Oprah Winfrey was spotted at the Milwaukee Public Market on Thursday afternoon

If you were getting lunch at the Milwaukee Public Market on Thursday, you might have run into Oprah Winfrey.

She was spotted at the Milwaukee Public Market, 400 N Water St., around 2p.m. July 18 at the vendor Pat's Rib Place , owned by Alisha and Ty Hayes.

Pat's Rib Place , which first opened in Waukesha in 2009, has family ties to Winfrey — Alisha is her niece. The public market location is the first and only operation in Milwaukee.

Winfrey has occasionally lent her name to promote her niece's business, including its trademark sauces. Oprah’s Favorite Things , the celebrity's annual holiday gift list published in O magazine, included a two-jar variety pack of Pat’s House Sauce and Brown Brown Sauce in 2020. Both sauces are made at the family-owned restaurant.

Winfrey is in Milwaukee for a family funeral in the area, according to a spokesperson for Oprah Winfrey.

Winfrey was raised in Milwaukee and her mother Vernita Lee died at her home in Milwaukee in 2018.

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JS reporter Jim Riccioli contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Oprah Winfrey was spotted at the Milwaukee Public Market on Thursday afternoon