Aldi

Wow! Although this may not exactly be my one stop shop– i got a LOT of things for such a low cost! They have so many produce and fruit options. They also had a great variety of frozen foods and canned goods. You name it– they likely have it and for cheap! You do have to pay for the paper bags as well as bag your own groceries at the counter after the register, but i prefer that anyhow. I’ll be back!

A quick update on a few products I compared to national brands. If you buy the regular Kraft mac & cheese in the box… try the Aldi version (33 cents). I was amazed… it tastes exactly like the Kraft. Also, if you like Pace picante sauce, the Aldi brand tastes exactly the same. I tried the 12 oz Aldi hotdogs, and I like the taste better than the Bar-​S ones.

I used to go to the Walmart Supercenter and Sam’s Club for everything, but after actually taking note of the prices, Aldi’s almost always cheaper… and the quality is actually quite good. (Chicken leg quarters in bulk I still buy at Walmart, b/​c the ones at Aldi lately seem to be smaller in size and with more frozen water). One con is that they usually only have one cashier working at a time, but these staff tend to be super fast at checking you out, so it’s not too much of a big deal.

I have gotten a lot of flack for loving Aldi as much as I do, especially among the Whole Paycheck Horde, so let me just say first: hatin’s bad, and Aldi’s awesome. Deal with it.
This is a grocery store first and foremost, but you never know what kind of fantastic treasures you’ll run across here. Electric juicer for $ 35? Check! Mini food processor for $ 8? Check! Digital cameras, DVD players, electric fireplaces, kettlebell sets, JOGGING TRAMPOLINES? Check, check, check, check, CHECK! I’ve purchased all sorts of wonderful crap here, including a German-​made digital camera that cost 70% as much as my Powershot but functioned longer, and took really nice pictures to boot. There’s some misconception that Aldi = poor quality, but I haven’t found that to be the case with either their edible or non-​edible products. Most people don’t realize that Aldi is one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) grocery chains in Europe, and that it was founded by the pair of brothers who also founded Trader Joe’s.
And no, today’s Aldi is no Trader Joe’s, but it’s a far cry from the Aldis of the past, which consisted mostly of large bags of rice and canned food. This particular Aldi is directly across from my mother’s house and I visit EVERY time I’m in town to stock up on things like delicious chocolates and cookies, gourmet spice grinders, olive oil, and all sorts of weird European crap like Toffiffee, spekulatius, and pfeffernusse. All at AMAZING prices.
This Aldi has a pretty big frozen convenience food section, fresh meat that is reasonably good, a small but fairly comprehensive produce section, all of your refrigerated «staples» like milk, OJ, lunchmeat, and butter, and perhaps best of all — CHEESE! Cheese out the wazoo at incredible prices. Big tubs of romano, asiago, and parmesan for $ 1.99. IN YOUR FACE CENTRAL MARKET! Brie rounds! Chevre! Sharp cheddar! I save a ridiculous amount of money over the holidays when I’m cooking with tons of cheese.
There aren’t too many things I miss about living in Wichita, but Aldi is certainly one of them. Fingers crossed that Austin sees both an Aldi and a Trader Joe’s in 2012!!!