A comment on another thread made me think…what famous person have you seen at a restaurant OR even more fun, at a grocery store.
Stick to these two places: restaurant or grocery store. Dont share about who you saw in the airport or otherwise!
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None. 
Since running into Bill G. in a parking lot doesn’t count. 
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Julia Child at Shaw’s, a grocery store in Cambridge. An everyday grocery store, not a fancy one.
Rico Patrocelli (retired baseball player) as we were leaving a Ground Round. My husband chatted with him for a while.
I used to see Bruce Springsteen a lot, but for the purposes of this thread, Bruce Springsteen at Jersey Freeze (more of an ice cream stand than a restaurant) and a local pizza place.
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Scott Hamilton (ice skater) at Maggie Moos (like cold stone). Our kids played together at the restaurant (they were all 5, 6 years old and a 3/4 year old daughter. I told him - boy, you look familiar but I couldn’t place it. On the way home, I said to my wife - oh, that’s Scott Hamilton, the Olympic Ice Skater.
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I’ve had a couple of restaurant run ins but nothing at the grocery store. Years and years ago I saw Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley at a restaurant in the Hamptons. They were seated next to us and my friend was kicking me under the table and finally brought me to the bathroom because I had no idea what she was trying to tell me or who she was pointed at.
We also saw Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner at a restaurant in Savannah with their kids. I actually ran into Jennifer with the baby in the ladies room and I made a comment about the baby’s cute shoes and she thanked me ; )
In Cleveland we sat next to Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada after a ball game. I talked to them on the way out (I was still wearing my Yankees gear) and congratulated them on the win. My H was still decked out in his Indians gear so I’m not sure what they made of us.
More recently we were at a restaurant across from Wrigley and were seated next to the Ricketts, the owners of the Cubs, before a Green Day concert.
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At restaurants:
–Barbara Walters eating with Michael Bloomberg (and others)
–Howard Stern
–Mariano Rivera
–Jerry Orbach
–Jonathan Groff
No grocery store encounters.
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Maren Morris at the Turnip Truck, a Nashville grocery store
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Harrison Ford at the Old Yellowstone Garage,
in Teton Village.
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Spike Lee in a sushi restaurant in the east village (NYC). Probably more than 30 years ago. I have others but that’s one that stands out.
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We used to see Andrew Kostalonis (a famous conductor) walking along a beach by the house we lived in when I was very young. Mom was a music lover and recognized him and they had several nice chats.
Saw Daniel DeKim at restaurants in Honolulu—he lives in same neighborhood as my sister. He took his kids trick or treating at her home pre-covid.
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Please stick to restaurants or grocery stores please. Otherwise the thread becomes every celeb sighting. Anywhere!
I held the door for John McCain at DBGB in DC on the night (we figured out later) that he told his staff about his brain tumor.
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Joe Nameth, at his restaurant in Jupiter, FL. He was there dining with his teen granddaughter.
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Saw Susan Lucci at Husk in Charleston 10-15 years ago. We noticed her when she entered the restaurant, but no one approached her table or obviously took photos. Later that evening I left our table to use the restroom, and when I rounded the corner I very nearly collided with her as she was leaving the ladies’ room!
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In the 80s in the very “hole in the wall” lodge on the top of Baldy (Sun Valley, Idaho) you’d come in halfway through the day and eat loaded Idaho baked potatoes with bacon bits and sour cream and chives, or a bowl of chili. I used to see Clint Eastwood there all the time and no one paid him any mind. Everyone had their ski suits unzipped and everyone was damp and typically just wearing their long underwear top with their ski sweater tied unceremoniously around their waist while pushing your tray down the line—he was the same as everyone else. Hat hair, melting snow, the long underwear top, goggles backwards around the neck, clomping around in boots and standing in the cafeteria line with everyone else.
People didn’t wear helmets back then, so we just had our hats and gloves stuffed in the front of our ski suit or pants, and if it was a nice day you’d be wearing glacier glasses that you’d then dangle around your neck while you ate your potato. He sat next to us at the big communal tables frequently, just like any other person coming in for a hot meal and you’d all jostle together on the benches, eat those delicious (enormous) potatoes and then pull your sweater back on, zip up, and get back out there.
I was a kid, so I really remember how tall he was—much taller than my Dad, and ski boots make you taller, too. He needed to duck in places, and most people didn’t need to do that! Everyone knew who he was, but back then it was common to see movie stars in Sun Valley and they were only treated as Regular Joes (which is why I think many of them liked it). It wasn’t a fancy place back then, just some good skiing.
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Restaurant: Conan O’Brien, Chris Rock
Supermarket: Dekimbe Mutumbo
Parking lot of supermarket: Elton John
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No grocery sightings. Lol. Restaurant: Michael Jordan and Oprah Winfrey. ( both in restaurants here in Chicago….not together. ),
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My kids were with me and were young when we saw Dekimbe (who lived not far from us). I told the kids not to bother him. All they could do was look up! He was sooo tall!
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We have spoken with Ted Koppel multiple times at restaurants and receptions. He’s a charming and very nice man, as is his wife, Grace Anne Dorney Koppel.
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My favorite Michael Jordan restaurant story is this from one of my good friends. Her husband worked for an ad agency and it was not an irregular occurrence for her to attend business dinners with Jordan. She was no longer starstruck by him. One night they were suddenly approached by the waiter saying that the guest at the next table had send over a bottle of champagne. They looked over and it was George Clooney! My friend thought to herself for a moment “ Why would he be sending US anything forgetting she was in the presence of a superstar. Clooney then came by the table to introduce himself ( as if ‘ hi I’m George’ was necessary…lol) and shook and then kissed my friend’s hand. Her husband said “ oh man I wish you didn’t do that, she’s never going to wash that hand again!”
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