When Aldi first arrived in town a couple of years ago, all the stores were in outlying areas. I made the trek out to Hwy 6 in Sugar Land a couple of times and once down to Missouri City before deciding it wasn’t worth the drive (about 40-45 mins each way, as I recall).
This new one opened a couple of months ago about 20 blocks from me (Bissonnet @ Beechnut) and I got around to checking it out recently. It’s been getting its share of raves and rants on Next Door Neighbor.
First impression - this store is larger. After several visits though, I’m not so sure of that assessment. It may just be that the front end of the store is wide open; instead of being forced all the way down one aisle to the middle of the store, you can head to any aisle you want, including the freezers on the opposite wall, right from the entryway.
The produce section is still small but the produce at this store is much better looking that what I had seen before. It won’t be my main store for produce but I did pick up some excellent strawberries on the first trip, best I’ve tasted in years, and have found lettuce and bagged salads okay. On my latest trip I picked up some organic kiwis but haven’t tried them yet. A side by side taste test of the Aldi Scarlet Pearls grape tomatoes (Mexico) vs. TJ’s grape tomatoes (US) was a clear win for the Aldi product (neither organic).
I have had a thing for sandwiches lately and tried some sandwich slices. Another side-by-side taste test of the Aldi sliced Muenster vs. TJ’s I found them very close but the Aldi cheese was slightly more flavorful.
I was surprised to see some name brand Mexican products - cookies, Valentina and La Tapatia hot sauces, an Old El Paso taco kit, 2 types of flour tortillas (Mission and one other I can’t remember). There are also some Mexican products whose names I don’t recognize and so assume to be generics.
And I saw some Cajun products whose names I didn’t recognize - jambalaya mix, red beans and rice mix, etc.
I don’t remember seeing any of these a couple of years ago but I may have just missed them.
I have mentioned before I live in a part of town devoid of really good grocery stores - I have 2 Walmart Neighborhood Markets, 2 small, older Fiestas, 1 old (though recently refurbished), very small HEB, a Food Town, a Joe V’s and the very expensive Belden’s. I have to drive a long distance for a good HEB or Fiesta much less Phoenicia, CM, etc.
I’m very glad to have this new store to offer some more options close to home.