Artie wrote:For years I never explored Aldi (Montrose/Broadway) that I always drove by because I always associated it with homeless people since they seem to be big fans of their shopping bags.

Their plastic bags are pretty much like the ones that you get at better hotels - they are a thicker gauge than the normal variety. That is because Aldi's shoppers tend to reuse the bags multiple times (which is NOT a bad thing).

If you have not been to Aldi's recently. they have made a number of changes. First, in most stores, they have added a lot more frozen foods and are carrying a quite a few and better quality frozen vegetables and meats (including some that I have seen at TJs). They have added "fresh", prepackaged meats. They carry hot-smoked salmon chubs, Belgian chocolates, a small variety of wines, etc.

Personally, I use Aldi's when I need a couple of items and want to avoid the Jewel/Dominick's and their prices.

jlawrence01 wrote:They carry hot-smoked salmon chubs

Is this different than regular chubs?

Cogito wrote:

jlawrence01 wrote:They carry hot-smoked salmon chubs

Is this different than regular chubs?

A regular chub is a type of minnow. (Many people think it is a small whitefish, but it is not).

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:

Cogito wrote:

jlawrence01 wrote:They carry hot-smoked salmon chubs

Is this different than regular chubs?

I thought a chub is one (or more) kind(s) of fish, and salmon is one (or more) other kind(s) of fish...?

Wikipedia tells me that a chub is any of several types of fish that, by scientific classification, are members of the family Cyprinidae, whereas salmon is/are any of several types of fish that are members of the family Salmonidae.

What are salmon chubs?

Everyone's right on this one I suppose. Besides being what EC and nxstasy suggest, some Pacific salmon is referred to as chum (common name). This is not to be confused with chub salmon - also a Pacific species. Often this is an easy enough mistake due to finger girth, as 'em' and the letter 'b' are very close together, especially on small keyboards.

PS: Dept. of I can Google and Wikipedia ain't the hottest.
chub
chum

sazerac wrote:PS: Dept. of I can Google and Wikipedia ain't the hottest.

Or maybe the problem is the person doing the googling/Wikipediaing - IOW, me. I now see from your link that "chub salmon" is another name for Chinook salmon. Had I googled that in the first place, rather than the two words separately...

for general education-- a fun page from the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife with info on various varieties of pacific salmon and some trout too.
http://www.wdfw.wa.gov/outreach/fishing/salmon.htm

I went to the Aldi on Foster/Pulaski this morning and did not see any wine. I am sure that the last time I went to this store, there was wine. Does anyone happen to know whether Aldi lost their liquor license?

I did not know that Aldi even carried wine. My usual store is the one in Schiller Park, but I haven't been there in quite some time. They'll give a liquor license to anyone in Schiller Park.

http://aldi.us/wine/start.html

-ramon

Ramon wrote:I did not know that Aldi even carried wine. My usual store is the one in Schiller Park, but I haven't been there in quite some time. They'll give a liquor license to anyone in Schiller Park.

-ramon

With as little beer and wine that Aldi carries, i wonder how they can AFFORD a liquor license. The store in Crystal Lake has 5-10 SKUs of wine and beer that fits easily on a small shelf.

Hi all,

It's hard to beat the evrey day price Aldi has on milk and some other items those of us with kids will always stock. I don't shop there all that often...but I do watch for the sale they have on GooseIsland RootBeer. If I remember right...I think it's $2.99 a six pack (instead of $5.99).

take care all,
dan

FYI, if you have a costco membership, 24 12oz goose island root beer bottles will run you $12.69 (or so) every day.

Saint Pizza wrote:I went to the Aldi on Foster/Pulaski this morning and did not see any wine. I am sure that the last time I went to this store, there was wine. Does anyone happen to know whether Aldi lost their liquor license?

Long time reader, first time poster...just moved back to town, so it seemed like the right time.

In any case, that Aldi location has not carried beer or wine during my time shopping there (8 years or so). It is possible, but unlikely, that they carried it for a brief time over the past 8 months while I've been away.

Perhaps some city restrictions? Between Pulaski and the River on the E/W and Bryn Mawr and Lawrence on the N/S, there is not a drop to be bought.

However, I do know the Aldi on Montrose carries a small selection of beer and wine.

DARN IT! I actually went to the Aldi on California/Granville after picking up the kids after school today, to see if they had any. (My son said, "Mom, I thought you said you weren't going to go this location any more because of the bad traffic.") They didn't have any.

I do remember that the Montrose one had wine when I went a few months ago, and that's where I should have gone this afternoon instead.

Interesting factoid you posted about the city limits, waiks.

Thanks for the tip Gleam!

dan

waiks wrote: Between Pulaski and the River on the E/W and Bryn Mawr and Lawrence on the N/S, there is not a drop to be bought.

Idly curious, I researched this area: All of it is within Ward 33, Alderman Richard F. Mell. Although he doesn't appear to have any specific political agenda regarding alcohol, his website lists a number of neighborhood organizations who may or may not have had an influence.

That was good detective work, Michelle! I look up his name and found out that he's Rod Blagojevich's father-in-law.

BTW I went to the one on Montrose this morning after dropping off the kids at school, and they have wine indeed. Usually I avoid this store because the parking lot is always full, and now I know why!

FYI - there is always wine at the Milwaukee St. Aldies, and they have a huge parking lot.

I have to tell ya, I'm at ALDI like once a week, at least. Here are some of my regular/favorite things to purchase:

• gourmet cheeses - they have a really good selection of monterey jack cheeses. There's a pesto, jalepeno, mushroom and leek, and they have a havarati dill that's pretty good too.
• egg substitute
• eggs
• the chocolate, as others have mentioned
• frozen veggies
• real veggies (hit or miss on this one)
• gourmet bacon - peppercorn and maple flavors
• sliced deli and shredded cheeses
• whole wheat bread
• nuts
• evoo
• triscuit-like crackers
• AND OTHER STUFF YOU HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR...

What I mean by that last bullet is other non-food items that will end up there somehow. For example, we bought a hallway storage bench, which was made of real-wood; actually good quality stuff for like $70. I looked up comparable benches and they were usually in the $200 range. We always get compliments on it. They have a weekly flyer that shows you what will be there the following week. BE CAREFUL though. Sometimes the stuff really isn't cheaper than other stores. You'll know when you see it.

Speaking of evoo. Man, you have to be careful lately. At least half of the evoo's are actually "vegetable oil blends" when you look at the fine print on the back. Really shoddy marketing to promote it as evoo on the main part of the label.

I also go to Aldi every week for at least part of my grocery list. Besides the items The Sleeve mentioned, I buy the fruit & grain bars for Science Boy's lunches, the instant oatmeal, German beer (their 12-pack contains 4 each of three different beers that SB quite likes), orange juice (the "not from concentrate" stuff), grape tomatoes, mangoes, sweet corn (not as fab as fresh, locally grown, but pretty darned good!), ground beef, and -- SB's personal favorite -- pot pies. Mind you, I am opposed to packaged pot pies in general because of the high sodium/calories/price, but these are identical to the Marie Callender pies he loves but *way* cheaper! (Though now that I'm done working nights for a while, I probably won't be buying any for a spell.) They do have name brand items on sale from time to time (just got Skinny Cow ice cream cones for $1.50/box vs. $4-5/box) and sometimes non-food items (as previously mentioned). The only item I ever bought there that I was *not* happy with was a rice cooker. It broke about 3 minutes into cooking our rice. I didn't have the receipt anymore, but the manager let me exchange it for a new one anyway. That one broke, too, so I just tossed it. Other than that, though, no problems for me there.

the sleeve wrote:[*] real veggies (hit or miss on this one)

LOL....as opposed to fake veggies?

Cogito wrote:Speaking of evoo. Man, you have to be careful lately. At least half of the evoo's are actually "vegetable oil blends" when you look at the fine print on the back. Really shoddy marketing to promote it as evoo on the main part of the label.

Hm, interesting. I checked the bottle of the olive oil (not extra-virgin, but Aldi does sell that too) that I bought at Aldi last week and it says "100% olive oil" so I'm hoping that means no blends.

Anyone know whether their 70% dark chocolate is the same as bittersweet? I'm partial to bittersweet but do not know whether 70% means semi-sweet, bittersweet, or something else entirely.

Saint Pizza wrote:

the sleeve wrote:[*] real veggies (hit or miss on this one)

LOL....as opposed to fake veggies?

lol. I only described the veggies in that way b/c the bullet before "real" veggies was "frozen" veggies.

bluroses wrote:orange juice (the "not from concentrate" stuff

What does this actually mean? I assume it's not "freshly squeezed", or they would say so. So what is left?

Juice from concentrate: fresh juice, boiled down to a thick syrup, and then mixed back with water to normal consistency
Juice not from concentrate: fresh juice.

There's a dramatic difference, at least to me, especially with the not-from-concentrate juices that are unpasteurized or flash-pasteurized.

gleam wrote:Juice from concentrate: fresh juice, boiled down to a thick syrup, and then mixed back with water to normal consistency
Juice not from concentrate: fresh juice.

There's a dramatic difference, at least to me, especially with the not-from-concentrate juices that are unpasteurized or flash-pasteurized.

Then why not say "made from fresh juice"? That would sound better and be less ambiguous, wouldn't it? Saying "not from concentrate" isn't saying where it is from, just where it's not from. I think saying not from concentrate if it actually is from fresh juice is stupid. BTW, are you sure about this, or is this an assumption?

I'm sure about this. As for the reason for the terms, ask the FDA.

"Fresh Squeezed Juice" is a specific term meaning unpasteurized not-from-concentrate.

Check out http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdjuice.html

gleam wrote:I'm sure about this. As for the reason for the terms, ask the FDA.

OK, thanks. So, how does:
Fresh Frozen
Freshly squeezed, and packaged and frozen without pasteurization or further processing. It is usually sold in plastic bottles in the frozen food section of the grocery store and is ready to drink after thawing.

compare with "not from concentrate" to your taste buds? It sounds like this might be "fresher" tasting or something?

I don't know that I've ever tasted it, to be honest. At least not for orange juice. The unpasteurized apple cider sold at many farmers markets is frozen in plastic jugs, though, and it's excellent. Whether it's better or worse than the never-frozen variety, I don't know, but I doubt I could tell a difference.

"Not from concentrate" is pretty standard OJ labeling lingo. Check out the half gallon cartons of Tropicana or Florida Natural.

I have always found a little disconcerting the implication that orange juice from concentrate is the default position.