there is a new one in gaithersburg/germantown that is pretty clean and well organized.

Count me as a fan.

Likes: Fage yogurt, organic almond and soy milk, fancy cheese (fresh mozz, good cheddars, etc.). Most of the produce - especially like the lettuce, asparagus, peppers and mushrooms. Duck (a whole duck for $13!). Pork and beef get good reviews with the family.

Dislikes: Limited selection of produce. Frozen fish. Frozen meals are hit and miss. Some of the locations (i.e. Langley Park) have rather rude shoppers and loiterers in the parking lot. Other locations (Frederick if you happen to be there, Lanham) seem to be better.

And the gourmet cheeses they have around the holidays are awesome. Got fresh mozzarella, gouda, etc. Dirt cheap.

their 8 oz bricks of cheese are half the price of Giant and Harris Teeter. My mom always has good luck finding bone-in spiral hams there, though I didn't see them the few times I was in the NE DC location (near Hyattsville).

I have a friend who really loves their frozen stir fry mixes- I tried one once and I wasn't a huge fan, but it was decent and a great value ($2 a bag, and it made a ton of food).

All of the their lunchbox snacks are good- granola bars, fruit bars, etc.

Anonymous wrote:The bacon is gross- it's slimy. The juice taste good and is a significant savings. The milk is about $1.50 less a gallon.

The regular bacon is gross. The Grandessa center cut bacon is comparable to Smithfield or national brand center cut bacon. Our family likes the spiral cut hams-- through the glaze packet away and use your favorite recipe-- Ina Garten's orange glaze is great.

This week they had Green and Black's Organic dark chocolate bars on special-- did not stock up enough!

There are 2 different branches of Aldi. I can't remember the distinctions, but I believe that one of them owns TJ and the stores in Germany and the other one owns the stores in the US (amongst many other countries, of course)

Aldi here is very different than the Aldi in Germany. Aldi in Germany is inexpensive and pretty high quality foods. I have been to two U.S. Aldi stores and I'm not that impressed with them. When we used to live in Germany, I shopped there for nearly ALL my groceries.

I went to Aldi's years ago and we bought some bread that was terrible even the birds refused to eat it. We haven't been back.