Poll: Where do you do your food shopping ?

The very best part of Trader Joe's is seeing the lovely Barbara A almost everytime I'm in there.

Ahh shucks, thanks Gary. You make my day.

Robin, next to the wine and beer at Aldi's is the chocolates section. Check out the Moser Roth chocolates. Look for the dark chocolate with chili pepper one! They'll look similar to this:

After reading about this I had to make a quick stop at our local Aldi with Hubby in tow...He loves dark chocolate but the thought of chili in it was , well you should have seen his face, until he tasted it.I bought 2 of the packages it has 5 small bars so total of 10 pieces ... son had 1 he really doesnt like dark chocolate I had 2 Hubby had 7....You made a man very happy...Thank You

Watch out that Chili Chocolate bar is the Gateway Drug to Mole' sauce

Watch out that Chili Chocolate bar is the Gateway Drug to Mole' sauce

Yeah that was the one way I really got Hubby to try it was saying the Mole' sauce has chocolate and chilis together...now I will be finding him stopping at Aldi on the way home from work on his own

"....You made a man very happy...

Well, gee whiz. Not sure what to say. Guess my work here is done.

That Moser Roth chocolate is some really good stuff (says the woman who doesn't like chocolate except as a "nut delivery system").

Lois

What facts in this poll surprises everyone? To me the biggest is how how many people use Meijer. Kroger I kind of figured because of the number of stores but Meijer doesn't really have that many in the area.

To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised at how well Aldi's did in this poll.

I know lots of people who've never been inside one, sometimes this is because they are not in certain areas like the East End. Others have some sort of preconceived notion about them; I know I used to. I thought for several years that all they had was no-name, generic, white-boxes-with-black-block-lettering kind of places and they're not.

Yes, they only have one kind of flour (all purpose), just basic dairy and produce, some baked goods, canned goods, staples, etc. but I've really been very pleased with almost everything I've tried from there. You ain't gonna find 42 different kinds of mayonnaise or saltine crackers but you cannot beat their prices on milk! (10-gallon-per-customer limit, please.)

These stores are great for us because my husband can't walk far and the supermarkets like Meijers and Kroger just about kill him. He's too proud to use the electric carts most of the time. At Aldi's, I know exactly where to find everything in the store; we can dash in, get what we need and get out in no time at all with a great cost-savings to boot.

To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised at how well Aldi's did in this poll.

I know lots of people who've never been inside one, sometimes this is because they are not in certain areas like the East End. Others have some sort of preconceived notion about them; I know I used to. I thought for several years that all they had was no-name, generic, white-boxes-with-black-block-lettering kind of places and they're not.

Yes, they only have one kind of flour (all purpose), just basic dairy and produce, some baked goods, canned goods, staples, etc. but I've really been very pleased with almost everything I've tried from there. You ain't gonna find 42 different kinds of mayonnaise or saltine crackers but you cannot beat their prices on milk! (10-gallon-per-customer limit, please.)

These stores are great for us because my husband can't walk far and the supermarkets like Meijers and Kroger just about kill him. He's too proud to use the electric carts most of the time. At Aldi's, I know exactly where to find everything in the store; we can dash in, get what we need and get out in no time at all with a great cost-savings to boot.

Lois, one thing you may not know is that Aldi and Trader Joes are related. The companies were run by two brothers in Germany. They are not the same company, but I have more than once noticed similar products, especially chocolate. If you haven't been to Trader Joe's yet, it might be a good store for your husband.They are not that big either and there are more gourmet and fun options than Aldi would have.

Well, I guess it's up to me to speak up for Save-a-lot.

It's definitely not gourmet or trendy. The offerings are similar to Aldi, with a lot of store brands, with the bonus of accepting credit cards.

The mexican offerings are pretty solid. Plus, they have the cheapest avocados, jalapenos, and cilantro. It's like the guacamole store!

The biggest selling point? There's one on my way home from work.

I was in Trader Joe's doing my Hipster shopping and noticed they have a Guacamole kit, that has all the stuff to make Guacamole in one easy to buy package, dump in blender and its ready, well probably need to peel the stuff first

dump in blende

Thanks, Beth. Yes, I knew about the familial connection between Trader Joe's and Aldi's. Very interesting, huh?

I enjoyed visiting Trader Joe's shortly after it opened. Loved the store and you're right about it being physically do-able for dear Hubby. Problem was I kept going, "Ooooh, that looks good! Wait, Hubby won't eat that. "

His palate is VERY limited. You've got your meats (nothing "unusual" or "exotic", of course, just beef, chicken and pork, and no fish or seafood) and you've got your potatoes (red and white pretty much covers it for him). And nothing seasoned or spiced beyond salt and black pepper.

Ackkkk! What was I thinking? Must have been in love, right?

He's a great person, but he is challenged in the palate department. I've been working on him. Only have 18 years invested so far. Give me a little more time.

I never thought I'd say this, but I am hooked on Trader Joe's.

The reason I say I can't believe it is because I used to cook. Now I am living alone, working and going to grad school so I appreciate their halfway-decent frozen foods and microwave meals. A lot of it is fairly low in calorie too, but I won't go so far as to claim I am eating healthy. I just really appreciate the convenience right now and I like being able to get channa masala or chili lime chicken burgers instead of Lean Cuisine mushy pasta.

Plus the lite pre-sliced havarti and cheddar, SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! I had never seen reduced fat havarti before, let alone pre-sliced for quick turkey sammies.