Lidl's?

[pitstopbunny]

Good or not? Would be OK for a weekly shop?

[Jules001]

I buy a few things in there, namely chocolate, shampoo, olive oil and some veg. Some of their specials are very good. I would never consider doing a full weekly shop there for a variety of reasons, parking, limited choice, not well known brands etc.

[pitstopbunny]

that's what I thought - not a huge choice....what is good to buy there though?

[Hellion]

There isn't one near us but I do go to one occasionally however y sister does a lot of her shopping in her one as it is her nearest supermarket and she reckons the quality of most things is excellent.
Another friend whose father is italian and was a chef does most of his shopping there as he says he does recognise the brands and they are good quality stuff.
I particularly like their 50% blackcurrant squash, Frits (a type of chewy fruit strip my Mum buys them for me!), tins of tomatoes, beans etc, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Alsdo things like washing powder, conditioner dishwasher tablets are very cheap and work really well. Brilliant for chocolate and buscuits especially Christmas chocolates.
If you could do your weekly shop you'd save loads of money because they really are cheap.
And finally their fireworks were absolutely bl**dy fantastic!!

[bendygirl]

i wish we had a lidl near by the nearest is a long way, when we went we brought a tall lamp it stuck out the sun roof all the way home and it rained it was worth it for the cheap chocky and booze

[Athley]

Lidl's have some great bargains. A bit like shopping when you're on holiday. Not really suitable for all weekly shopping items but good for some different items I think.

Aldi also a good place. I find a weekly shop there can cost sometimes 20 pounds less than going to one of the larger more popular stores (including alcohol they have some nice wines)

[drchasuble]

Love Lidl. Great special deals on horse tack and oil paints!

I always buy parmesan, olive oil, brilliant sweet pickled sliced gherkins, panetone, good cheap tinned toms and passata.

I wouldn't do the weekly shop there though. No organic veg.

[Pipsie]

I just bought the other day some organic carrots from lidl's so i am thinking they may be starting to stock them...

as for doing a weekly shop there i have done quite a few times and managed quite nicely. But i still found myself going to other sores that have the brands i do know and plus Lidl don't always habve products that i want.

[chazza]

Their fruit and veg are good, and some of their desserts are lovely! They do a fruit crumble (apple or cherry) in a long flat foil dish

Also their chocolate or syrup microwave puddings are delicious!

[heathfield]

Lidl started up in Germany, where the public tended to be rather snooty about where they shopped. The company got off to a slow start, but now business is booming. People there have found that, though the prices were cheap, the stuff on sale was actually of quite good quality.
Their fresh veg tends to be very good when it comes in, but doesn't last on the shelf, so you have to watch out for that. This to me is a plus - it means they're not stocking varieties chosen solely on their keeping characteristics, as other supermarkets tend to.
My only dislike is their cans of chopped tomatoes. They seem to be made with ordinary tomatoes, rather than with The Italian plum variety, and so are a bit tasteless by comparison - I go elsewhere for these.

They also keep staff numbers to a minimum, which means I sometimes have to wait in a long queue at the checkout.

(Incidentally, they don't have a very good reputation for the way they treat their staff).

[zipadeedodah]

Not a very good reputation at all heathfield, and from talking to people who have worked for them at lots of levels, it's a deserved reputation!

We have a Lidl near us, but I suppose it is quite small compared to some in larger towns/cities. It does depend on what you need and liek to buy, but there's no way we could do a weekly shop there. Mum goes for the same few things weekly really (dog food, fruit juice, sometimes veg (depending on what it's like), jam etc and cleaning products are pretty good.). Lots of things are of good quality, but have come across a few things that were awful (baked beans and fish fingers spring to mind).

It can be a good alternative to other supermarkets, but personally we're limited to what we can happily buy there.

[jessiedog]

Good things - Fruit/veg juices - pasta - rice - tin chicken soup - olive oil - fruit/veg (see above tho) - ice cream and lollies (cheap and lovely) - yogert - fromage frais - camembert - stilton - washing tablets - toilet roll - cans of ready made coffe drink - some of their oven chips (thick ones) - liquer chocolate barrels (69p!) - dog biscuits - chocolate (if you like continental type) - their version of dairylea - crinkle cut crisps.

Never eat the baked beans.

They say that if you are not satisfied they will give you your money back.

[zipadeedodah]

Oooh yeah my favourite from Lidl's has to be their Vanilla Icecream - a biggish blue tub. Really is very nice indeed!

[bubbles4920]

i think lidl is great, i would never step into the place but since not having a job, its brought down the bills substantially. like others have said, you cant get everything there so it is annoying when i have to only go for a few things to another supermarket. to give you some idea of things, flowers are excellent, had a bunch of beautiful lilies for �1.99 most places, �3-4.99, a pack of 6 brown! part baked rolls 36p, orange juice 1 1/2 litre 69p, fruit and veg reasonable, had a pack of organic vine tomatoes for 99p, delicious. frozen pizza squares �1.99 for 6 and they are delicious, feta cheese and olives 89p? scrummy! tub of kp roasted peanuts �1.99, noticed in sainsburys �2.69. had to buy squash drink and mars from other supermarket. would definitely recommend. oh, and by the way, you have to buy carrier bags in there or use their boxes for carrying your shopping if you can find one. i recommend taking a few carrier bags of your own with you. not everything is brilliant but you get to know whats what.also, lidl have their own website so you can see latest deals. good luck and happy shoppping!