Kamala Harris dines at Macon restaurant, gives ‘hope’ to sober bartender
Former Vice President Kamala Harris dined in at a prominent downtown Macon tavern and tried its milkshake of the month Wednesday.
Hours before her book tour stop at Macon City Auditorium, Harris sat at The Rookery’s wooden bar and ordered an ice water and lemon wedge, and a king cake-flavored Mardi Gras shake that blended vanilla ice cream and cake chunks.
Rookery bartender Travis Patterson leaned over from behind the bar and chatted with her about his 12-year sobriety from alcohol, and health insurance issues that food industry workers face.
“Her team said we were only gonna talk for five to 10 minutes, and we ended up talking for hours,” Patterson said. “She just wanted to hear my story, being a bartender who doesn’t drink (and) how hard it is for restaurant workers to get healthcare.”
A social media video taken from across the U-shaped bar showed smiling restaurant staff members, including Patterson. A modest entourage gathered around Harris, as seen in the video posted to Threads by user @amay.a100.
“Yes I know the cameras are on her, but the person that I got to talk to for about two hours yesterday just didn’t seem like somebody who is as important as she is,” Patterson told The Telegraph. “She is hope.”
The restaurant was open as usual when Harris dined in, Patterson said. While they conversed, a few customers casually approached her, including a woman who smiled and wept, according to the bartender.
Patterson voted for her in the 2024 presidential election, and said he would vote for her again if she runs in 2028.
He commented on the Threads video, “That’s me in the Braves Hoodie!!! I had the pleasure of getting to sit and talk with her for about an hour or so. We deserved her. She was just so down to earth!”
Harris mentions The Rookery on book tour
She shook hands with workers including Benjamin Banks, executive chef of Dovetail, the eatery upstairs from The Rookery. Banks boasted about Dovetail’s farm-to-table ingredients and Southern culture in the Threads video.
Harris shouted out Banks and Patterson during her local book tour stop that night. The crowd roared when Michelin star chef Mashama Bailey asked what Harris ate that day.
“I was hanging out with Travis…” Harris told Bailey, and pointed to Patterson in the crowd. “And we were talking also about something I know you do so beautifully with your restaurant, it’s about supporting local farmers.”
“I think that cooking is... one of the most enjoyable things that I can do, to feed the people I love with food,” Harris said.
This story was originally published February 12, 2026 at 4:19 PM.
