I like to use butter for flavor and for cheese, depends. If I can only pick one then American.Don't care if it's fake cheese it's gooey and makes a grilled cheese what it is I think. But if I am going all out I like to use American for the gooey texture, for flavor I might use cheddar or pepper jack depending on what I want at the moment, then I like to add a little cream cheese for zestiness. I usually use white bread, it's a guilty pleasure type food in my opinion so I'm eating it for pleasure then finally I prefer them grilled.