Manny Machado vs. Miguel Andujar

Well, Detroit has been giving their city a facelift.  They're going through a Pittsburgh like resurgence.  

The Philly Cheesesteak does win points all over the world.

I used to golf with a guy that drove a cab. He told tales of picking execs up in Wilmington, DE who would emerge from the plane with their first destination to go to Philly to pick up a cheesesteak. They’d wind up with a $400 round trip fare and tip him $50 or more...

We found a decent cheesesteak out here in Pueblo West. It’s a food truck, of all things. Ruthie loves them so much that I’ve actually grown tired of them...But they are juicy and tasty, and just like the ones on the east coast...

What is the traditional type of cheese on a real Philly Cheesesteak?

That's it.  Nice find rizzuto, although that's an old photo, the place is even more rundown than that, but they do have great cheese steaks. 

Ruthie used to work in place that sold a pretty decent cheesesteak in MD. She confirms that it’s white American, though there were some people that would request mozzarella...

Since the one subject I know more about that anyone else on this board is Philadelphia -- I actually lived there for three years, my father grew up there and my grandparents lived there -- I thought I would put in my two cents.

I find that people who hate Philly hate big cities in general.  By no means is Philly in the same league as world-class American cities like New York, Chicago or San Francisco.  But it is definitely in the next tier, again only if you like urban life.  It has more than its share of horrible areas, and it has a historically corrupt city government, only because the people who live there are comfortable with corruption and demand it of their elected officials.  This should ring a bell with you living in Chicago, Chi.

But it also has wonderful neighborhoods, great cultural attractions and lots of history.  And sports passion that borders on insanity.  Like Boston.  I completely agree with Kaybli that Eagles fans are as bad as it gets.

When I lived there, within a few blocks -- albeit in buildings beyond my price range -- lived Chase Utley, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Pat Burrell.  Guys making that kind of money do not live in crapholes, I can assure you.  When people say Philly is such a toilet, I wonder what parts of the city they are blundering around in.  They need to do a little more research.  It's not hard to find lousy parts of the city.  It's not hard to find lousy parts of any city.  Maybe we just see what we want to see.

As for cheesesteaks -- some of the best these days are made in the burbs outside of Philly.  Pat's and Geno's are famous and atmospheric, but they are far from the top in Philly and are much more popular among visitors than among people who actually live there.  But few visitors are going to take the time to go to neighborhoods outside the tourist areas where the truly great ones are made.  And while American cheese is to me the best to use, a distressing number of people are happy with Cheese Whiz, I am sorry to say.  When John Kerry was running for President, he went to Tony Luke's in South Philly, which really is one of the better cheesesteak joints in the city.  However, he made the mistake of asking for Camembert cheese and then held the thing in his hand like it was a live grenade.  Clearly not a regular part of his diet.  Nor should it be a regular part of anyone's diet, for that matter.

Kaybli, if you are ever heading into Philly for a cheesesteak, let me know and maybe we can meet up.