The first time I tried a chopped cheese, I was sitting outside The Mothership in Bay View.
It was 2022, shortly after the bar introduced a new food truck named Gavilán, parked on its back patio.
I’d heard about the beloved regional sandwich, popularized in bodegas across New York City, specifically in Harlem, where the chopped cheese is said to have originated in the 1990s. But before my visit to the bar that day, I couldn’t recall spotting it on a menu anywhere near Milwaukee.
A quick peek at the ingredients doesn’t reveal anything extraordinary: ground beef griddled with onions, chopped up together and topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo and ketchup, served on a hero roll and wrapped tightly in foil. Sort of like a cheeseburger sent through a shredder.
What’s so special about that?
But, oh, I soon learned the secret. The whole was so much greater than the sum of its parts. The crisp lettuce and juicy tomato offset the deep umami flavor of the charred beef and sweet, soft onions. That blanket of cheese that binds it all together? Melty, gooey, marvelous. It’s a beautiful mess of a sandwich that, on first bite, tasted like nostalgia for something I’d never eaten but already knew so well.
Meat & Co., a since-closed food truck parked at Zocalo Food Truck Park, was once known for its chopped cheese sandwich. The truck closed in the fall of 2023.
I was hooked.
That summer, I was thrilled to see that Meat & Co., a truck that had just opened at Zócalo Food Truck Park, had a chopped cheese on its menu, too.
The trend was catching on in Milwaukee, and I was happy to see more joining the club.
Jump to the fall of 2023, when Hot Dish Pantry debuted a chopped cheese special on its menu that became a regular fixture after diners (like me) dubbed it an instant hit.
Milwaukee was quickly becoming a hotspot for chopped cheeses … until it wasn’t.
Gavilán and Meat & Co. closed in 2023, with Hot Dish Pantry following this fall. Suddenly, I couldn’t track down the sandwich anywhere.
The chopped cheese at Munchies on 27th, 3371 N. 27th St., is topped with pickles, mustard, ketchup and shredded cheese. Close to a classic New York-style chopped cheese, but not exactly there.
Milwaukee has its versions, but a classic chopped cheese is hard to find
I’ve seen chopped cheese pop up as a special, as it did at Vanguard in September (bring it back any time, fellas), and there are restaurants with roundabout takes on the sandwich, as well.
The closest version I could find was at Munchie’s on 27th, where the ground beef and onions are chopped with green peppers and served on a (heavily buttered) sub bun, but the shredded cheese blend on top doesn’t quite land, and the addition of ketchup, mustard and pickle slices (no fresh lettuce or tomato) skews more burger than chopped cheese. I missed that tight foil wrapper, too, which steams everything together and makes it easier to handle.
You’ll find a version on the menu at Allie Boy’s Bagelry & Luncheonette, too, with brined and smoked pastrami brisket at the center. It’s one heck of a sandwich, just as sloppy and sinful as the classic version, but served on a pumpernickel bagel with provolone cheese, it’s not a prime example of the bodega sandwich. I don’t think it’s pretending to be.
There’s a chopped cheese listed at Comet Cafe, too, but the use of roast beef and presence of provolone and sliced peppers feels more akin to a Philly cheesesteak.
Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern takes it even further with its Latke Waffle Chop Cheese, serving chopped pastrami with pickled chiles, lettuce, two types of cheese, caramelized onions and tomato jam on sour cream and chive potato waffles. I’m getting hungry just thinking of it, but this is not the chopped cheese I’m looking for.
Can I find a classic chopped cheese anywhere in Milwaukee? What once seemed like a food trend taking root in the city has disappeared with the food trucks and counter-service comfort spot that shuttered all too soon.
This is my plea for someone to bring it back. We may not have the bodega culture of NYC, but, c’mon, of course it should work here: A hefty, cheese-stuffed sandwich whose simplicity makes it a standout? That’s a Milwaukee grand slam if I’ve ever heard one.
Maybe I’m missing something. Is there a chopped cheese nearby I’ve overlooked? If you know of one, please tell me where to go.
Until then, I may need to book a flight to New York. This is a craving I just can’t kick.
Rachel Bernhard joined the Journal Sentinel as dining critic in June 2023. She’s been busy exploring the Milwaukee area food scene to share her favorite finds with readers along the way. Like all Journal Sentinel reporters, she buys all meals, accepts no gifts and is independent of all establishments she covers.
What should she cover next? Contact her at rseis@gannett.com. Follow her on BlueSky at @rachelbernhard.bsky.social or on Instagram at @rach.eats.mke.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: My kingdom for a classic chopped cheese sandwich in Milwaukee