Anyone here shop at ALDI?

I've been a few times....no frills, no varieties, but good prices on what you can find.

You would have a tough time making it your only grocery stop.

No variety and mostly generic house brand items. Quality seems fine to good on the items I've tried. I buy their house brand fairlife milk, dave's killer bread copy, spring mix salad, eggs, and the pain au chocolat whenever I go in. They sometimes have Kimbap in the freezer which is pretty good and I'll buy a couple when I see it. Not my main grocery stop but i'll stop there when I'm nearby and I'm just looking for a quick stop to buy a few things to throw together a meal.

I've gotten some interesting items in the Isle of Shame. My favorite being this ridiculously ugly Sherpa jacket for like $14. I bought it as a joke to annoy the wife with and the mountain bike team I coach uses the same color scheme so I thought the kids might get a kick out of it. I have a very similarly designed North Face jacket and I have to say my Aldi version actually feels higher quality and better built.

Another staple I'll get from Aldi is their Bronze cut pasta. If you like the Rao's bronze cut dried pasta that's just made from Durham wheat semolina and water. You'll like the Aldi version. So it's $2 v. $3 for the Rao's in a regular grocery store. Again, not worth driving there on its own to save $1 on a package of pasta but if I happen to be by there I'll stop and grab a few things.

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haven’t found the allure yet

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The extended family of the owners of trader Joe's also own aldi. Not exactly the same concept, but though # of options are sparse, they have some really interesting items a really good price point.

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have to pay to use their shopping carts

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Technically not true, you have to put a quarter in the slot, but get your quarter back when you return the cart to the stall

Aldi's has a great selection of nuts and cheeses at affordable prices. I love their snacks.

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Aldi's has a great selection of nuts

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Aldi’s nuts

Not much variety, but the prices are cheap. The store brands are generally decent. Lidl is similar, bigger, with more choices, and a good bakery. There aren't as many Lidls though.

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When the old man who started Aldi died, his two sons took over. They got into an argument about cigarettes- one wanted to sell them, the other thought it would attract shoplifters. So they split the company. One of the companies owns Aldi in us, the other owns Trader Joe's/

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Pretty much correct. The split became Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud in Germany (where the company is from).

Aldi Nord bought TJs a few years back. Aldi Sud is what we know of as "Aldi" here in the US.

<---- lived in Germany for several years and found the story fascinating. Aldi Sud > Aldi Nord btw.

Also as for the shopping cart thing, we had these little plastic discs that approximated a Euro coin so you didn't have to use actual money to use the shopping carts.