Aldi -- Kingston, NY

The much-maligned, often ignored Aldi's food store, related to popular kid Trader Joe's, sits just to the side of all the hoop-la in Kingston on 9W.  Set up as a wharehouse store, you will sometimes find brand name foods, but most things are off-brand, or their own brand, at drastically reduced prices.

One issue some people may have with them is that they do not accept credit cards or personal checks.  It's cash or debit here.  And, if you want a cart, bring a quarter with you.  And, byob.  (That's bring your own bags:  don't bring alcohol.  That won't be good.)

So that's the bad news.  The good news is that most of the things we've tried from there have been pretty good, and at reduced cost, that's a win.

I have to admit to a fair amount of trepidation at trying their tucked-away restroom, off to the side of the cash registers.  I needn't have feared.  Aldi's, as usual, surprised me.

What?  Look at that clean sink, and not even any paper on the floor! (I admit to not looking super closely at the floor.  It may not have been spotless.)

Appropriate signage, neat, clean sink.  Yep.  Not bad.

This is the back of the door.  Now you know they won me over.  Overall, a nice surprise and worth using if you happen to be shopping there.  No need to hold it until you get home.


An interesting article recently appeared about Aldi's.  Now you can feel even better about shopping there.

Aldi's website