Aldi

So it seems as though the majority of negative reviews are based on the lack of «customer service». It’s rather appalling that so many people struggle to shop for basic groceries. The aisles remain largely unchanged, with the occasional switch (seasonal items in the second aisle, differing deals in the refrigerators at the end of certain aisles, etc). We’ve been shopping at this location for almost a year and have continuously found everything we need. Clearly certain stores are better for specific items (Safeway for seafood Walmart for peanut butter), but we get the vast majority of weekly groceries here… saving us at least $ 30. If you decide to shy away from here because you’re afraid to shop without someone holding your hand, then stay home and do us all a favor. If you want to save money and get the majority of your groceries for a discount, venture here and give it a shot. It won’t take long to learn the layout. It’s well worth it.

My wife started frequenting Aldi on the notion that prices were pretty competitive. Relatively speaking, we usually shop at Lotte, Giant or Whole Foods. I stopped in the other day since my interest was piqued and I didn’t have much to buy other than some fixings for lasagna.
First impression is that it is a bare bones operation. Understandably, there are areas where the business is cutting corners to keep prices down. It’s not a large establishment by any means and it seems somewhat disorganized. I was looking for some jarred tomato sauce and it was buried in some boxes in an aisle stocked with several random items.
They clearly needed more cashiers during the day I visited. There was one cashier who was overwhelmed with a line of 6 – 10 shoppers. Would I stop back? Probably, for things like dish detergent, kitchen garbage bags, etc. I’ll visit Lotte for fresh veggies most likely. Giant and Whole Foods are my «go-​to» though still for day-​to-​day food staples.

I’m not a fan of shopping out of boxes. This place reminds me of the Shoppers Food Warehouse that was in this location before Aldi. This place makes me feel «snotty» because I walk around and I’m turned off my the disorganized shelves, the bathmats in boxes right next to birdseed, which is right next to crackers. There is no logically way to shop for things.
Do I look up or down for the prices? When I do find the item’s price tag it is usually not near the item. Everything is so sloppy. The prices are cheap but all I can think about is, «it’s cheap for a reason». Do I want to serve this to my family?
They have started accepting credit cards, so I guess there’s that. Oh, and there’s plenty of parking.
Not a fan of «paying» for a shopping cart. Ugh. Never again.

The grocery store that helps you save money, eat healthy and go green without sacrificing quality! What’s not to love about this place?! This isn’t your typical cookie cutter grocery store by any means. Many other reviews point out the logistics of how the store operates, quarter deposit for a cart, bring your own bags, cash or debit only, minimal staff and Aldi brand products. However, the available products is the most important part!
New for 2016 Aldi has removed synthetic colors, MSG and partial hydrogenated oils from all of their brand products. I don’t know about you, but all those food dyes, Red#40, Blue #2, Yellow #5 are really scary! Aldi also carries their own organic/​natural line (Simply Nature), Gluten Free line (Live G Free) and meats free of antibiotics, added hormones & nitrates (Never Any!). There’s local and organic produce options, but just as at any grocery store — you’ll want to check over produce for freshness as once on the sales floor it is not refrigerated. Whether you buy organic or not, you’ll spend a fraction of the cost for the same products from any other retailer, including Walmart!
It’s also very important to point out that I’ve never been a big purchaser of store brand products due to the quality not living up to my desires… and trust me, I like food — good food! After having shopped at Aldi for several years now, I’ve only come across a hand full of their products that just don’t like. I think that says a lot! Aldi also carries a premium line called Specially Select, this can live up to any Foodie’s discrimination. Backed by Aldi’s double guarantee (item replacement and your money back), you just simply can’t go wrong with trying all their products!
I hate reading long reviews and try not to write any, but there’s so much to be said! The food industry is scary and I truly believe Aldi provides sustainable food options at affordable prices and it’s not treated as a luxury, as it shouldn’t be!

Ugh. It’s like shopping for groceries at the dollar store. I get that it’s a discount grocery store, but I was really unimpressed. Cheap stuff, I guess. I took it a bag since I heard you have to do that. I also knew not to hassle with paying for a cart, which I HATE the idea of doing. They’re prices weren’t cheap enough to justify that. I had to leave my few items with the cashier since I didn’t know until I was standing in line that it was cash or debit. I won’t go back.

Horrible customer service the cashier lady today at around 4:30 pm got frustrated with the customer in front of me cause his card was not swiping right she asked to see his card and no reason why he seemed like he didn’t want to give it to him cause she said swipe it until it goes the guy seemed confused as to why he had to swipe his card a million times. When it was my turn the guy had left some chocolate there and she scanned it I told her it wasn’t mine and she said «ughhhhhh!!» And I was like well you should’ve known cause there’s a pole between us and she kept scanning after scanning one item she asked me to swipe and never told me why. idk about you but I always wait until everything is scanned. She was rude and inpatient .not the customers fault their cashier machines don’t work. Smh not coming back

Few things you need to know before you walk in to Aldi with a shopping list and a gleam in your eye: They are a discount retailer, and some of the things they use to keep costs low are minimal staff, no services like bagging, a quarter deposit to use shopping carts (so they don’t have to pay for corrals or to have someone go gather them up), and no bags. On that last note, bring bags, or be prepared to buy theirs (even the disposable kind), or hope that you can scrounge some boxes up in the store.
Now, on with the sexy review:
If you aren’t familiar with Aldi, it’s a discount supermarket owned by the same family that owns Trader Joe’s. Like Trader Joe’s, the bulk of their products are brands made specifically for the company (Chef’s Cupboard, Fit & Active, Bön Italia, etc.).
There are some name brands (Coke, Little Debbie, Gatorade) you can find most of the time, but even the store brands are — for the most part — made by the big-​brand companies. The hummus at Aldi is the same as the hummus at Trader Joe’s which — guess what? — is made by Sabra. There are lots of name brand items sold under the house label to keep quality up and costs down.
You can also find lots of odds and ends that pop up from time to time; food dehydrators, blankets, toys, storage bins, and more. I got a cast iron griddle there a while back and it has served me well for a long time. I also got some baby proofing/​safety items and tub toys.
The biggest complaints with Aldi are usually the condition of the store and the lack of employees. The store can definitely look a little ransacked and chaotic, and lines can get a little backed up, but I’ve never seen anything I would describe as «gross» or unsafe, and I’ve always seen checkers call for backup when lines get a little too long. Just remember, skeleton crews is a big chunk of how they keep the costs down.
The (limited) produce section is hit or miss; you can find a squash or bananas that are beautiful, but the bell peppers are wrinkly and the avocados are so unripe they’ll be impossible to eat for days. It’s definitely a good place to stock up on the easy stuff and basics, like baby carrots, bagged salads and greens, onions, potatoes, and stuff like that. And don’t expect to find any dragon fruit or heirloom tomatoes. The bagged apples tend to be a little banged up, so keep that in mind.
Lastly, I think my main complaint is the practice of cart-​swapping they use at checkout. Basically, you put all your items on the conveyor belt, they check but don’t bag, and put your items into an empty cart that they have there. Then you take that cart and they take your now empty cart and use it for the next person. In theory, this is a good idea, but when you have a kid or kids in the cart, shuffling them out is a huge pain in the ass, especially as you’re trying to pay. The notion has been proposed on a couple of occasions that I push my cart through to the end and the checker just put my purchases into the cart with the boys, but the thought of altering the status quo seemed to terrify the cashiers, so now I just move the kids around.

I don’t like there the stuff’s attitude. kind like they are not satisfied with their pay. i went to Aldi today. and one stuff was putting chicken to the refrigerator. and I was standing behind the cart. two boxes fell down and hit my foot，its hurtful. the employee just look at me without say sorry. because he thought my back touched the cart. but I was not even close the cart. another customer he saw everything and picked up boxes. the employee said thank u sir. and also gave me bad face. i didn’t say anything and when I go get the chicken he was stareing at me！i was like wtf！i just wanna say，if you dont like your supermarket job please leave，otherwise be nice to your customer

If you’re a parent with a small child, don’t waste your time going here. First off, the staff is extremely rude and condescending. Also, when checking out they make you, switch carts– switch your child, who is (currently) content in the cart, to another cart. While you do so, they wait and will not ring up other customers. If you’re a parent, you know with young children how hard it can be to shop, peacefully. Having to disturb them, take them out of a cart and put them in another cart– or switch all your purchased items into another cart, is not worth the trouble. The prices are ok. 90% of the items aren’t name brand, they are their own brand, or brands I have never heard of, so they better be cheap to begin with. I will be doing my shopping elsewhere.

A grocery store that carrys some German food products you can‘t find in other common grocery stores. Also, they have good prices on produce. I did not give it a 5 star because you have to pay a quarter to get a cart and bring your own bags.

Come to Aldi where you enter and walk pasts mountains of ceiling high junk food. Yep, mostly junk food here and some possibly questionable quality produce. Grab a cheapo chocolate orange almond bar while your here– its good stuff! You may find me at the register clearing out my wallet and counting out a bunch of coins though – Who doesnt take major credit cards or checks in this day and age?!

I just did a quick go around to see what this place is about, It feels like a food pantry with rock bottom prices to match. Everything was kinda generic. Cash only basis. BYOB.

Aldi rocks. We had a German au pair who introduced me to them as I had heard of them but never been in one. We stopped at one when we were traveling and she gave me an introduction.
1. Aldi and trader joes is owned by the same ppl
2. Aldi (mostly) carries its own brand of products but they are mostly equivalent to the name brand items.
3. Produce –at this store especially– is great. Huge selection and super cheap.
4. Butter, milk and cheeses are also great.
5. Bring a quarter and your own bags. If you don’t have a quarter, I have gone in and asked for a loaner from the cashier, they have helped me out in a pinch.
Bottom line, you may need to stop at another store for a specialized product or your specific name brand but Aldi is great to stock up for a good price. Heck, I drive down from Sterling to visit this store!

I actually really like this store! The first couple of times I came here, I thought it was super ghetto in that there were a lot of fake knock off brands, but I don’t tend to buy any packaged/​processed foods from here anyway.
It’s all about the PRODUCE for me! You can get really good prices, especially on the organic lettuces. I’ve bought oranges, watermelon, peppers, cucumbers you name it. If it looks fresh, get it, if it doesn’t don’t! It’s just like any other grocery store, produce isn’t always fresh.
They have great prices on milk, eggs, and bread.
I have never had a bad experience with the cashiers, who have always been helpful and friendly.
You must bring your own bags, and bring a quarter for the cart, but that’s how they are able to provide such low costs.
The garlic bean tortilla chips in the first aisle on the right are soo good!
Avocados here are always so cheap at around 99 cents or sometimes 89 cents!
Everything is a good deal :) much cheaper than your local teeter or giant.

My favorite place to get the bulk of my shopping done.
We started shopping at ALDI while we lived in Germany and love the quality and prices. It also got us into the habit of taking our own shopping bags.
There produce specials can not be beaten. Good selection of dairy and frozen too.
I like that there is no intrusive music playing.
If you want a specific American brand then this is not he store for you. I get about 80% of our groceries here.

Not what I expected walking in here, well I just expected really cheap items but I didn’t think it would all be «fake brands». Very interesting. They are basically dollar store no name brands with low quality. I just stopped in for some juice and a bakery items and I just tried to find some brands I’ve heard of. Prices are definitely low, so if you are saving money, this is where you want to be. I went on a Thursday night and there were about 10 people waiting in line with a cart full of items with 2 cashiers available, while I had about 3 items. I was annoyed, I wanted to get out of there. I probably won’t ever come back here, the no names freak me out a bit, I’ll just stick to Walmart.

This store has such a great system. They keep costs down by offering very few brand name items, though the items they offer are most often made in the same factories as the brand name stuff. You also have to put a quarter in to get a cart, and you get it back when you return your cart. You bag your own items (and bring your own bags, or buy their bags). They also only take cash or debit. All the food is good quality. My friend loves their buttermilk pancake mix and I have gotten excellent salad dressings and frozen items there. They have great prices on fresh things too, such as meats, dairy, and produce. I will definitely be back to Aldi often!

As a german immigrant I go to Aldi for their German and European products (Aldi is a german supermarket chain) and because of their low prices.
I love their chocolates, their wines, some of their cheese specialties, their organic stuff and get so happy when they have German Week every now and then.
PLUS at Aldi, you can cut your grocery bill literally into half thanks to their awesome low prices!
Around Thanksgiving time they start to sell ORIGINAL German spiced Christmas wine «Glühewein» which you drink hot (in Germany they sell those at Christmas Markets — it’s like mulled wine.), as well as all kinds of awesome authentic german christmas goods like chocolates, cookies and ginger breads. The same stuff as they sell at the international section at World Market, just Aldi brand and half the price!
LOVE LOVE LOVE that so much since it makes me happy to get my hands on all those things without having to pay outrageous prices as I would at World Market !!!
I used to live in the Fair Lakes Area and I, as well as all the other Germans I knew there, was literally doing the happy dance when this store opened up, because I then had my beloved ALDI next door.
How such small things make such a big difference!
This is truly a good store.
Yes, you need 25 cents for the cart — they do that so you return it. Yes, the grocery bags cost 5 cents or so, but you want to stop wasting plastic bags anyways right? Remember the environment? And yes, they do not take Credit Card, but they do take Debit and Cash. ALL that saves you money and won’t be added onto the grocery prices.
But it’s seriously no big of a deal. At least not to me. I’d rather «work» a bit (if you can call ‘returning a cart myself’ work) and save BIG.
It’s cool with me.
This store itself is clean, organized and in a convenient shopping location. The staff is always friendly and super fast at check-​out.
I am a very clean and tidy person and very sensitive about messy stores. I would not shop here if it wasn’t clean and well organized (I am extremely german after all).
We do our bulk and stocking-​up shopping here all the time.
What we buy and save on a lot are things like the following (just for some examples and to show what we love to get here):
— Fruits & Veggies
— Organic Snacks
— Nuts
— Organic Granola
— Salad Dressings
— Coconut Oil
— Almond Milk
— Greek Yoghurt
— Kefir
— Green Juices
— German Chocolates and Dark Chocolates
— Wines (the german Riesling is awesome!)
— natural Juices
— Coffee
— Cheeses & Gourmet Cheeses
— Lunch Meats & Deli Meats
— Organic Grass Fed Beef
— Olive Oils and other European Oils
— Granola Bars
— Organic Cane Sugar
— 12 Grain Bread
— Whole Grain Pastas (they even have ‘Rice Spagettis’)
… and some more other things that I can’t think of right now.
And again — I love the Special Weeks like ‘Deutsche Woche’ or ‘Spanish’ and ‘Italian Week’. I usually stock up on the european items and even bought a freezer for that. ;)
I’m hoping for more Aldi stores across the area. Especially Reston or Herndon.
Again… If you go there, don’t expect the all American Walmart or Safeway experience and brands. It’s a simple store and they keep it simple, so you don’t have to pay the usual high prices. Yet they have the good quality stuff.
Ich liebe ALDI :))

Aldi rocks — its owned by the same peeps as Trader Joes, so you get the same quality without the crazy pricing of normal grocery stores — there are tons of these stores in Europe and the expectation should be that for the rock bottom prices, you will be getting no frills service, a quarter deposit to use a cart and you bag your own groceries. Its not a pretty store by any means and its not supposed to be, if you want that go to Wegmans or Harris Teeter and pay more.
Alot of products are from Germany (chocolate, coffee) Italy (pastas, sauces) and the US (all the brand name equivalent cereals and junk food you would normally find). The frozen section has some amazing deals (cornish game hens for $ 2.50 each, 4 pack wild caught salmon filets for $ 4.49) Weekly deals are also a win — broccoli or cauliflower for a buck. A BUCK!
They are going to have wine and beer in a few months — I say give it a shot — its cheap and the products are good.

So I’ll just say it, I really do love Aldi.
This is a brand new Aldi, and I was there for the grand opening on ¹²⁄₁₄ and have been back twice since. This particular store is well stocked and the cashiers seem well trained and are quick to move the lines.
The product assortment is really good, and the quality of the merchandise is pretty good given the price. This isn’t a full service grocery store, but they have 95% of what you would ever need. The produce is also reasonably fresh.
I’ve been shopping at Aldi for years, both when I lived in Germany and when I was a broke college student. You have to set your expectations at Aldi. No, this is not gourmet store or a Wegman’s shopping experience but you also aren’t paying nearly as much.
For those who have never been to an Aldi, remember to bring cash, or a debit card and bring your own bags if you don’t want to buy them. You also need to use a quarter to get a shopping cart, that you get back when you return the cart. They do this so they don’t have to have an employee waste time to chase down rogue shopping carts in the parking lot.