JOE MANGANIELLO | PHOTO BY MONTY BRINTON/NBC

Playing football for Mt. Lebanon High School, hanging out in Oakland between classes at University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University — Joe Manganiello wasn’t just born here, he’s a true-blue Pittsburgher.

The actor transferred from Pitt to Carnegie Mellon before graduating in 2000 with a degree in drama; acting roles quickly followed, including a breakthrough in the megahit “Spider-Man” and plum parts on TV shows including “One Tree Hill” and “True Blood.”

He’s appeared in more than 30 films and on dozens of programs — including his two seasons as the host of the NBC game show “Deal or No Deal Island” — but he finds plenty of time to visit both his hometown and nearby Uniontown, the childhood home of his girlfriend, actress Caitlin O’Connor.

We wanted to know: What is Joe Manganiello’s Best of the ’Burgh?

What’s your Pittsburgh “hidden gem,” a place that you love that doesn’t get the attention it deserves?

Nicholas Coffee & Tea Co. in Market Square

If you could only eat one local meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

“That’s like ‘Sophie’s Choice.’ How am I supposed to pick between Fiori’s and Primanti’s? I don’t know that I can choose. I’m sorry, I have to get two.”

If Pittsburgh had a theme song, what would it be?

Wiz Khalifa, “Black and Yellow.”

What’s the annual tradition that you wait for every year?

“August weather in Pittsburgh. 85, humid and gray. I just want to live there — when the windows are open and there’s a thunderstorm. It’s the greatest.”

Favorite Pittsburgh appearance in a movie or on television?

“Striking Distance”

What’s your unpopular Pittsburgh opinion? What is something you think about the city (or a famous aspect of it) that won’t win you any friends?

“When I was in high school, I thought Rusted Root was way better than Dave Matthews Band.”

Where’s the first place you take out-of-town guests?

“I took the Big Show — the wrestler, my buddy Paul Wight — I took him to Fiori’s. My trainer was competing in a bodybuilding competition in Pittsburgh, so I sent him to Primanti’s. Those are two good ones. I send people to the Warhol Museum. And Steelers games — on the sideline during the game, it’s just nuts.”

If you could bring back one Pittsburgh place or restaurant that’s no longer there, which would you pick?

The Beehive movie theater in Oakland. “I came up in the ’90s, and that was the era of those independent filmmakers taking over — [Quentin] Tarantino, Danny Boyle, David Fincher, David Lynch. I saw all those movies … ‘Trainspotting,’ ‘Kids,’ ‘Swingers,’ ‘Seven.’ I saw a ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’ double feature. ‘Lost Highway.’ … That was the greatest. You could smoke cigarettes. They had couches in the back. You could bring your own six-pack. So many great memories.”