President Obama dropped by Taylor Gourmet on 14th Street for hoagies and shoptalk with three local businesses Wednesday.
One of the participants, Yes! Organic Market president Kathy Rachels, appreciated the discussion about small business tax credits, but she was most surprised to see Obama pony up $62.79 in cash for their food.
“He actually paid for our sandwiches,” Rachels told Yeas & Nays. “I said, ‘Do you carry money?’ He said, ‘Of course!’ I didn’t think the president would carry money, but he does.” She considered asking if his wife had provided the cash, but decided against it.
Casey Patten, co-owner of Taylor Gourmet, was prepared to comp the sandwiches but said it was nice to have Obama pay. Patten prepared a “lot of stuff” for the meeting, but didn’t do anything special to his restaurant in advance. “We wanted it to look like it looks for every customer,” he said. “We sat underneath the bucket lights and we all chatted for 20 minutes.”
Patten did fix up one special order for the president.
“He personally requested the Spruce Street,” Patten said. Obama didn’t eat his turkey, provolone, proscuitto and red pepper sandwich but took it with him, along with an assortment of other sandwiches, back to the Hill for a meeting with Congress.
Both Yes! Organic Market and Taylor Gourmet are recipients of loans from the Small Business Association.
