As we gather around the table for a Thanksgiving feast, politics may not be something many are thankful for, especially after a bruising 2024 campaign season. There are exceptions, though.
As the candidates narrowed in on a select few swing states this year on their road to the White House, they got hungry. And when they did, there were a select few small Arizona businesses that were able to give them the energy to keep going.
Cocina Adamex, serving authentic Mexican favorites and massive handmade conchas with a smile off 7th Avenue in downtown Phoenix, is one of them. Owner Adriana Zapata had short notice for the visit, which she says was shrouded in secrecy to the point that she began to think she was being scammed.
"She said that 'There's a possibility that a VIP could come visit your restaurant, is that okay?'" owner Adriana Zapata recalls the woman who visited the restaurant the day before Harris' rally. Zapata agreed after verifying that the woman was working with the Secret Service, but she didn't know who she'd be cooking for until about two hours beforehand.
Soon, 7th Avenue was essentially shut down as Harris' motorcade filled the streets. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, had selected Zapata's restaurant as their dinner spot after their first rally together in Arizona in early August. They were joined by other figures from the campaign, including then-Senate candidate Ruben Gallego and Walz's daughter, Hope.
Zapata still beams when she talks about the experience, especially when remembering how Harris interacted with her son and niece.
"She was super, super neat," she recalls.
In Tucson, Evelyn Romero's Delicias Mexican Grill played host for then-Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance on October 22. Romero had a bit more of a warning than Zapata did, and she knew that Vance would be visiting.
"I had a lot of mixed emotions. I was excited, I was nervous," Romero said as she recalled waiting by the door for Vance to make his big arrival. "But it was really nice, and he's a really nice person."
He was the latest big-name Republican to visit after former Senate candidate Kari Lake made a stop at Delicias earlier in the campaign season. Romero said it was Lake's recommendation that inspired Vance to pick up his own meal from the restaurant.
Vance ordered 200 tacos for his team between a rally at the Pima County Fairgrounds and his next stop on the campaign trail. Romero still remembers his order: four steak tacos, two carnitas tacos, and two grilled chicken tacos.
At Cocina Adamex, Zapata said profits increased by about 10% every day for weeks after the visit, with new interest being raised every time a story was written. The red and green tamales ordered by Harris and Walz - which caught the attention of social media users after Walz joked about his "Scandinavian" tolerance for spicy foods - couldn't be cooked fast enough.
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"Customers would come in specifically asking for the tamales. We would sell out of tamales by 10 A.M. each day," Zapata said.
Both restauranteurs said they would have been happy to welcome a visit from either party's candidate.
It wasn't just the cash or the attention that made the memories so special for both business owners, though. Vance's visit was a bright spot in a year where business was tough for Delicias.
"Last year, around this time of year, we were so close to shutting down because it was so slow," Romero said.
She added it's been difficult to maintain the restaurant even after Vance's visit, but she was grateful to see his visit bring a spotlight to a local business.
Both will be able to brag about moments they shared with the leaders of the country.
For Zapata, that included a particularly tender moment with Harris. As members of the media filled a wall of the restaurant, she walked up to Harris to introduce herself.
"My back was towards [the media], and I said 'Well, to tell you a little about our restaurant, we've been here for two years...' And then she said 'No, wait,'" Zapata recalled. "She grabs me by the arms and turns me around so that I can face the cameras and then she says 'Okay, now tell me again.' And I thought, 'What just happened? That was so cool!' She understood that that was my moment."
