Keith Lee's Salmon Chopped Cheese Order Is Wrecking New Yorkers

While there are a number of Keith Lees out there, with a handful of them being fairly famous, sports entertainment fans may be disappointed to know that we're not talking about the one from All Elite Wrestling here. Still, Keith Lee the TikTok food reviewer did once compete as an MMA featherweight fighter, so there's that. Plus, people do seem to like his food reviews, or at least watch them, since Lee has over 15 TikTok million followers to date.

While Lee is currently domiciled in Las Vegas, he does travel around to try different culinary specialties. However, on a recent trip to New York, he inadvertently wandered into controversial territory. On the recommendation of some unnamed informant, he checked out a Queens deli called TasteBudz, and one of the items he ordered was billed as a salmon chopped cheese. Little did Lee know, the chopped cheese is a sandwich that many people have strong feelings about, and salmon is not on the accepted list of ingredients.

The chopped cheese is a sandwich that's been around since the '90s, although it really only hit peak trendiness in the mid-20-teens, which itself was a peak time for food trends in general. The form in which the sandwich has been enshrined as a cultural icon consists of something that, while it does contain cheese, is actually more like a deconstructed cheeseburger, a slightly less sloppy version of a sloppy Joe, or perhaps even a low-budget Philly cheesesteak made with ground beef. (Here's our take on the original chopped cheese sandwich recipe, if you'd like to see what all the fuss is about.)

So what got everyone's panties in a bunch over Keith Lee trying a salmon chopped cheese? According to a preponderance of the comments on his TikTok, a chopped cheese sandwich made with salmon amounts to sacrilege. Many commenters, proclaiming themselves to be native New Yorkers, said they never heard of such a thing. Despite all the outrage, however, the sandwich — called the 2 Smoove — did not slink away in shame. Instead, TasteBudz Deli has been awash in customers since Lee posted his video, with the salmon sandwich surging to the top of its most-ordered list. Sorry, chopped cheese traditionalists, but your sandwich is no longer sacred, and frankly we're looking forward to seeing even more spins on it such as a chili chopped cheese or maybe a banh mi one.