COLUMBIA, S.C. — The buzz fills the dining room like hot air in a balloon. People are bustling in this busy restaurant, Lizard’s Thicket.

The Southern food alone makes it a popular local attraction, but it’s now famous for visiting politicians, including Bill Clinton, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.

Today, a crew from MSNBC’s Morning Joe Show is airing live from part of the dining room, and politics has become a spectator sport as most of the customers watch the news in action.

One couple, with arguably the best seat in the house, watches from a corner. Sherry and Brent Siegel moved to south Carolina last year and they can’t believe the attention South Carolina has received the past two weeks.

“We are amazed at the publicity,” Brent says. “It’s very exciting.”

The pair was thrilled when NBC’s Lester Holt sat down at their table for a few minutes. They’ve watched him for years, so he felt “almost like family,” Sherry said.

“It’s nice to see the behind-the-scenes activities,” she said.

For the Williams family, owners of Lizard’s Thicket, having politicians hang around is getting familiar. They’ve been around for 30 years, says Bobby Williams, and it’s always busy — with or without famous faces.

“It’s been incredible. It’s been wonderful for the business,” he said.

Any idea why politicians have elected the Thicket?

“They usually come by to eat,” he says, laughing.