Texas-Dallas and Ft. Worth

NWR-Aldi

Does anyone shop at Aldi?  I was thinking about making a trip over there this weekend to see what it's all about.

Re: NWR-Aldi

  • lesalyriclesalyric member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We were amazed at how quickly they popped up everywhere, so we stopped in to see what the deal was.

    It was a little weird to see absolutely no name brands in the store, but the prices were considerably cheaper than name brand items in other stores. We felt like the prices were comparable for store brand items in other stores.

    We were also a little suprised by the random seeming assortment of items in the store we visited. There were normal grocery items and then things like small trees and bushes mixed in toward the middle.

    Be sure to bring your own bags if you plan to buy anything, each bag costs five cents (I think, could be slightly less) and bring a quarter to "rent" the grocery cart. You get the quarter back, but you can't have a cart unless you pay the deposit.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • edited December 2011
    Also, don't you have to pay with cash only?  I could be totally wrong about that, though.
  • edited December 2011
    it's debit or cash or check I think, no credit.

    Some things are great like cereal.  They have a brand called fit & active that is exactly like Special K.

    Items I would not buy there are lunch meats and cheese for sure.
  • bsn1752bsn1752 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Produce, meat, eggs, and milk... all good deals there.  I got a pint of strawberries for $1.25.  Dozen eggs for .75 cents.  2 lb 85/15 hamburger meat for $2.50.  It's a pretty cool place if you're willing to shop off-brand.
  • mandasue178mandasue178 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Ditto pretty much what everyone else said. My mom's a pretty savvy grocery shopper and she said most of their prices are very good. I think butter was more expensive along with a few other things. Most of the off brand stuff is good, but mom said the frozen pizza (totinos size) was gross.
    Becoming My Mother
    Names for our Currently Non-Existent Baby Anniversary
    image
    Dx: PCOS 3/11
    **TTC buddies with Browneyedhunni85**
  • edited December 2011
    I'm from up north where we grew up with Aldi's and it used to be the low-income grocery store.  I'm sure since I'm 30 now and these are brand new in the Dallas area they are a little cleaner and nicer.... but I still don't know if I can bring myself to go there.

    I might have to stop in one day after work and see if they've changed that much...nice to see they still make you rent your shopping cart though!  haha
    I like dogs, but not to eat
    Photobucket

    10-10-10 here we come!

    Anniversary

    Kelly's BIO-Hazard

  • juliebug1997juliebug1997 member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    They won't take checks.  One of my older friends who still writes checks for everything said that she wouldn't be going in there because they didn't take checks.  A friend of mine has nothing but good things to say about it.  She said their brand of Wheat Thins was very good and she buys bags of their salmon and says those are really good too,.
  • edited December 2011
    I visited one on my lunch break one day, and I won't be going back.   It reminds me of the grocery section of the dollar store.

    I could see cereal & chips and other items like that being a good value there, but like pp said I would not be buying meats, cheese, etc there. 
  • bsn1752bsn1752 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Well, FWIW, I tried the milk, eggs, strawberries and hamburger meat... it all tasted just fine  :)
  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_nwr-aldi?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:102Discussion:d9cde415-e59f-4cec-a9e2-58906b368534Post:953cceca-6858-4ea3-b855-4eac5f01ff23">Re: NWR-Aldi</a>:
    [QUOTE]Well, FWIW, I tried the milk, eggs, strawberries and hamburger meat... it all tasted just fine  :)
    Posted by bsn1752[/QUOTE]

    Let us know how you feel in a few hours.  <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" title="Wink" />
    I like dogs, but not to eat
    Photobucket

    10-10-10 here we come!

    Anniversary

    Kelly's BIO-Hazard

  • bsn1752bsn1752 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    haha - it was 3 weeks ago!  :) 
  • edited December 2011
    I'm from the midwest and grew up with Aldi's. It has come a LONG way. Most of the items are off brand. The produce is the best thing they have going. Every week they have specials that are pretty good deals as well, especially around the holiday times. If you have kids or throwing a big party, get the ice cream and junk food from there.

    KellyLovesJames: The store is not for low income people, they are nice, and clean.
  • angieandjamesangieandjames member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Do they have weird hours or something?  There is one RIGHT by my house, but both times I tried to go (once on Memorial Day, once on a Sunday evening but not that late), they were closed!

  • edited December 2011
    I think they are closed on Sundays.
  • lesalyriclesalyric member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Kelly - My officemate is from the Chicago area and said the same thing about the stores up there. She visited one here out of curiosity and said she was pleasantly surprised, but still couldn't bring herself to buy anything.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • mandasue178mandasue178 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I've heard the same thing about their reputation in other parts of the country. But I've never seen any bad produce (certainly not any worse than Walmart) and the two I've been in have been far cleaner than most grocery stores I shop in. I'm not doing my regular shopping there, but I definitely go in for the good deals. 
    Becoming My Mother
    Names for our Currently Non-Existent Baby Anniversary
    image
    Dx: PCOS 3/11
    **TTC buddies with Browneyedhunni85**
  • annielouiseannielouise member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Lots of advice here!  I might have to check it out.  I'm pretty particular about certain items and store brands so I don't know if I could bring myself to buy certain things.  Im really particular about meat so I know I couldn't do it.  Unless someone did a blind taste test on me if I chose the Aldi I might reconsider!
  • Jay+MarissaJay+Marissa member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I bought a dutch oven for $30 there that is really not that bad of an imitation of my $200 Le Creuset.

    I really don't care about the ALDIs though...I care that them popping up means we might get a Trader Joe's in the near future. Now that is heaven.
  • edited December 2011
    Ditto everyone on the produce..they have very good deals. They have the pinkest plumpest chicken breast I have ever seen. If you go I'd pass on the milk, it spoiled 3 days before the expiration date.
    kristelajose-105 Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    I just moved here from the midwest, where they had them. I shopped there to make my money really stretch the first few years I lived on my own. I never had a problem with the store or the food (and I ate the produce and frozen meat), but I did stop going eventually because it was a hassle to get in and out (at least, at my particular store where I lived).

    There would be the LONGEST line at the checkout, and there was always somebody in front that would do something frustrating and the whole line would have to wait forever. I liked the store, but the other customers and the checkout process got on my nerves so much that I stopped going.
  • edited December 2011
    We go there every other week. We have tried a lot of stuff from there and a lot of it is pretty good stuff. Buy the chocolate!

    They also randomly have name brand stuff that they put on sale. A couple of weeks ago they had bags of Cracker Jacks.

    There are only a few things that I absolutely have to have the name brand. That is the stuff I pick up at Wal-Mart.
  • Jay+MarissaJay+Marissa member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Just an FYI--the best deal on chicken breasts in DFW is Sprouts. Every few weeks the put boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.97/lb--it's crazy. And they are "natural" in the fact that they don't pump them up with water and hormones, so you don't have a pan full of water when you try and cook them.

    I usually buy 15-20 lbs of meat, cut the breasts in half fillet style so they cook better--they are huge--and store them in marked freezer bags. Then whenever I want to cook chicken, I just grab the amound I want out of the freezer the day before so it can defrost in the fridge. It saves me, and now us, so much money.

    I think today is the last day they are on sale until next time. Today is also double ad day at  Sprouts
  • edited December 2011
    I gotta find a Sprouts!!
    kristelajose-105 Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • Buttercup509Buttercup509 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Marissa - What does double ad day mean?
  • Buttercup509Buttercup509 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Nevermind, I went to their website. Thanks for the tip about the chicken breasts!
  • Jay+MarissaJay+Marissa member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    They put out their new ad every Wednesday, but they honor last weeks on that day as well. So you get the specials from two weeks on one day.

    Ooo 99 cent blueberries this week! And 77 cent peaches! I'm going to miss having a sprouts close by
  • edited December 2011
    The Aldis we go to are very clean and nice. Will buy anything boxed/canned, eggs, milk, OJ, bread. The only thing I won't buy there is meat. We bought frozen burgers and were pretty bad. Other than that, it's been a pleasant and inexpensive experience! And easy to get in and out of!

    If you don't have a bag, they will let you take an empty box to put groceries in. We do that all the time.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards