve noticed that they work for about five minutes every hour — probably hoping no one will notice. Well, I notice and I’m losing my mind. I know there have been other complaints from my neighbors. Aldi’s and this construction company are being incredibly unethical and I won’t shop there in the future.

Yeah, Aldi!
When I lived in Cleveland, I stumbled upon one of the greatest stores ever: Aldi. Most things I’d want, at very reasonable prices! It cut my grocery bill nearly in half. Once, I went with a $ 50 gift card, and it was very difficult to spend it all. My only complaint was the limited produce selection.
Fast forward a couple of years and here I am. I’d been trying to convince my boyfriend to shop with me here, as it’s clearly one of the greatest stores ever, and he FINALLY caved. We picked up our reusable bags and made the drive over.
First, it’s set up exactly like the Aldi in Cleveland. I felt like I’d been there before, because I practically had. Prices were extremely reasonable, as always. The produce selection was slightly bigger, which was great! I also saw more name brands than I was expecting.
We were probably in, out, and back home in about half an hour. And our bill was less than $ 40. We got several meals and snacks. The same amount of groceries would probably cost us at least $ 70 at Giant Eagle.
My only gripes are that, when my boyfriend picked up the chicken, all of the packages were really wet. Chicken is not something that you want to be covered in an unidentified liquid, blegh. Also, I wanted bananas, and there were boxes upon boxes of them, but almost all of them looked like they were on their way out and almost rotten. That was kind of a bummer.
Otherwise, I love Aldi’s! Make sure to bring your debit card, reusable bags, and a quarter, and you’re set! Be prepared to experience some of the most reasonable prices you’ve seen at a grocery store!

Food for cheap?
I’M IN!
Aldi has stepped up it’s game over the last few years — they offer more quality food, yet still at reasonable prices.
I walked through there a couple of weeks ago & couldn’t believe some of the deals I scored!

So I’ve been an Aldi fan since I moved to Dayton and was introduced to the store. My friend thought Meijer’s was too much and so she used to come to Aldi all the time for her groceries.
Then when I met my husband he had a vision of working for Aldi and loved the stores. For him the chocolate section is the best part of the store since he’s a huge dark chocolate fan and they carry it very cheap there.
I never knew Aldi owns Trader Joe’s until my better half told me. Also about the food being quality food. His family actually shopped at Aldi for the longest time in Cincinnati to get their candies, cookies, produce and frozen foods. The reason they liked it is because it is European style.
If you don’t already know both my husband and I are from Europe so we are always searching for stores that carry European food. We like the mom and pop places but places like Aldi meets our budget a little better. The mom and pop places raise the prices because they are running a business and can make up any price they want to sell their food for.
I’ve found a lot of good food at Aldi and just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s bad. I know people think that if something is cheap it must not be worth getting. My family is the same way trust me. They think the more expensive it is the higher quality it must be. While I have grown up and learned that the price stamp does not determine whether the food will be good or bad.
Aldi definitely meets my budget and great quality of food. I have never run into any issues with Aldi’s food compared to some other places I’ve been. It’s definitely worth coming in here if you have never been to an Aldi before.

It’s cheap. It’s random. It’s Aldi.
I was late to get on board with Aldi shopping. It’s not your «one stop shop», but they do have lots of random household staples for great low prices.
Their produce is usually fairly tasty and fresh. They have a variety of cheeses from fresh shredded Parmesan to chive and herb goat cheese. They also have a few specialty breads such as naan bread. The item quality is impressive. I expected much less, but have been pleasantly surprised with everything.
I like to stop there first to see what I can find and move on to the larger grocers in the area for remaining items on my list.

I was led to this grocery today by Unilocal. (Thanks, Unilocal!)
The other reviews are true. The selection is much smaller than other places, but the food here is hella cheap. There wasn’t much that we really needed, but we decided we would buy a bunch of random items to try. We got some Beans and Wieners for 49 cents (vs $ 1 for Beanie Weenies at Walmart), some Infuse (a Gatorade knockoff), a frozen pizza, some fruit, ice cream, beef jerky, and a few other items.
I told my wife, «Yeah, the food is cheap, but let’s see how good it tastes.» We decided to have a little fun and do a blind taste test when we got home to compare a few of their items with the name brand stuff that we usually buy. We were pleasantly surprised. The Infuse tasted surprisingly similar to Gatorade. I think it could fool a lot of people, at least the lemon lime flavor that I tried. The other items tasted a bit different, but not in a bad way.
Their selection is too small to ever completely make a switch, but I’ll definitely be back for certain items in the future.

I went to Aldi for the first time this evening after learning the chain carries gluten free items. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact they even offered gluten free products, let alone offer a few selection– both in the dried and frozen food sections. For a family with two children with gluten sensitivity, altering our diet has been quite an adjustment, both dietarily and financially. I am quite impressed Aldi offers gluten free groceries, and am hopeful more gluten free seeking customers will frequent the store to demonstrate the growing demand for gluten-​free products. The store clerk indicated it may be a trial promotion. I sincerely hope Aldi will continue to carry and expand their list of gluten-​free products!

You might think ADLI is a cheap store for poor people… You are wrong, and shame on you! ADLI is European style grocery store. They are the largest grocery chain in Germany. They OWN Trader Joe’s. They have wonderful prices and you will find their brands are as good as name brands. Veggies are better than Walmarts. Bread is better than Kroger or Giant Eagle. Eggs are fine and milk, coffee creamer, Meat is better also, because they don’t recycle it like Kroger and Walmart. (inside of ground beef is BROWN!) ALDI’s beef is all red and fresh.
You really should give it a try!
Hilliard branch is my fav. But there is no listing.

Aldi Foods isn’t for everyone. You have to get your own cart, get your own box or bags, and bag your own groceries. However, I find that this store is just so reasonable for certain things that I go almost weekly. They have great prices on whole wheat bread that does not have high fructose corn syrup in it.
In addition, since ALDI is a store from Germany, during the holidays they have alot of German chocolates as well as the German gingerbread cookies (yum).

…call me crazy, but I’ll pay a few extra cents per item for bags, more variety, and friendly staff. Considering I eat more/​less the same foods day in and day out I can say that if I did my week’s shopping here instead of Walmart I’d save perhaps $ 1 – 2 a week, but I’m pretty sure the right to use my credit card at WalMart earns me about $ 3 in rewards points anyhow and they actually have produce that doesn’t offend my sense of taste.

My wife introduced me to Aldi a few years ago. For some reason, I was always under the impression that the food was lower quality than food in a normal supermarket. However, shopping there has saved me and my family a tremendous amount of money.
There are some major differences between Aldi and a chain supermarket:
1) 99% of what Aldi sells is generic. There are a few name-​brand items, but those are the exceptions.
2) Aldi does not offer a variety of the same item. For example, they have one type of yellow mustard, and that’s it.
3) Aldi doesn’t accept credit cards. They do accept debit cards, food stamps, and, of course, cash. I always make sure to have cash on hand when I go.
4) Aldi doesn’t provide grocery bags free of charge. You may bring your own bags, or you have the option to purchase reusable ones. It’s better for the environment, so I’m not complaining.
5) Aldi expects its customers to return their shopping carts to the cart return. You must have a quarter in order to unlock your cart, and you get it back when the cart is returned. Therefore, be sure to bring a quarter with you, or you’ll be carrying your food around the store.
These differences allow Aldi to reduce its overhead costs, saving you money on your groceries. I’m not going to go over all the items because it would take too much time. Also, I still don’t feel comfortable buying the fresh meat, but everything else is totally fine. I really like being able to buy a pound of jumbo shrimp for less than $ 7.
I can buy a week’s worth of groceries for a family of five and spend less than $ 50. I’d probably spend closer to $ 75 for the same groceries if I had purchased them at a chain supermarket. By the way, half a dozen roses are only $ 3.99, so feel free to surprise your significant other with some flowers and the receipt.

I first learned of Aldi’s grocery store when I was in High School. My mother, who was working at a German school in Cincinnati, was told about this wonderfully inexpensive, German originated, grocery with good quality food. My mom is always seeking the next super deal. So, she started ‘testing’ the foods at Aldi. We were the test market.
Seeing absolutely no difference in quality, we ended up making the switch completely. It was a pretty sweet deal for me, when I went to college. I would make my random weekend trips and come back to Columbus with a car full of make your own pizza kits, mac ‘n cheese, cans of tuna, beans, fruit, pasta, crackers, mustard, honey, the list could seriously go on and on. But it was all under $ 100! Crazy!
When I eventually started buying all of my own groceries, I started missing the value of Aldi’s. I knew of one out by my Little’s house (I was a Big Sister), but the neighborhood wasn’t the greatest. Then I moved to Hilliard, and within a year, an Aldi’s went up… Then another near Dublin, AND they started having Sunday hours. Couldn’t get any easier. Except that I moved to Grandview. Such is life.
I like to have some cash on me if I think I might be in the area of Aldi’s-they don’t take credit cards, but they do accept debit. It’s so easy to stop in a grab whatever my arms can carry, checkout and be on my way. Or, as an alternative, you can ‘rent’ a cart for a quarter and really dig in deep. If you fill your cart full, be ready for the check-​out express. You will load your groceries, and have to be ready to nearly catch the items at the end. There is no little food waiting space. The item gets scanned and is tossed directly into your cart. Then you better have your cash ready, because people are waiting on you! Roll your cart to the side, box/​bag your food, return your cart to the corral, stick the little metal key into your cart and retrieve your quarter.
Whew! Yeah, it’s a far cry from The Fresh Market. But check out your receipt! Well worth it!