Whole Foods Sells Chopped Cheese For $8; Is Slammed For Gentrification
If you're a real New Yorker, you know that a good bodega is measured by its chopped cheese sandwich. The chopped cheese resembles a Philly Cheesesteak topped with lettuce and tomatoes and is usually sold for around $5 at bodegas in Harlem, the Bronx, and Queens. But critics are slamming Whole Foods for gentrifying the classic deli item by charging $8 per sandwich.
The sandwiches are being sold at a Christopher Columbus-themed cart with a 1492 insignia inside the Whole Foods in Manhattan's Columbus Circle.
The internet effectively exploded when an image of the offending product went viral, prompting an expletive-laden response video called "Hipsters Invade Harlem," which you can watch here, as well as a number of angry tweets.
So #wholefoods is selling #choppedcheese now?! If it's not from a bodega with a pending health grade, it's not a chopped cheese. Just stop.
— Pantaleon (@gaia417) December 21, 2016
People are complaining that not only is it expensive, but it isn't even made correctly:
YO WHOLE FOODS CHOPPED CHEESE IS HERESY B U GOTTA ACTUALLY CHOP THE CHEESE W THE MEAT NOT JUST CRUMBLE A BURGER ON A HERO & MAKE CHEEZ ART pic.twitter.com/WeZ5C3QMQ0
— THE KID MERO (@THEKIDMERO) December 20, 2016
The Daily Meal has contacted Whole Foods for a response, but according to Twitter, the operation may already be defunct:
Whole Foods has stopped selling the chopped cheese ... for now ... I don't trust em tho
— Blonde Bombshell (@HarlemHunnieBun) December 22, 2016