ELYRIA — You couldn’t buy the kind of publicity that fell into Steve Frank’s lap Friday. After all, it isn’t every day that the owner of Smitty’s restaurant on East Bridge Street gets to serve lunch to the president of the United States.

During his whirlwind visit, Barack Obama chatted up the crowd, shook hands, posed for lots of photos, and downed a burger and fries with Elyria Mayor Bill Grace. The president arrived not long after 12 to 15 Secret Service agents descended on the eatery about 11:20 a.m.

Joking that he lost his usual Friday lunchtime business due to the “lockdown,” Frank knows full well the huge public relations boost he’ll get from being part of local history — Obama is the first sitting president to set foot in Lorain County in 62 years. The last president who visited was Harry Truman in 1948.

Obama even plugged the restaurant in his address at Lorain County Community College later in the day.

“He (Grace) and I shared a burger over at Smitty’s,” the president said.

“He was very personable and outgoing,” Frank said, adding that Obama was as down to earth and folksy as he expected him to be. “This is campaigning for him, really.”

So what did the president order?

“He had a hamburger with lettuce, tomato and mustard, fries, and a glass of water,” Frank said. “He didn’t eat too many fries.”

Grace dined on a Smitty burger, although he told another reporter he didn’t eat much — he was too busy talking with the president.

Waitress Nicole Johnson, who waited on Obama, did bring him a second order of fries.

“It took him awhile to get to the table, and we wanted to make sure the fires were hot.”

The president “acted like a regular customer,” Johnson said, saying he shook hands with employees, asked their names and spoke briefly with them. “We got to stand nearby.”

As for who picked up the $16.32 bill?

“Obama did,” Johnson said

As for the tip, that one’s a secret. Johnson smiled and said Obama’s a good tipper.

Frank said the restaurant had about 100 lunchtime customers when the Secret Service showed up.

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

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