President-elect Barack Obama picked up lunch at the iconic South Loop deli Manny's Friday.
(Scroll down for a complete account of his stop and a slideshow)
As he made his way through the throngs of well-wishers, Obama stopped to hug a woman he seemed to know. Asked how he was doing, Obama said, 'Well, you know,' to which the woman replied, 'Well you asked for it. I remember 12 years ago ...' then her voice trails off before she can offer any more than a hint of insight into Obama's early presidential ambitions. Obama also mentioned to the woman that his family is keeping its Chicago house:
'We're staying in there for awhile. Now's not the time to sell.'
Watch footage of Obama at Manny's:
UPDATE
From the pool report:
President-electBarack Obama arrived at Manny's Cafeteria and Deli at 12:29 pm to a crowd of about 25 people waiting outside.
Obama and Valerie Jarett walked to the front counter of the deli. 7 men in whte hats stood behind the counter waiting to make sandwiches.
Obama shook hands with Ken Raskin the restaurant's owner. Raskin's father, Manny, founded the Chicago institution.
"Rahm Emanuel sends his regards. I ordered him his corned beef," Obama told Raskin.
Obama signed a photo of himself with Mayor Daley after he won his Senate election in 2006. The photo was for Raskin.
"Alright, let me get my food," Obama said.
Someone suggested he get the mayo and mustard mix on his corned beef, and he said he would.
Asked by reporter what he ordered, Obama said, "we got the corned beef."
Asked by a reporter, "What do you think about the auto industry? and Obama smiled, said "I got the corned beef," and walked on to greet people in the restaurant.
The restaurant was packed. People had cell phone cameras out. They swarmed the president-elect, congratulating him on the election.
Patrons abandoned their plates of macaroni and cheese, blueberry pie, corned beef, dill pickles and chocolate chip cheesecake to get near the president-elect.
"I love you," one of them said.
"I love you back," Obama said.
One woman hugged him.
Obama left with 2 cherry pies and 3 corned beef sandwiches. The bill was $48.34. He paid cash.
Outside more people approched ObamaM he shook more hands. He went to get in his Surburban but turned around to shake more hands.
Lef Manny's at 12:45pm. Arrived at tranition headquarters at 12:53pm.
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President-elect Barack Obama is having lunch at the iconic South Loop deli Manny's, according to the pool report from Politico's Carol Lee:
President-elect Obama left his transition headquarters in downtown at 12:24 pm.
His motorcade is heading to a lunch stop called Manny's. He is expected to order and greet some patrons.
Earlier Friday the press pool was told that Obama would be making a "local stop" for around 30 minutes. Manny's, which serves what is often considered to be Chicago's best corned beef and pastrami, is a frequent meet-and-greet stop for politicians.
SLIDESHOW: