I have been to two Aldis in as many days. The first was up in Delray, where my mom lives. It was very crowded and understaffed, and they were out of several advertised items. So today I went to the Coral Way/Galloway store and was REALLY impressed! Because it is surrounded by other discount supermarkets (Walmart, the Publix Sabor market) that are across the street, it wasn't as jammed as the Delray store had been. Also, they had 3 checkout lines open which made them move faster.
I am very particular about what I buy--I am very nutrition conscious, vegetarian, kosher, quality oriented, but nonetheless frugal. I admit I was a little leery about Aldi until I did some research and found out they are owned by the same company that owns Trader Joe's. I can't believe what I bought for $40, I got a dozen and a half extra large eggs for $2,19; a couple of 8 oz. packages of baby portobello mushroom for 79 cents each ("on sale" at other supermarkets for 2 bucks); a quart of name brand strawberry kefir fr $2.79 (around $4-5 at the local health food supermarket); a 3 oz. log of goat cheese for $1.99 (most places you are lucky to find it for $3.99); 8.5 oz. of REAL Grade A Canadian pure maple syrup (not the fake "maple flavored" corn syrupy stuff!) for $3.99 (usually at least $6 at most supermarkets); a couple of bags of dried fruits and of all natural almonds for very reasonable prices; a whole head of cabbage for 69 cents and a large eggplants for 79 cents (most supermarkets charge these prices per pound). I bought several cans of evaporated milk, which we use in coffee, for 65 cents a can, instead of paying 92 cents for the Publix house brand, let alone $1.37 for "name brands." I even got a bottle of award winning 2011 German Riesling wine for $4.99! (I like Riesling much more than Chardonnay, and if I like this one, I will be back and stock up.)
The only reason I am giving this store 4 stars instead of 5 is because if you go in there and need something very specific, you may not find it there on any given day. They have what they have, and that's it. Also, you may have to do some searching for items that they do have, since they are not necessarily arranged for easy finding. I don't mind bringing my own bags, since I do it everywhere I shop. While I am accustomed to paying by credit card, I don't mind paying cash to get these terrific bargains. (One nice feature of the cash registers is they keep a running tab of your total. So if you only have a limited amount of money with you that may be insufficient to cover all your purchases, you know when you have maxed out on your cash supply. You'd be wise to prioritize your purchases so that the things you need the most are rung up first.)
As others have noted, you have to pay a refundable 25 cents for use of a shopping cart, which you get back when the cart is returned and linked up to the other carts. However, there are a lot of very lazy people at this location who just leave their carts in the parking lot. If you do yourself and the store the favor of walking in an abandoned shopping cart from the lot, you won't have to shell out the quarter, and will get it back anyway if/when you return it. I picked up my cart in the lot, used it, and returned it for the 25 cents after I had loaded in my groceries. While I was returning my cart, someone else left a cart right in front of my car, blocking my exit. So I walked that cart back as well, and got another quarter. I probably could have paid for my groceries if I had stuck around all afternoon! read more
