By David Stout
“Joe, what do you say we go across the river and have some burgers?”
“Great idea, Mr. President.”
Those words, or something like them, may have preceded a surprise trip, motorcade and all, by President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday across the Potomac River to a well known (and now even better known) hamburger establishment in Arlington, Va.
The president and vice president stood in line with other customers at Ray’s Hell Burger, which prides itself on premium aged 10-ounce burgers. Some patrons gawked and took pictures with cell phones, but two men ahead of the president and vice president studied their menus, oblivious.
The president bought either a “basic cheeseburger, medium well” (with cheddar) — or a “Swiss mushroom burger,” depending on which onlooker’s hearing was better. But he definitely ordered spicy mustard. Mr. Biden ordered a Swiss cheeseburger with jalapeno peppers. Then the two men took off their suit jackets and ate at a table.
President Obama also ordered a burger for his personal aide Reggie Love, and for the accompanying reporters whom the president treated. (Those journalists who accepted said they would make donations to charity in return for Mr. Obama’s generosity.)
The president has eclectic tastes in food. He has been observed enjoying white-tablecloth dining at several restaurants in Washington, including on a date with his wife Michelle at Citronelle last Saturday, and going street-corner casual at Ben’s Chili Bowl and Five Guys Burgers and Fries.
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