Eater’s claim of the best chopped cheese in the city
Who’s been? Is it really better than [insert your local bodega here]?
by rmg
40 Comments
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[deleted]
eastcoastdude2823
Bro is selling a shitty deli sandwich for $9 😭
Lord_Papi_
Most people in this sub aren’t really from New York, doubt you’ll get the responses/engagement you’re looking for even though it’s a good mini-doc. Chopped cheeses are fire, this guy seems to have a solid take on ways to make them even better – makes sense to start opening restaurants around the city if he can get the funding and build a system to scale up the process & quality.
Lyin-Don
Claiming something is “the best” is always an exercise of futility.
How many have you tried? Which ones didn’t you try that you feel can be left out of the discussion entirely?
These should almost always be “my favorite” and not “the best”
superangry2
Chopped cheese is a psyop. It was invented maybe 10-15 years ago it’s not some sort of NYC institution.
Edit – changed 25 years to 15
ThymeLordess
I may just be old and decrepit but I’ve lived here my whole life and this is the first time I see this sandwich. What am I missing here!?
Garconavecunreve
If you go out of your way for a chopped cheese you’re mental imo
Final-Ad-6694
There’s a limit to how good it can be
snackandsmack
Looks great, but why is he trying to get chopped cheese to rep NYC? No one I know has heard of this thing until a year ago.
Jyqm
I have been known to travel far and wide throughout the boroughs for a particularly good sandwich. I cannot imagine going more than five minutes out of my way for a chopped cheese
panzerxiii
Eater still employs Robert Sietsema so take all of their content with a grain of salt
sublimesam
I’ve had a chopped cheese from this truck they put their own spin on it and make it different than what you get in your neighborhood deli. That’s fine, I guess, but they don’t sell it that way – their marketing scheme is “authentic NYC bodega on wheels”. It felt very tourist-focused, rather than looking for a customer base of people who go to a corner deli on a weekly basis. It seems like they’re testing a concept that they want to take outside the city, like the halal guys chain.
Anyways, I did NOT like it better than a normal chopped cheese. The main way it’s different is they chop up the cheese with the meat, instead of chopping up the patties on the grill and then laying slices of cheese on top. And then they put some sauce on it other than mayo. As a result it just had a different flavor and texture. Chopping the cheese up with the meat made it… soggy? And the meat didn’t have that smashburger-like sear to it. I’m not a native NYer but I’ve only lived uptown and I eat chopped cheese sandwiches often… and I didn’t really like it, found it disappointing. For reference I ordered the basic chopped cheese, not one of the variations.
Not sure why you would mess with a tried and true recipe but hey it’s their truck and they can do whatever they want. But the next time I see the truck I’ll probably be like oh that sounds good, and then find the nearest deli that makes a normal one.
JuZNyC
I never got the hype with chopped cheese. If I had to pick a deli sandwich I’d go for a bacon/sausage egg and cheese over a chopped cheese any time of the day and if I wanted what a chopped cheese offered I’d rather get a burger.
DinerEnBlanc
Eater with the hot take once again
TerriblyRare
His chopped cheese is definitely top 5 for me, along with hajiis, comptons and halal munchies. Take it from someone that has had maybe 500+ chopped cheeses since 2007, it’s not just cheese on top of meat and chopped up, he explains it a little in this video but the consistency of the sandwich matters
MajorWhereas4842
Firehouse Deli in the SOUTH BRONX! 143rd and 3rd avenue across from Patterson Projects!
Ill_Employer_1665
It will forever piss me off that people go so hard over a boneless cheeseburger.
CityBoiNC
Eater use to be an amazing blog when it started but now it’s just the same BS as the rest. I do love that he had a bodega cat.
Dangerous_Parfait_19
Hollis Deli better idc
NYdude777
Chopped cheese is like the dumbest sandwich imaginable. It’s not some classic NYC staple. Some hipsters “found it” 10 years ago and it became internet hype.
pumper911
Yes, the bodega at the corner makes a good chopped cheese but Anthony and Son make one that’s next level and worth going out of your way for
PunnyPrinter
Is that the Nike sneaker guy? He’s done very well for himself I see. I used to follow him when he posted food reviews.
Flotack
I’m a lifelong New Yorker and fuck with bodega fare as much as anybody else. Perhaps I’ve never had a true, authentic Bronx-bred chopped cheese, but I have had a few, and to say that they’re unequivocally better than a Philly cheesesteak seems crazy to me.
Just the fact that CCs use ground beef—compared to the ribeye in a cheesesteak—makes me doubt that assessment, considering how variable the quality of ground beef is.
RonocNYC
I wish people would stop trying to make chopped cheese happen. It’s a mediocre stomach filler that is most definitely NOT “New York’s answer to the Philly Cheesesteak” in any way.
johnnygobbs1
I get chopped cheeses. Godbless deli in Greenpoint hits hard. Philly cheesesteaks annihilate chopped cheeses though.
Verdugo92
Had it twice, ordered a bunch of stuff from them. Super duper disappointed.
iniquities
I was there when they were filming a part in Astoria. It’s great chopped cheese – best is always subjective. I do like them though.
I did also find it funny that they got an interview with Kyle (thevulgurchef) in it too. Don’t look at his page unless you want to see crimes against humanity.
chargeorge
Okay, so I haven’t made a trip uptown to try them but in my experience having quite a few in Flatbush /park slope/kensington and a few things I notice that have set the good ones apart.
1 super fine chop of the beef. Like little pebbles, it lets the meet get a bunch of caramelization. 2. Cheese chopped into the beef, get that right texture. 3. Aggressive seasoning with that sazon. 4. A HARD cook. The edges of the mass of beef mix with the cheese to get deeply caramelized and d produce little chunks of absolute flavor bombs throughout the sandwich. 5. Ketchup and mayo: loook I’m not a huge ketchup person but dang they mix with the meat and cheese and juice to elevate.
I find them to range from meh to pretty amazing if the bodega guy takes their time. I’ve been gone to the same guy and had vastly different quality samdwiches based on how busy he was.
From the vid, I don’t think that dude is cooking the beef hot enough or long enough. I’d still try it though
pillkrush
chopped cheese is great but can we stop with this narrative that it’s somehow the most representative nyc sandwich? unless you lived in Harlem, most people in nyc never heard of it until like 2017 when all the foodies started hyping it up as something only real locals knew about.
Temporary-Daikon2411
Anyone have a favorite chopped cheese south of 14th street in Manhattan?
TofuLordSeitan666
The fact that Chopped cheese is trendy is baffling to me. It’s basically the cheap af sandwich you only got cause everything else is closed. It’s a hood staple for people who regularly eat out of bodegas.
Tom_Foolery2
The best chopped cheese is the one that’s on your block.
Cartadimusica
The best is the closest and most affordable to me
Huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-
Im a ny native, lived in queens my whole life. This place fucks man, they got some good ass chopped cheese. He puts his own spin on it, you got chopped cheese with salami and fried cheese, others with eggs in em, everything off the menu is dope. His fries are good too and the sauce he uses for that and the sandwiches is his own recipe, he sells that by the bottle as well. Honestly my only complaint is that hes not in queens more lol
monkey-apple
Chopped cheese is overrated.
Dontbeacreper
I went a few months ago and did think it was the best chopped cheese I ever had. That being said, I’ve only had like 5 different ones.
Fritz_Frauenraub
I lived here for 30 years, in working class minority majority neighborhoods, eating bodega & deli sammies, before ever hearing of this chopped cheese. Nothing will ever convince me its not a post 2010 social media invention
johnny_moist
this sandwhich suddenly being exalted all over the internet is so weird to me. like its litterally just cheap ground beef and cheap cheese chopped up together on a roll. the best one the one at your bodega. why we always trying to make a competition out of shit.
Substantial_Talk7573
I’ve had it. It’s pretty good. Chopped cheeses are gross tho
fukwhutuheard
the original and founder of chopped cheese is in east harlem on 110 and 1st. give it a try.
40 Comments
[deleted]
Bro is selling a shitty deli sandwich for $9 😭
Most people in this sub aren’t really from New York, doubt you’ll get the responses/engagement you’re looking for even though it’s a good mini-doc. Chopped cheeses are fire, this guy seems to have a solid take on ways to make them even better – makes sense to start opening restaurants around the city if he can get the funding and build a system to scale up the process & quality.
Claiming something is “the best” is always an exercise of futility.
How many have you tried? Which ones didn’t you try that you feel can be left out of the discussion entirely?
These should almost always be “my favorite” and not “the best”
Chopped cheese is a psyop. It was invented maybe 10-15 years ago it’s not some sort of NYC institution.
Edit – changed 25 years to 15
I may just be old and decrepit but I’ve lived here my whole life and this is the first time I see this sandwich. What am I missing here!?
If you go out of your way for a chopped cheese you’re mental imo
There’s a limit to how good it can be
Looks great, but why is he trying to get chopped cheese to rep NYC? No one I know has heard of this thing until a year ago.
I have been known to travel far and wide throughout the boroughs for a particularly good sandwich. I cannot imagine going more than five minutes out of my way for a chopped cheese
Eater still employs Robert Sietsema so take all of their content with a grain of salt
I’ve had a chopped cheese from this truck they put their own spin on it and make it different than what you get in your neighborhood deli. That’s fine, I guess, but they don’t sell it that way – their marketing scheme is “authentic NYC bodega on wheels”. It felt very tourist-focused, rather than looking for a customer base of people who go to a corner deli on a weekly basis. It seems like they’re testing a concept that they want to take outside the city, like the halal guys chain.
Anyways, I did NOT like it better than a normal chopped cheese. The main way it’s different is they chop up the cheese with the meat, instead of chopping up the patties on the grill and then laying slices of cheese on top. And then they put some sauce on it other than mayo. As a result it just had a different flavor and texture. Chopping the cheese up with the meat made it… soggy? And the meat didn’t have that smashburger-like sear to it. I’m not a native NYer but I’ve only lived uptown and I eat chopped cheese sandwiches often… and I didn’t really like it, found it disappointing. For reference I ordered the basic chopped cheese, not one of the variations.
Not sure why you would mess with a tried and true recipe but hey it’s their truck and they can do whatever they want. But the next time I see the truck I’ll probably be like oh that sounds good, and then find the nearest deli that makes a normal one.
I never got the hype with chopped cheese. If I had to pick a deli sandwich I’d go for a bacon/sausage egg and cheese over a chopped cheese any time of the day and if I wanted what a chopped cheese offered I’d rather get a burger.
Eater with the hot take once again
His chopped cheese is definitely top 5 for me, along with hajiis, comptons and halal munchies. Take it from someone that has had maybe 500+ chopped cheeses since 2007, it’s not just cheese on top of meat and chopped up, he explains it a little in this video but the consistency of the sandwich matters
Firehouse Deli in the SOUTH BRONX! 143rd and 3rd avenue across from Patterson Projects!
It will forever piss me off that people go so hard over a boneless cheeseburger.
Eater use to be an amazing blog when it started but now it’s just the same BS as the rest. I do love that he had a bodega cat.
Hollis Deli better idc
Chopped cheese is like the dumbest sandwich imaginable. It’s not some classic NYC staple. Some hipsters “found it” 10 years ago and it became internet hype.
Yes, the bodega at the corner makes a good chopped cheese but Anthony and Son make one that’s next level and worth going out of your way for
Is that the Nike sneaker guy? He’s done very well for himself I see. I used to follow him when he posted food reviews.
I’m a lifelong New Yorker and fuck with bodega fare as much as anybody else. Perhaps I’ve never had a true, authentic Bronx-bred chopped cheese, but I have had a few, and to say that they’re unequivocally better than a Philly cheesesteak seems crazy to me.
Just the fact that CCs use ground beef—compared to the ribeye in a cheesesteak—makes me doubt that assessment, considering how variable the quality of ground beef is.
I wish people would stop trying to make chopped cheese happen. It’s a mediocre stomach filler that is most definitely NOT “New York’s answer to the Philly Cheesesteak” in any way.
I get chopped cheeses. Godbless deli in Greenpoint hits hard. Philly cheesesteaks annihilate chopped cheeses though.
Had it twice, ordered a bunch of stuff from them. Super duper disappointed.
I was there when they were filming a part in Astoria. It’s great chopped cheese – best is always subjective. I do like them though.
I did also find it funny that they got an interview with Kyle (thevulgurchef) in it too. Don’t look at his page unless you want to see crimes against humanity.
Okay, so I haven’t made a trip uptown to try them but in my experience having quite a few in Flatbush /park slope/kensington and a few things I notice that have set the good ones apart.
1 super fine chop of the beef. Like little pebbles, it lets the meet get a bunch of caramelization.
2. Cheese chopped into the beef, get that right texture.
3. Aggressive seasoning with that sazon.
4. A HARD cook. The edges of the mass of beef mix with the cheese to get deeply caramelized and d produce little chunks of absolute flavor bombs throughout the sandwich.
5. Ketchup and mayo: loook I’m not a huge ketchup person but dang they mix with the meat and cheese and juice to elevate.
I find them to range from meh to pretty amazing if the bodega guy takes their time. I’ve been gone to the same guy and had vastly different quality samdwiches based on how busy he was.
From the vid, I don’t think that dude is cooking the beef hot enough or long enough. I’d still try it though
chopped cheese is great but can we stop with this narrative that it’s somehow the most representative nyc sandwich? unless you lived in Harlem, most people in nyc never heard of it until like 2017 when all the foodies started hyping it up as something only real locals knew about.
Anyone have a favorite chopped cheese south of 14th street in Manhattan?
The fact that Chopped cheese is trendy is baffling to me. It’s basically the cheap af sandwich you only got cause everything else is closed. It’s a hood staple for people who regularly eat out of bodegas.
The best chopped cheese is the one that’s on your block.
The best is the closest and most affordable to me
Im a ny native, lived in queens my whole life. This place fucks man, they got some good ass chopped cheese. He puts his own spin on it, you got chopped cheese with salami and fried cheese, others with eggs in em, everything off the menu is dope. His fries are good too and the sauce he uses for that and the sandwiches is his own recipe, he sells that by the bottle as well. Honestly my only complaint is that hes not in queens more lol
Chopped cheese is overrated.
I went a few months ago and did think it was the best chopped cheese I ever had. That being said, I’ve only had like 5 different ones.
I lived here for 30 years, in working class minority majority neighborhoods, eating bodega & deli sammies, before ever hearing of this chopped cheese. Nothing will ever convince me its not a post 2010 social media invention
this sandwhich suddenly being exalted all over the internet is so weird to me. like its litterally just cheap ground beef and cheap cheese chopped up together on a roll. the best one the one at your bodega. why we always trying to make a competition out of shit.
I’ve had it. It’s pretty good. Chopped cheeses are gross tho
the original and founder of chopped cheese is in east harlem on 110 and 1st. give it a try.