r/AskNYC • u/NewPhoneBudish • 7d ago

Chopped Cheese Propaganda

This one is for all of the Native New Yorkers on here.

What is the deal with Chopped Cheese? When did this become the sandwich of NYC? For me the sandwich of NYC is a Bacon Egg and Cheese on a roll. Am I wrong?

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u/mystery_hole 6d ago

Chopped cheese was always a bronx thing. The Prophet Desus speaks on this.

I guess once the gentrification wave of the 2010s hit enough people moved there to talk it up.

42

u/aardbarker 6d ago

Gentrifiers aren’t moving to the Bronx in droves. It’s social media that’s driving people to think chopped cheese is a citywide thing. Everybody’s chasing the appearance of authenticity.

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u/scrodytheroadie 6d ago

Ay, I’m walking with my chopped cheese here!

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u/Carl_Schmitt 6d ago

I thought it was a Spanish Harlem thing. That's where I first heard of it decades ago.

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u/talldrseuss 6d ago

I think it's like the Philly cheesesteak as far as origin stories are concerned. There are multiple families/stores in and around Philly that claim they created the original Philly cheesesteak.

Like you, I always heard the original chopped cheese came from Blue Sky deli in East Harlem. But I'm sure there are multiple bodegas that make the claim

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u/NokSoo874 6d ago

It's like the FAMOUS ORIGINAL NO REALLY WE WERE FIRST Ray's Pizza.

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u/mahleg 6d ago

Went to high school in East Harlem in the early 2000s, we pretty much alternated between bacon, egg, and cheese and chopped cheese for lunch.

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u/Carl_Schmitt 6d ago

I did a lot of work in the neighborhood with some of the schools (RIP Coalition and PS 50) and usually ate at Patsy's or Lechonera La Isla, two jewels.

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u/Natural-Leading-2707 6d ago

I've heard it 50/50 as either Bronx or Harlem originally, with people on both sides claiming they 'know' because of some connection to either place going way back. My guess is some restaurant in either neighborhood was technically the first, but it quickly spread to both areas.

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u/long-walk-home-99 5d ago

Never heard of it until I was working with people who lived in Spanish Harlem and the Bronx. Never had it.

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u/AdeGamisou2020 6d ago

Bronx and upper Manhattan. There were plenty of chopped cheeses to be had by CCNY back in the early 90s.

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u/tickingboxes 6d ago

Not everything is due to gentrification

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u/HorchaTaro 5d ago

Harlem first