Before President Barack Obama leaves a tip at Taylor Gourmet, he and Vice President Joe Biden walked there from the White House and ordered lunch to go.
Obama and Biden went to the restaurant around 12:30 p.m., with throngs of onlookers watching the detail surrounding them walk inside.
According to a receipt obtained by the Daily News, Obama ordered a turkey and prosciutto hoagie, and Biden had a salami and provolone.
With several drinks, the total came to $21.56. And Obama left an $18.44 tip, according to the Daily News.
Obama also used the opportunity to make the case for the Republican-controlled House to pass a short-term spending measure that would reopen the government without strings attached.
“This shutdown could be over today,” he said. “We know there are votes for it in the House.”
Obama reacted to a news report that quoted an anonymous senior administration official as saying that the White House was “winning” in the clash over the shutdown, and that the length of the shutdown “doesn’t really matter to us.”
“There’s no winning when families don’t have certainty about when they are going to get paid next,” he said in response to a reporter’s question.
Obama ate a macadamia nut cookie the Taylor Gourmet staff gave him. The sandwich shop is giving furloughed workers a 10 percent discount and a free cookie. Obama said he has to pay because he isn’t furloughed.
Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, tweeted a hopeful message:
“Common ground: John Boehner really likes Taylor Gourmet.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
