Susan Walsh/AP Photo

Shortly after arriving in Cincinnati, Ohio, for another day of battleground state campaigning, President Obama made a surprise stop for lunch, mingling with locals at the Skyline Chili restaurant.

The president, who recently boasted that he can "cook a really mean chili," ordered "two cheese Coneys" and a "four-way" - a hearty meal of chili, spaghetti, onions and beans - but skipped the onions, joking that he had to meet some people later.

Obama himself paid for the meal, which he took to go, saying, "They'll come and arrest me if I don't pay."

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Then he was off to work the room, shaking hands and posing for pictures with the customers.

"Sounds like you're a working man and you're taking care of your family," Obama told a man in a FedEx uniform with four kids, according to pool reports. "You've got some grocery bills," he joked.

Obama also talked with some of the kids in the restaurant asking them about school and their summer plans. "They got a water park around here?" he asked one boy.

The president then headed outside and worked a line of screaming fans, before hopping back in his limo on the way to his first event. Obama is attending a closed-press fundraiser this afternoon and hosting his first town hall of the campaign season.

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