One way to experience a city's culture is through its cuisine.

At the first two restaurants I went to in Pittsburgh, waitresses told me they carry a local beer called Iron City, but they do not recommend it.

So I tried a Pennsylvania Brewing Company Hefe-Weisen that was decent. But after the second non-recommendation for Iron City, I got curious.

"What's so bad about it? Is it made with river water?" I asked.

The waitress assured me it isn't made using polluted water. But she couldn't explain what was wrong with it, either, so I placed my order.

Iron City isn't awful. It's just not good. No complexity, no after taste. Kind of how I imagine "Duff" might taste.

"So, who drinks this stuff? I asked her when she returned.

"Old men from Pittsburgh," she said. "And they love it. They order it by the case."

(Behind the beer bottle, check out a decidedly non-boring building: the gothic-like, glass-sheathed skyscraper that houses Pittsburgh Plate Glass Industries.)