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Chicago is just eating up Barrack Obama, as the Chicago media reported online today. After managing to remain out of site for most of the week, President-elect Obama left out of his transition office this afternoon to grab lunch at a Chicago landmark. Obama left the Federal Building in the Loop at 12:22 p.m. and dined at Manny’s deli on the Near South Side, a place where I have dined several times myself. While there a dozen or so people were already waiting outside. The president-elect spent a little over ten minutes inside the restaurant, where he was joined by friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett. Diners repeatedly shouted “congratulations,” as Obama ordered lunch and worked the room wearing a topcoat and scarf.Asked about a federal bailout for the auto industry, Obama responded, “I got the corned beef.”Earlier, he had asked for “Manny’s mustard” on his sandwich. As part of his take-out order, Obama left with two cherry pies, three corned beef sandwiches and paid cash for his tab, $48.34. Obama shook dozens of hands and posed for photos with the patrons and staff. He signed a photo of himself and Mayor Richard Daley that had been taken in the deli after he won the U.S. Senate primary in 2004.Owner Ken Raskin, whose father was Manny, had asked Obama to sign the photo for him.”I’m just glad to be out,” he added at one point.

Many of the patrons got up from their tables to shake Obama’s hand. Some people hugged him. Saying,”I love you,” one of them called out, prompting an “I love you back” from Obama. Greeting a group of police officers seated in the restaurant, Obama remarked, “Chicago’s finest right there.”After he greeted a group of business students and their instructor, one of the people at the table screamed in delight. The president-elect’s last public appearance was Monday, when he met with Sen. John McCain in Chicago. Because of the tighter security precautions around him, the media had not seen much of the president-elect all week.