Kamala Harris picks up a to-go order, and this Phoenix restaurant owner is still smiling

[Ramsey Barner]

While [Harris and Walz] didn’t stay at the restaurant long, Zapata said she wasn’t expecting the meaningful conversation she had with Harris. “Both her and the governor were excited,” she said. “The governor didn’t want very spicy food. (Harris) made a joke that even pepper is spicy for him.”

Zapata’s kids and nieces also got the chance to speak to Harris and Walz. Her niece, Arlette Adame, who is starting her first year of college this fall, said Harris advised her on what classes she should take. “She told me to stay in college,” she said. “It felt so surreal. She is extremely nice and the most calm person.”

[Davida Cisneros] said the new Harris-Walz ticket is energizing her about the election. “(Walz) is the teacher, the veteran, the coach,” Cisneros said. “It’s just someone we haven’t seen in politics in a while.”

Another customer at the restaurant, Shelley Hubbard, 59, of Phoenix, had been at the Harris-Walz rally in Glendale. She said it was a great introduction to Walz as a vice presidential candidate. “We think Donald Trump is unfit for office, and that’s why we are a little more politically engaged than before,” she said.

Zapata said she was considering putting a vice president-themed item on the menu. "They take their job so seriously, and they are great people," she said. "There's this perception that they are intimidating, but they are really nice."

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/10/harris-walz-ticket-stops-for-tamales-at-cocina-adamex-after-rally/74747040007/