Meet The Man Who Invented NYC's Iconic Chopped Cheese Sandwich (2024)

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The iconic chopped cheese sandwich is fiercely New York City, earning a place among the ranks of the city's legendary eats like pizza, bagels, and a bacon, egg & cheese. But not many know the true origins of the tasty sandwich.

Righteous Eats, a popular food social media account that expertly highlights NYC's culinary scene with an emphasis on mom & pop spots and genuine storytelling, recently spotlighted the inventor of the chopped cheese, Frankie Frank of Blue Sky Deli AKA Hajji's in Harlem.

Frankie Frank takes us back to 1999, when he flipped the dilemma of running out of hamburger buns into a fortuitous scenario. Wanting to make a sandwich for himself, but with no hamburger buns in sight, Frankie instead grabbed a hero roll and chopped up the hamburger meat with seasonings, cheese, and onions. A customer picked up on his ingenuity and the rest is history.

Nothing quite like that New York brand of resourcefulness and imagination to make something special out of a tight situation.