The Alaska governor, along with her 14-year-old daughter, Willow, spent about 45 minutes sipping a skinny white chocolate mocha and talking privately with four women whose children are serving in the military overseas.
Palin's son, Track, 19, is deploying for service in Iraq.
As they sat at a table at Di Bruno Bros. gourmet food shop, one of the women, Julie Devet, got a call from her son, Glen, who deployed to Iraq with the Army in December. She handed the phone to Palin, who spoke with him briefly.
Reporters were kept at a distance during the visit, although Palin answered one question about the $700 billion agreement reached in Congress and the administration early Sunday to bail out the financial industry.
Palin said she thinks Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP presidential nominee, helped ensure that taxpayers will be protected under the plan, spearheaded by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
"I'm thankful that John McCain is able to have some of those provisions implemented in that Paulson proposal," she said. "I'm glad that John McCain's voice was heard." She did not elaborate or take follow-up questions from reporters.
Palin also posed for pictures with staff at the shop and shook hands with customers.
It was her third day in Philadelphia, the biggest city in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. She visited a downtown bar on Friday night before the presidential debate between McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, and a cheesesteak shop on Saturday.
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