On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 10:50:15 -0600,
Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
> What do you know about them?
[snip]

Aldi's is fairly common in this area (SW Ohio) and the quality of
produce/condition of the store varies from location to location. I've
heard plenty of reports of crappy produce, but I'm happy to say the
one I go to has fine stuff most of the time. Common purchases are the
..99 package of mushrooms, the occasional .49 avocado (or two), bags of
onions/potatoes if they look good, bananas at .25/lb, 3-pack of bell
peppers, etc.

I don't know if this is the case with the one near you, but ours has
gradually fancied up over the past year or so. They've added a wine
section and some beer, and some more gourmet items like jarred marinated
artichokes and mushrooms, mango chai granola and god knows what else.
The chocolate is good if you like milk chocolate, unfortunately I
don't think they carry any dark.

Quality of canned goods varies, too. In the past, I haven't been
impressed with their canned pineapple, too many unripe chunks in it.
The canned diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and pastes seem fine to
me. Staples like milk, flour and eggs are usually cheaper than most
regular grocery stores here. I don't really buy meat there, most of
it is frozen except for the ground beef.

The non-food offerings change according to the season, and sometimes
it's worth a look. I got a stick blender (Crofton brand, probably
some other brand renamed) for $7 and it works fine. Ours usually has
a lot of kid's toys and gift type items around the holidays, stuff
like that. Aldi's also has seasonal food offerings, like several
different types of stollen around Christmas, or these cute little
packages of chocolate (hollow) Santas and Christmas ornaments.

It's not a place I go to every week, but maybe once a month to stock
up on certain things, or if I'm passing by I might stop in and grab a
couple items.

Ariane