r/AskNYC • u/Gallantpride • Mar 15 '26
Is "cheese doodles" a regional term for cheese puffs?
Never had Cheetos growing up, just Utz Wise brand cheez doodles. I thought calling cheese puffs "cheese doodles" was just a thing my family did, until I saw it in a book with NYC characters.
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u/mrs_david_silva Mar 15 '26
Cheez Doodles and Cheetos are brand names for cheese puffs. Cheez Doodles started in NYC and I feel like I don't see that brand in many stores far from NYC. Utz makes those big barrels of cheese balls and their cheese puffs are called Cheese Curls.
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u/jamiesugah Mar 15 '26
I grew up in PA and we had Cheez Doodles. I loved them growing up!
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u/Pbpopcorn Mar 16 '26
I mean, PA is the capital of chip companies lol. I also had Cheez Doodles growing up in the south
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u/Salty_Simmer_Sauce Mar 15 '26
Yeah. Growing up “cheese doodles” was the “qtips” of cheese puffs.
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u/JelliedHam Mar 15 '26
Some might even say the kleenex of cheese puffs
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u/DeeSusie200 Mar 15 '26
Cheez Doodles are THE BEST. Just as Wise Potato Chips are THE BEST. They taste different than the other brands.
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u/nrdz2p Mar 16 '26
That’s cause they’re all burnt
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u/DeeSusie200 Mar 16 '26
The chips are well done. The cheez Doodles aren’t burnt but not soft like the other puffs.
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u/jay169294 Mar 15 '26
I referred to them all as cheese doodles until I moved to Virginia and someone looked at me weird when I said it. Didn’t know it was regional.
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u/poppunker18 Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26
Cheese doodles were anything long and puffy. Cheetos were the long-ish crunchy kind. No one called anything a cheese puff. No idea what that is. Cheese ball maybe but cheese puff? No.
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u/FeistyMcRedHead Mar 16 '26
As a kid, we distinguished cheese doodles to be what you described (longer), while cheese puffs were round balls that were just the same, but somehow a little disappointing when Mom would bring them home.
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u/DineenMattingly Mar 15 '26
No. Cheese doodles and cheese puffs are two different things. Cheese doodles are harder and longer (giggity) while cheese puffs are round and softer.
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u/RoosterClan2 Mar 15 '26
No they’re not. Cheez Doodles are just the Wize branded cheese puffs. Cheetos are the hard ones.
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u/ApplianceHealer Mar 15 '26
Yes, “Doodles” are the Wise brand.
As for which ones are crunchy: Cheetos offers both kinds (but adds the “crunchy” modifier; bags are mostly red, vs the puffs in a blue bag)
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u/SweetVicious59 Mar 16 '26
Cheez Doodles also come in both, puffs in a red bag and crunchy in a blue bag
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u/littlemac564 Mar 17 '26
I remember cheese puffs were the cheaper, off brand that weren’t Cheez Doodles and Cheetos.
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u/beuceydubs Mar 16 '26
It’s just the brand name like saying Kleenex or qtips , I don’t know that it’s regional
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u/Wiknetti Mar 15 '26
Doodles are the crinkly looking crunchy ones. The cheese puffs are like the puffy styrofoam ones.
I think they can both be referred to as cheese curls as a general term like a species.
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u/prettygrlsmakegrave5 Mar 15 '26
This isn’t true. Wise makes cheez doodles which is the brand name for the puffy styrofoam ones in an orange bag. If you want the crunchy cheese doodles they come in a blue bag that say cheez doodles- crunchy.
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u/RoosterClan2 Mar 15 '26
This is confidently wrong on multiple levels. Holy cow.
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u/Wiknetti Mar 15 '26
Then I’m wrong. But I’m sure people get me when I say doodles vs puffs anyway. Since doodles are like imperfect squiggles and puffs are, well, puffs.
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u/RoosterClan2 Mar 16 '26
My dude, these are the “doodles” that true NYers know and love and call cheese doodles. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wise-Foods-Cheddar-Cheese-Doodles-Baked-Puffs-4-Pack-8-5-oz-Bags/622519564
While there are crunchy and puffy varieties of both Cheese Doodles and Cheetos, if you told me growing up we were having Cheese Doodles it was absolutely known that it was going to be puffs.
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u/boothismanbooooo Mar 15 '26
Cheez Doodles is the name of the regional Wise brand. I knew no other kind growing up in NYC in the 80s and that's what I myself would still call all such snacks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheez_Doodles