Aldi has been cropping up here, there, everywhere on social media and some friends who went would return saying, "You HAVE to go." These starry eyed friends talked about Aldi with the kind of reverence some people reserve for Disneyland. It's affordable! It's innovative, those carts! Bring your bags! European chocolate and cheese! What was this place though? An equivalent of TJ's? Or Walmart? Why do they sell bath mats alongside onions? Truthfully, I was happy with my local TJ's but they had me at European chocolate and cheese because those friends across the pond gave us Nutella. *Bows in thanks*
So my first venture to Aldi started with getting a cart, and I did my homework and came prepared with my quarter and brandished it not sure where the coin slot would be. I inserted my quarter into the slot on the right of the cart and the chain link released from the other carts with a satisfying clink! And so I passed my first Aldi initiation and I was free to peruse the store. It looked a bit like a miniaturized Costco with products still in the boxes they were likely shipped to the store in, and the strange assortment of non-food items in the middle of the store with food items on the perimeters.
But first, chocolate! So I plopped a few hazelnut milk chocolate crisp bars near the entrance into my cart and continued on to find some brands I recognized, and some I almost recognized (Is that you, Recess Puffs cereal?? Oh hm Chocolate Peanut Butter Puffs.. ok yeah I guess I know you too... *hesitantly plops into cart*). So you can see how people who shop at larger chain grocery stores like Ralph's may be elated to find their Pop tarts at nearly half the price at Aldi's. And this being LA county, the mecca of multi-ethnic food here in California, I even found a 5-pack of legit Korean Shin Ramen selling for even cheaper than at the Korean grocery stores. I was thoroughly impressed, and even joyful when I saw my receipt at the end of my visit.
While the layout of the store isn't cheerful like at TJ's, Aldi's employees free from having to individually stock products are free to spend more time cleaning. This must be why the store was immaculate. There was one employee riding a floor polishing/cleaning machine the whole time I was there over the already shining floor, and I could have sworn he was following me cleaning my trailing footsteps like Mo in the Wall-E movie.
Now if I had to be picky, I admit Aldi's fresh produce collection was underwhelming. The condition of the lettuce had me hoping that these things weren't also shipped from Europe because they looked like they went through some rough times to get to that Aldi shelf. Ditto on those skinny asparagus. I would also skip the frozen salmon. I brought those home and they were falling apart once defrosted with an unpleasant grey cast and smelled something terrible. I always thought that chefs we're pulling my leg when they say you should toss fish if they smell fishy. I thought, what are you even talking about Gordon Ramsay, it's fish, they smell fishy! But no... Gordon was right. There's fishy.. and then there's fiiiishhyyy. And that salmon was fiiiiiiissshhhyyy.
So here's to hoping Aldi improves some of their fresh food options, and hope they keep up the great job doing what they do. Those carts are in fact brilliant. I didn't find one parking space occupied by a cart when I parked here and that was a breath of fresh air and a stroke of genius. read more