I have to confess that I might have done some trespassing today. I had no reason to believe I wasn't allowed to drive onto and park in the Aldi parking lot. There were other cars parked there. But before I left, I had the feeling that at least one person didn't want me there.
Anyway, I left.
But not before I looked in the window and saw that it's beginning to look a lot like a grocery store. Also I noticed a sign that explained that to get a shopping cart, customers must first deposit a quarter, then get the quarter back upon returning the cart. This process is designed to keep the parking lot uncluttered and save you money on Aldi's groceries.
OK, so we know it's not restaurant news but the Aldi store on Valley Mills is less than three weeks away from opening.
The location finder of Aldi's website invites potential customers to the grand opening on Feb. 27 (and that opening date was confirmed by an Aldi employee during my perhaps-trespassing). This is semi-related to restaurant news because SmashBurger and Mama Fu's are set to go into the same new shopping center later this year — most likely in April or May.
That revelation prompted me to drive-by the new H-E-B location under construction on Valley Mills Drive. They have broken ground and are moving dirt, but I lost my nerve for digging by that point.
One more bite: The photo with this blog was not taken while standing on the Aldi parking lot. It was taken from elsewhere, using my awesome zooming camera lens in order to circumvent Aldi's apparently strict "You're not allowed to take photos of our store while standing on our property" policy.
