Chicagoans are celebrating President-Elect Barack Obama’s victory. The festive mood was especially palpable this morning in Obama’s Hyde Park neighborhood.

The line to get into Valois Restaurant, a Hyde Park institution, snaked around the corner of East 53rd Street. That’s because the restaurant was offering a free celebratory breakfast. Among the high school students, retirees, and police officers in line was Deborah Halpern. She says Obama’s win is a new beginning for the country.

HALPERN: I feel as though the country’s almost been suffocating and everybody came out last night for a breath of fresh air. It was a wonderful think. They crowded in front of the White House and in Times Square and Harlem. It looked like New Year’s Eve. And, nobody planned it, everybody just did it instinctually.

Inside Valois, diners did use their instincts when it came to finding a table. Many just choose to sit down and eat their Obama meal with complete strangers. 

I’m Tasha Flournoy, Chicago Public Radio.