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President Obama Visits Taylor Gourmet

Summary: 
President Obama stops by a Taylor Gourmet restaurant in Washington, DC to talk about how his To-Do List for Congress would help small business owners.
President Barack Obama participates in a roundtable with small business owners at Taylor Gourmet (May 16, 2012)

President Barack Obama and Small Business Administrator Karen Mills, left, participate in a roundtable with small business owners at Taylor Gourmet in Washington, D.C., May 16, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

When Casey Patten and David Mazza moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC, they were consistently disappointed by their inability to find a decent hoagie. So the two friends decided to take matters into their own hands. In 2008, they opened Taylor Gourmet -- with all the sandwiches named after streets in their former hometown. And it became a hit.

They've since expanded operations to three additional locations and seen their hoagies reviewed in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Travel & Leisure.

Today, they got a visit from President Obama.

He stopped by their newest restaurant on 14th Street in Washington, DC to talk about how his To-Do List for Congress would help small business owners like Patten and Mazza.

Before ordering a Spruce Street (roast turkey, prosciutto, roasted red peppers and sharp provolone), the President said:

One of the items on that “To-Do” list would be to provide tax breaks for companies like these that are hiring new employees or raising the wages and salaries of their existing employees. Either way, what that does is it gives them an incentive as their expanding to say, maybe we hire an extra two people. Maybe we hire an extra three people. Maybe we hire an extra ten people. 

When the President returned to the White House, he sat down for lunch with leaders from Congress. On the menu? Some of the hoagies from Taylor and another example of why lawmakers should act to help boost the economy.


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