Heated debates are taking place across the country, with loyal fans passionately defending the local eateries and iconic dishes that make their towns famous. Where’s the best pastrami sandwich in New York? Who serves the top Italian Beef Sandwich in Chicago? What’s the #1 hot dog in Detroit?

Today, Travel Channel is premiering a new show called Food Wars, which aims to answer these questions. Food Wars will pit the nation’s most famous culinary rivals against one another for a final showdown, where a blind taste test will settle the score on these long-standing rivalries.  And you can choose your side too, with Whrrl.

Starting now, you’ll be able to join Travel Channel’s “Food Wars Society” on Whrrl. It’s simple: just check in to one of the official Food Wars locations around the country and you’ll be accepted into the Society. As a member, you’ll be able to share stories about your own taste tests at these rival spots and declare which you think is the winner. Inspire others to compare these spots too – and help settle these legendary food wars.

But that’s not all. Later this week, we’ll be launching the all-new version of Whrrl. Whrrl 3 will provide even more ways to discover Food Wars content, including:

• Societies Tab:  You’ll be able to view the Food Wars Society and all Societies within Whrrl in one place. As a member of the “Food Wars” Society, you’ll have the exclusive ability to view special challenges, view recommendations and create recommendations for your friends.
• Ideas Tab:  You’ll also be able to view challenges on the new Ideas tab when you’re nearby any Food Wars location and save these challenges on the new “want to” and “did it” lists. You can also recommend these challenges to friends by placing them on their “Ideas” list.

Food Wars is one of the first among many Travel Channel Societies that will be launching within Whrrl. Stay tuned later this week to learn more!

And don’t forget to catch the premiere of Travel Channel’s Food Wars tonight, Tuesday, March 9^th at 10 PM EST, as Travel Channel settles the Buffalo Chicken Wing war and Chicago’s infamous Italian Beef Sandwich rivalry.  To learn more, you can visit the show’s Web site.

In January, we announced the first expansion of Whrrl Societies to 28 cities throughout the Unites States.  If you’re still unfamiliar with the concept behind Whrrl Societies, they are groups of like-minded people that have the same real world patterns. For instance, I’d consider myself a “foodie” because I like to go to restaurants in Seattle that are known for their top-rated cuisine. If you also have a passion for fine dining, you’d be a foodie, too- and we would be in the same Society.

Today we’re excited to roll out our first set of 26 nationwide tag-based Societies. (And there are more than 625,000 places in cities across the U.S. that count toward membership in these Societies!) Do people call you “Norm” when you walk into the local bar because you have a seat waiting for you? Chances are you’ll be in the Bar Fly Society. Are you pampered, head-to-toe, from all the spas and salons you go to? Sounds like you’re the perfect person for our Princess Society!

You can find a list of Societies near you that you’re not yet a member of on your “Profile” page in Whrrl’s iPhone app. Here you’ll be able to read about each Society, and see locations near you that count toward membership into the Society. Each check-in to a place associated with these Societies will count toward unlocking the membership for you. We’ll also automatically share when you are accepted into a Society on your Facebook and Twitter pages (if you’ve linked them). Here is our list of new Societies and the establishment type associated with them.

UPDATE: We’ve added more over the last three weeks, for a total of 61 (random, we know). Here is the complete list:

1. Hit ‘Em Straight (golf)
2. Get Well Soon (hospitals, doctors offices)
3. Pop, Lock & Drop It (dance clubs)
4. Lemongrass (Thai food)
5. Gadget Geek (tech & gadget stores)
6. Escargot (French cuisine)
7. Sshhhh (libraries)
8. Battered & Fried (fish ‘n’ chips)
9. Foot Long (hot dog joints)
10. Finger Lickin’ (hot wings)
11. Bollyfood (Indian food)
12. Tofu Cutie (vegetarian)
13. High Roller (gambling & casinos)
14. Down Home Cookin (southern)
15. Sweet Tooth (dessert)
16. Bueller (teenage, high school)
17. Luck O the Irish (Irish pubs)
18. Einstein (universities)
19. Greasy Spoon (diners)
20. Field of Dreams (baseball)
21. Diamond (karaoke)
22. Supermarket Sweep (grocery stores)
23. Hold the Mayo (delis)
24. High Steaks (steak restaurants)
25. Snow Chaser (ski & snowboard resorts)
26. Animal House (universities)
27. Up in the Air (airports)
28. Roller Coaster Junkie (amusement parks)
29. Love Birds (bridal)
30. Homer’s (donut shops)
31. Gym Rat (gym)
32. Shaken, Not Stirred (cocktail lounges)
33. Pinball Wizard (arcades)
34. Slurpee Society (convenience stores)
35. Societe de Café (cafés)
36. Weekend Brunch (Breakfast)
37. Chinese Pagoda (Chinese cuisine)
38. Supersized (Fast food)
39. Strange Brew (Brewpubs)
40. The Dude Abides (Bowling)
41. Yo Quiero Mexican (Mexican cuisine)
42. What the Pho (Vietnamese & Pho cuisine)
43. Pie in the Sky (Pizza)
44. Cultured (Museums, Theaters, Galleries, etc.)
45. Furry Friends (Pet stores, Veterinarian, Pet services, etc.)
46. MiniMe (Kids places, parks, zoos, toy stores, etc.)
47. Princess (Tanning salon, nail salon, massage, etc.)
48. Bar Fly (Bars)
49. All American (American cuisine)
50. Pitmaster (Barbecue joints)
51. High Jolt (Coffee shops)
52. Dough Boy (Bakeries)
53. Do It Yourself (Home improvement)
54. Mamma Mia (Italian cuisine)
55. Wasabi (Sushi joints)
56. Fisherman’s Wharf (Seafood restaurants)
57. Golden Popcorn (Movie Theaters)
58. Starbucks
59. Do Not Disturb (Hotels)
60. Hamburgler (Hamburger places)
61. We Scream (Ice cream )

We’ll be rolling out many more over the next month. What societies will YOU be a member of? We can’t wait to find out! Is there a society we’re missing? Let us know – email us with suggestions and comments at societies@whrrl.com

Tonight is Top Chef! Woot! Are you a fan of Top Chef? I watch it every week – those dang Voltaggio Brothers are hard to beat. My bet goes to the final four including both of them, Kevin Gillespie and Jennifer Carroll. But only time will tell… who do you think will make it to the final four?

I can’t place my finger on exactly what keeps me coming back week after week for more Top Chef – the final competition, the Quick Fire Challenges, rooting on my fav contestant, or the FOOD. It might just be the food…what those contestants can do in a quick amount of time with certain ingredients never fails to impress me. Or make me hungry! Now that’s true talent.

But what I really want to see is what YOU can do! Tonight we’re hosting  a bit of an impromptu collaboration party for Top Chef’s 10th episode. Snap a quick food porn pic with your phone and e-mail it to TopChef@mywhrrl.com. Whether cooking dinner, trying out a new restaurant or hitting up happy hour – we want to  check out the yummy dishes you’re eating!

I dare you to make us drool!

(Check out all stories from Bravo’s Top Chef here.)

To keep things going from our previous test team lunch post, here are our adventures from the second. I’m trying to get these all posted before they’re too out of date!  Do you have a place in downtown Seattle that you think we should try?  Give us a holler – leave it in the comments.

September 18th

Goal: Longhorn BBQ

Summary: It was time to decide on a lunch spot and Dan decided BBQ sounded good. After a veto from me for Mad Oven we left for Longhorn. It was a great walk. Easy place to find and it was fun walking past the Utility Kilt place.

The line was good and surprisingly the team was well behaived considering they had lighting in the place that resembled what hell must look like:

The cooks asked Dan what his favorite part of a cow was to eat and he responded with this:

The way back to work got crazy. Blade was impatient and took off across the street. Here’s a picture of Blade across the street waiting for us:

Company wikis are full rare gems, and many are never found, so when Joni discovered a page dedicated to photo blogging the test team’s lunch adventures we had to get their permission to share it with our readers here on the Whrrl blog.  I’ll be checking the wiki page frequently to look for more stories to share, enjoy!

September 11th – “Ripped Apart By Hunger” (by David Berge)

Goal: Salumi’s

What Happened: Dan was hungry for lunch at about 10:30am this morning. About the same time he rolled into work.

The team walked there and got a bit lost because we were on the wrong 2nd street. We were supposed to be on the 2nd street one block over. I guess Whrrl can guide employees to a great lunch spot but it can’t help them find it if the city just names all the streets with the same name.

We stood in line and didn’t move. 5 minutes later we were in the same spot. In line out on the street. That’s when Dan started pacing. Blade felt sorry for him and took him to a nice looking Gyro place that used to be a gas station. Both of them are “high maintenance” and had to change the order from what was given them. I believe they were both asked to never come back again. They then walked to a local waterfall spot that we had found when we were lost on 2nd street… the original one… not the correct one.

Eventually we got to order and had some great sandwiches. We took them to where Dan and Blade were next to the waterfall.  It was a great time.