Lidl — Local services in East Hempfield Township

I'm not one to leave reviews and when I do it's usually a good one but I just have to tell you today was an experience that I want to share that I encountered at the store lidl. First of all he didn't find the shopping experience all that great I did find some deals. I was very disappointed in the produce section. Not a big selection. The broccoli was all brown needed to be replaced with a new batch. Two aisles of just crap meaning I don't know house goods whatever. Meet selection was great however ground beef was very expensive. I get better deals at Aldi. Some things on my list I could not find or they didn't have. A lot of Frozen foods. Then checking out the gentleman was kind enough to let me know I did get a discount if I used a little app which I did I saved $15. Then I went to use an EBT card which no not because of me because of my grandchild who has mental issues that is why I have it however it was declined and he got smug with me and said it was declined and I said well why. He said well you have to enter the amount you want to use on the card and I said well your machine did not ask me for that again he got smug and he says well we need to know that! And at that point I got smug he called the manager and I explained to the manager why the check out service guy was rude. He acted like I was stupid. Went to bag and a customer that was behind me but in and said to the manager no he was not rude. I said mind your own business please this has nothing to do with you. They did nothing or said nothing to him. Will never go back spend more there than I do at Aldi. Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a better...

I must begin by saying: there's nothing wrong with Lidl. Overall I was mostly satisfied. If Aldi wasn't a quarter mile down the road, this rating would be higher, but it is, and Lidl just simply doesn't compare. Aldi has much better prices, and overall I think it has a better selection of items I'd actually want to buy. Lidl unquestionably has a higher overall selection - and maybe that will benefit you personally - but for me, it just doesn't. More importantly, I feel Aldi does a better job of offering items for dairy and gluten restricted diets, which is a priority for me.

A lot of the higher selection at Lidl is in a way that doesn't functionally matter to me either. For instance, it might have 5 brands of cherry tomatoes. Aldi has 2. But it's still just cherry tomatoes. I don't need five varieties. I'm still going to be able to get cherry tomatoes at either location. Lidl does have more brand name items, too (hellmans, heinz, jif, etc) but that doesn't appeal to me either, and the price on those isn't substantially different than in a store like Giant or Wegmans. Overall, if Aldi didn't exist, I'd shop at Lidl every week, but since it does, I'll be going back to Aldi for my primary shopping location.

Update: Lidl has grown on me. They do have things I like to get that Aldi doesn't carry. While I still go to Aldi most of the time, I'd say every third shopping I do has been at lidle to stock up on some of those items that I can't...

The Husband and I are German, and my Husband was a district supervisor for Lidl in Germany back in the 80s, so this is a little bit of home for us.

By far some of the best prices around for groceries. We usually buy our produce at stands or grow ourselves, but if we have to buy produce, it's pretty good here as well. Usually very fresh. Their avocados during the summer are spot-on.

If you are a brands-freak, this is not the place for you to shop. If you frequently buy store brand goods, though, give Lidl a try. Most of their own branded goods come from Europe. I do still read labels, though, and was a bit appalled at the ingredients in some of their German products like Apple Strudel or Plum Cake, their Italian Gelato, etc. But I guess that's everywhere now and stuff has to have a shelf life.

They have a junk aisle, sort of like Aldi. Fun to look at some of the stuff.

The best part, they have a bakery with German bread products like pretzels, rolls and good loaves of German bread, which is otherwise difficult to get here in the states. I was told they get the dough from Germany and bake fresh every day. My favorites: the flaky croissants, the pizza bread and the egg custard cups, or "pastel de nata," like you can get in Portugal.

Bring your own bag, unless you want to pay for one. Just like in Germany, you bag your own groceries. My advice: throw everything back in your cart and then use the bagging area by the window to...