ALDI — Local services in Madison

First, be prepared. 1) Bring your own bags. 2) You need a quarter to get a cart. When you return your cart, you get your quarter back. (Also if you forgot a quarter don't go back home, just ask a cashier for help.)

Aldi has almost everything you need. You can get through the store quickly and save money on practically every item. The food is high quality. Later you will need to go to another store to get persnickety items like your favorite soy yogurt or that one brand of spicy ramen noodles you can't live without. But it's worth it. Aldi stocks fewer items so you can shop efficiently and save money.

You know how a regular grocery store might have, say 15 different brands and varieties of canned garbanzo beans? Aldi does not. They keep their prices low by limiting the number of items they shelve. They have just one garbanzo option. Products are displayed in the boxes they are shipped in and often two products are boxed together, which cuts in half the number of boxes an employee has to hoist onto a shelf. For instance, garbanzos and black eyed peas might live in the same box. With fewer items, you don't have to pay extra for an employee to take inventory on 15 nearly identical products and individually shelve 20 cans of each variety. You don't need to pitch in for the rent on those extra square feet of real estate and the electric bill to heat and illuminate all that extra space needed to display all those other options you are not going to buy. You don't have to spend 10 minutes navigating a canned goods aisle that's 100 feet long either. You can browse the Aldi bean section in seconds, locate the thing you need, and quickly move on. Which one? Garbanzo. Bam. Simple. Efficient. Cost saving.

Aldi produce is excellent! I have enjoyed every single fruit and veggie I have purchased in the past 10 years. But I don't buy their potatoes. I gave up on Aldi potatoes after the gross smelly juices of a rotten potato got onto my cart more than once. I also don't trust the flour because one time6 I opened a brand new package of flour and found little wormy bugs.

Despite my distrust of those two items, Aldi is still a five star store. The dark chocolate is excellent. The frozen section has many gems like amazing black bean burgers, frozen mixed seafood, and seasonal frozen fruit for delicious smoothies. Sushi snobs shield your eyes--I like Aldi's frozen sushi, easy to throw in my lunch box and thaws by lunch time. Great coffee, especially for the price. Windmill cookies. Dried fruits and nuts. Quinoa and jasmine rice. Cheesecake sampler.

Mm-kay, one more downside, the meat packages are often leaky--just handle with care and put meats in your cart away from other stuff just in case the juices ooze out. Perhaps grab an empty box from a nearby display to sequester potentially leaky meats.

The seasonal aisle is the biggest upside of all, like a tiny glimpse into an incredibly affordable department store. Imagine if TJ Maxx was just one aisle and featured a rotating collection of interesting modern artifacts. One week you might see car stuff and yard items, and the next week it's pots, pans, cooking utensils, area rugs and children's toys. They only have limited space and limited time to sell the items, so they pick pretty good stuff, and every visit is a new adventure to see what they'll feature next.

If you want to shop at only one store, you'll have to commit to a two hour trek through the crowded and dirty aisles of Woodman's. This is in fact the preference of many people who can tolerate a crowded and dirty two hour slog through a grocery store. I can't. And I have to go to a few different stores anyway. One week I go to Aldi. The next week I get my persnickety brands/items from Pick and Save or the Willy Street Co-op. At some point I need to hit up the Mexican grocery for the best corn tortillas, prepared salsas and nopales, and a Mexican butcher that does all the best cuts. Eventually I make my way back to Aldi. I like variety. I like stores that are easy and fun to shop in. I like efficiency and...

I recently shopped at Aldi on 3925 Lien Road in Madison, WI and I have to say they were very rude. As a shopper there we bag our own grocery. I did leave broccoli and chicken behind; when I returned to the store promptly to retrieve my items the broccoli was in a box with some other items that appeared to be in a return box. The chicken was not there but it was clear that was my broccoli. I said something to the checkout girl as I didn't want to just take it. The girl who checked me out was on break or something and nobody seemed to know anything, they were not helpful and made me feel like I was lying. The manager I am assuming that is who she was- also very very rude and said to me 'well you are responsible for bagging your own groceries'...Ok I get that so I left my Aldi bags and left the store and went somewhere else to purchase my 2 items. They were rude, not sorry and not at all helpful. I will never shop...

They have lost my business. Please understand I'm a fan of the Aldi Franchise. I've been going to this particularAldi location for over 8 years. At first, fine service and selection. Now, I have found that many of their prices at similar to the local Woodmans, I have seen staff be rude to customers, and now they will not accept older bills despite the fact they are legal tender and they have not posting of their policy. The only reason inwas given on the bill matter was thatbtheir bank will not accept older bills. As a financial service professional, i canntell you this is incorrect. You make your own choice, but I've had it. I will gladly drive to another Aldi location and give them...