| Originally Posted at: Cleveland.com's blog
by Mark Naymik & Stephen Koff
July 10, 2007 11:35AM |
| Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer
Bush: "Buy some sandwiches." |
| President Bush chats with puts his arm around Freddy Slyman, owner of Slyman's Restaurant during a visit Tuesday. President Clinton tried pierogies when he visited
Cleveland. President Bush, however, took in a different Cleveland specialty:
corned beef sandwiches. |
| Bush and those in his motorcade ducked in Slyman's, at St. Clair Ave. and 31st
Street, a few minutes ago. He ordered and then joined the lunchtime crowd,
stopping to sit down at one table in particular. This, however, was not just an
everyday diner crowd. |
| Among those seated at the table and now lunching with Bush: Cleveland Indians
ownerLarry Dolan. And Alex Machaskee, the former president and publisher of The
Plain Dealer. And Henry Meyer, CEO of KeyCorp, Melissa Olmstead, worldwide
director of humanresources at Aleris International, John Stropki, Jr., chairman and
CEO of Lincoln Electric, and Tom Zenty, president and CEO of University Hospitals
Health Systems. |
| "This is awesome," the man who apparently owns Slyman's said when the president
arrived. He put his arm around Bush. |
| Bush's directive to the restaurant crowd:"Buy some sandwiches." |
| Joe Hagen, White House deputy chief of staff, pulled a gaggle of reporters and
others aside on the sidewalk while Bush ate. Did he want to preview for the press
some newstrategy for Iraq? Was he going to reveal insights into the president's
speech? |
| No. Hagen was showing off his new iPhone. |
| |
| Sandy Mitchell's Cleveland Blog
From Sandy Mitchell, Your Guide to Cleveland. |
| Slyman's Serves the President |
| Whether or not you agree with his politics and policies, you have to admit President Bush has good taste when it comes to sandwiches. Less than an hour after arriving in Cleveland this morning, the President was sampling the fare at Slyman's Deli, at 31st and St. Clair just outside of downtown. Slyman's serves, arguably, the best corned beef sandwich in Northeast Ohio and is a popular downtown lunch stop as well as a St. Patrick's Day favorite. |
| No word whether Mr. Bush chose the corned beef or the turkey. |
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| Originally posted at Scene: blogspot |
| The President Eats a Sandwich |
| Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 04:09:31 PM |
| Apparently the president is good for something - drumming up business. The good folks at Slyman's Restaurant can attest to that. One day after W. stopped by, the restaurant was packed with customers. Even at the normal closing time of 2:30, customers were banging on the locked doors trying to get in one last order. |
| "We got slammed," says owner Freddie Slyman, who had a copy of today's Plain Dealer with his picture in it propped on the counter. |
| For those of haven't heard, W. made an appearance in our fair city yesterday to drum up support for the GOP's hemorrhaging popularity. He toured a plant before he stopped off at the deli near 31st and St. Clair. A bevy of reporters watched as he munched on corned beef. It's like a law in journalism: If somebody really famous comes to town, make sure you follow him just in case he chokes on a French fry. |
| About 30 minutes before the president's arrival, Secret Service agents alerted Slyman that the man himself was coming to indulge in one of the sandwiches big enough to feed some small African countries. Agents closed off the street. Customers who wanted nothing more than a sandwich were frisked upon entering. If they hadn't notice, the helicopter swirling overhead probably was a good indicator that they wouldn't be getting quick in-and-out service.
"He comes in and he does his president thing," Slyman says. "We got some pictures, I gave him a T-shirt and bid him adieu." - T.K. Kim |
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| President George W. Bush is greeted by Samir
lnahass,center, and his cousin Freddie Slyman,
on his arrival to Slyman's Restaurant in Cleveland,
Ohio, Tuesday, July 10, 2007, where President Bush
attended a luncheon with community leaders. |
| White House photo by Chris Greenberg from
WhiteHouse.gov |
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