I love Lidl. There is one bordering my (mostly white & UMC) neighborhood. I am pretty much always the only white person in the store. This doesn’t bother me at all, but reinforces how segregated and classist the DC area is.

Have you ever has their coconut cashews? OMG heaven.

Also, my niece has a soy allergy and we've found that she can safely eat many more of the baked/processed goods from Lidl and Aldi than she can from the larger chains, because most of their goods are imported and Europeans tend to use oils other than soy (e.g. canola). So for anyone with that particular allergy especially these stores are worth checking out.

Very much this. They have a variety of foods imported from EU countries, and the ingredients tend to be better. German-made jams with just fruit, sugar, and pectin, no "natural flavors." Olives without polysorbate 80. Things like that. They also have grass fed beef and lamb and free range chicken and eggs--in many cases the same brands as other stores--for decent prices. Their frozen salmon fillets are pretty good. Their house brand Greek yogurt is delicious. Cheese is reasonably priced.

I'm feeding two teenage athletes with multiple food allergies, and Lidl has saved our food budget.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Aldi once and never again. I don’t need to save money that badly. What a low class store.

I chuckle when people say this. I was at Giant today…literally the same brand of lettuce, strawberries and bananas that I buy at Aldi. I think the strawberries were $4 today. I bought them at Aldi for $1.25 about a week or two ago. It’s ridiculous to make it sounds like it’s a gross place with awful food. It’s from the identical supplier as other stores, inc Whole Foods for some produce.

glad you like it. it's for you, not for me.

And this is why I chuckle.

Why? Because you save $1?

No, because you don’t for a wrongly perceived reason. The people I’ve heard from who don’t shop at these places (other than for location reasons), do so because they think they are above a store like that, but bundled in a pretext (all their produce is rotten, they don’t have anything there, etc.). I have enough money to shop wherever I want, but who wants to pay more for the identical things? Makes no sense to me- and it makes me chuckle to myself.

If you don’t get how saving $1 here and there has a massive cumulative effect, then…

Most people (including myself) who don't shop there have shopped at least once. It's not perceived reason, it's based on experience. But, regardless, why do you have to judge people? If you like it there, by all means, knock yourself out. Nobody said anything negative about people who shop at those places, keep your feelings to yourself. Keep your $1.

You’re last sentence belies the rest of what you said.

?? wut?

You say: “…why do you have to judge people?…Nobody said anything negative about people who shop at those places.”

And then say, “Keep your $1.”

Your last sentence showed YOU are judgmental, which is what you’re criticizing others for.

NP - there were several posts calling it "low class." I'd assume some judgment there.

I think that’s what the post says: non shoppers were saying shoppers were judging the non shoppers. But it went both ways.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Aldi once and never again. I don’t need to save money that badly. What a low class store.

I chuckle when people say this. I was at Giant today…literally the same brand of lettuce, strawberries and bananas that I buy at Aldi. I think the strawberries were $4 today. I bought them at Aldi for $1.25 about a week or two ago. It’s ridiculous to make it sounds like it’s a gross place with awful food. It’s from the identical supplier as other stores, inc Whole Foods for some produce.

glad you like it. it's for you, not for me.

And this is why I chuckle.

Why? Because you save $1?

No, because you don’t for a wrongly perceived reason. The people I’ve heard from who don’t shop at these places (other than for location reasons), do so because they think they are above a store like that, but bundled in a pretext (all their produce is rotten, they don’t have anything there, etc.). I have enough money to shop wherever I want, but who wants to pay more for the identical things? Makes no sense to me- and it makes me chuckle to myself.

If you don’t get how saving $1 here and there has a massive cumulative effect, then…

Most people (including myself) who don't shop there have shopped at least once. It's not perceived reason, it's based on experience. But, regardless, why do you have to judge people? If you like it there, by all means, knock yourself out. Nobody said anything negative about people who shop at those places, keep your feelings to yourself. Keep your $1.

You’re last sentence belies the rest of what you said.

?? wut?

You say: “…why do you have to judge people?…Nobody said anything negative about people who shop at those places.”

And then say, “Keep your $1.”

Your last sentence showed YOU are judgmental, which is what you’re criticizing others for.

NP - there were several posts calling it "low class." I'd assume some judgment there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aldi has several amazing items that cannot be found anywhere else in US grocery stores. These items are normally the German or Limited Availability items. Other staples such as produce and organic milk, cheese, a meats are fantastic buys.

I've only been to the Lidl in McLean, so my research is very limited, but I didn't like it. I went twice to make sure that I wasn't to judgy following my first experience.

My bad experience at that store follows close to others on this thread, but also includes my strong dislike of their check out system. OMG. Never again will I go there. NEVER.

Go to Aldis.

Is the issue that the cashier flings your items at you and then immediately starts checking out the next customer while you are still trying to pack your items?

Yeah, not the PP, but I hate that too. It feels like you’re a street urchin scrambling for coins thrown from passing cars.

Anonymous wrote:Aldi has several amazing items that cannot be found anywhere else in US grocery stores. These items are normally the German or Limited Availability items. Other staples such as produce and organic milk, cheese, a meats are fantastic buys.

I've only been to the Lidl in McLean, so my research is very limited, but I didn't like it. I went twice to make sure that I wasn't to judgy following my first experience.

My bad experience at that store follows close to others on this thread, but also includes my strong dislike of their check out system. OMG. Never again will I go there. NEVER.

Go to Aldis.

Is the issue that the cashier flings your items at you and then immediately starts checking out the next customer while you are still trying to pack your items?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lidl canned sauerkraut is imported and is great.

What else is good there? I may go.

I've been to Aldi's once or twice and found it terribly depressing. (Giant is also depressing but for different reasons.) It felt strangely like a bazaar of some kind where things were thrown on the shelves willy-nilly, and there was a huge pile of pawed-over sale items, like camping cots or blow up mattresses or something that smelled strongly of rubber in one aisle. Very strange. Also paying a quarter for the use of a cart is just .... weird.

But I would consider trying again if anyone can recommend specific products not found elsewhere.

Lidl has chocolate covered biscuit cookies that have a little less chocolate than Petit Ecolier but cost way less.

Stroompwaffle type cookies.

Raisin buns in the bakery are good.

We got some individual potatoes au gratin there but haven’t seen them lately.

I think you get your quarter back at Aldi if you return the cart and snap in the locking device, but it’s been awhile.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Aldi once and never again. I don’t need to save money that badly. What a low class store.

What an arrogant comment.

Chuckle, chuckle.

Uff da.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Aldi once and never again. I don’t need to save money that badly. What a low class store.

What an arrogant comment.

Chuckle, chuckle.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Aldi once and never again. I don’t need to save money that badly. What a low class store.

I chuckle when people say this. I was at Giant today…literally the same brand of lettuce, strawberries and bananas that I buy at Aldi. I think the strawberries were $4 today. I bought them at Aldi for $1.25 about a week or two ago. It’s ridiculous to make it sounds like it’s a gross place with awful food. It’s from the identical supplier as other stores, inc Whole Foods for some produce.

glad you like it. it's for you, not for me.

And this is why I chuckle.

Why? Because you save $1?

No, because you don’t for a wrongly perceived reason. The people I’ve heard from who don’t shop at these places (other than for location reasons), do so because they think they are above a store like that, but bundled in a pretext (all their produce is rotten, they don’t have anything there, etc.). I have enough money to shop wherever I want, but who wants to pay more for the identical things? Makes no sense to me- and it makes me chuckle to myself.

If you don’t get how saving $1 here and there has a massive cumulative effect, then…

Most people (including myself) who don't shop there have shopped at least once. It's not perceived reason, it's based on experience. But, regardless, why do you have to judge people? If you like it there, by all means, knock yourself out. Nobody said anything negative about people who shop at those places, keep your feelings to yourself. Keep your $1.

You’re last sentence belies the rest of what you said.

Jesus. She has an opinion that's different than yours.

That’s not the issue. The issue is that she says don’t judge others…while she’s judging others.

I wasn't judging you. You are the one who said you "chuckle" at those who have different views. I was telling you don't do that. Let ppl be.

Telling someone to keep the $1 you saved is done so in an insulting way. But regardless, I’ll happily keep my dollar. And I do chuckle about it - like the person on the prior page who does t like using a quarter to borrow the cart, or that it’s depressing or the stuff is thrown all over, it’s ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lidl canned sauerkraut is imported and is great.

What else is good there? I may go.

I've been to Aldi's once or twice and found it terribly depressing. (Giant is also depressing but for different reasons.) It felt strangely like a bazaar of some kind where things were thrown on the shelves willy-nilly, and there was a huge pile of pawed-over sale items, like camping cots or blow up mattresses or something that smelled strongly of rubber in one aisle. Very strange. Also paying a quarter for the use of a cart is just .... weird.

But I would consider trying again if anyone can recommend specific products not found elsewhere.

I go to Aldi just for a few produce items which are usually more fresh than Giant or Wegman's. The rest of their store, just no. I've tried their cheese, deli items and bought chicken and wasn't impressed. Also you are typically buying a much smaller package than what is sold elsewehere. It's hard to compare because of how small their stuff is.

Taking a home economics class to learn about cost per ounce would have helped you immensely in life.

Anonymous wrote:I went to Aldi once and never again. I don’t need to save money that badly. What a low class store.

What an arrogant comment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lidl canned sauerkraut is imported and is great.

What else is good there? I may go.

I've been to Aldi's once or twice and found it terribly depressing. (Giant is also depressing but for different reasons.) It felt strangely like a bazaar of some kind where things were thrown on the shelves willy-nilly, and there was a huge pile of pawed-over sale items, like camping cots or blow up mattresses or something that smelled strongly of rubber in one aisle. Very strange. Also paying a quarter for the use of a cart is just .... weird.

But I would consider trying again if anyone can recommend specific products not found elsewhere.

I go to Aldi just for a few produce items which are usually more fresh than Giant or Wegman's. The rest of their store, just no. I've tried their cheese, deli items and bought chicken and wasn't impressed. Also you are typically buying a much smaller package than what is sold elsewehere. It's hard to compare because of how small their stuff is.

Anonymous wrote:Lidl canned sauerkraut is imported and is great.

What else is good there? I may go.

I've been to Aldi's once or twice and found it terribly depressing. (Giant is also depressing but for different reasons.) It felt strangely like a bazaar of some kind where things were thrown on the shelves willy-nilly, and there was a huge pile of pawed-over sale items, like camping cots or blow up mattresses or something that smelled strongly of rubber in one aisle. Very strange. Also paying a quarter for the use of a cart is just .... weird.

But I would consider trying again if anyone can recommend specific products not found elsewhere.

Lidl canned sauerkraut is imported and is great.