Famous Food

Girl Scout cookie sales are crippled due to stay-at-home orders nationwide -- and parents are worried they'll be stuck with a fat bill ... but fret not, your nonprofit's got your back.

TMZ spoke to our Girl Scout sources -- yes, we have them too -- and we've got a consensus from lots of households ... since the girls in green can't set up shop outside and guilt-trip the public into buying cookies right now, there's a TON that are going unsold, with a deadline to pay fast approaching. Normally, it's parents who gotta pay the difference.

Here's how it works, per our sources. Parents can take just about as many cases of Girl Scout cookies from their local HQ as they want -- but they gotta be wise about that, 'cause they can only return a certain amount without penalty. Ten is one number we've heard, but the bottom line is ... if you bite off more than you can chew, you're on the hook.

The cookies add up too. At $5 a box, and at 12 boxes a case ... these things ain't cheap, especially if you aren't moving them at a decent pace. Clearly, because of coronavirus, a bunch of go-to Girl Scout spots in public places are off-limits at the moment, which means a big chunk of these GS sales have dried up in recent weeks.

Our sources say lots of parents are facing steep tabs -- upwards of a several hundred dollars or more -- because cookie season is wrapping up, and local councils want their dough.

Fortunately, Girl Scouts of the USA -- the org at the helm of this whole operation -- tells TMZ they're not going to let their parents default, so to speak. They say, "Girl Scouts of the USA is working closely with our 111 local councils across the country who administer the iconic Girl Scout Cookie program to ensure that no troops, girls, or volunteers are left financially responsible for any excess inventory of Girl Scout Cookies."

Some New Yorkers are still risking coronavirus exposure by going places where social distancing is difficult, but the good news is ... there seems to be less of them.

TMZ got these shots of the Union Square farmers market Wednesday. Despite the state being at the apparent apex of COVID-19 cases and having strict stay-at-home and social-distancing orders in place ... it's still buzzing.

Several photos show people standing closer than the required 6-foot distance, and even more concerning ... some aren't wearing face coverings either.

To be fair, it's not required for New Yorkers to cover up until Friday, but it's being recommended by experts to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Los Angeles enacted its face-covering rule last week at all essential businesses, for which farmers markets are included.

On the bright side, the Union Square-area doesn't look nearly as packed as other farmers markets across the country have been in recent weeks ... or even as crowded as Central Park was a couple weekends ago.

Danny Trejo is using his machete for good ... to chop up some carnitas from his famous Mexican joint to feed L.A.'s frontline workers.

We're told the action star hit up USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in L.A. Wednesday, just before lunchtime, and served HUNDREDS of free bowls to hospital workers working to treat patients battling with COVID-19 and various other illnesses.

As you know ... Danny owns Trejo's Tacos, a popular joint with several locations across L.A. Staff at his location on the westside prepped the bowls filled with carnitas, chicken, steak asada and brisket. WHERE'S A DROOLING EMOJI WHEN YOU NEED IT?!?

This is not the first time Danny's gone to bat for L.A.'s healthcare workers. He kicked off the week doing exactly that ... serving up hundreds of bowls for doctors, nurses, administrators and custodians working at Cedars-Sinai in L.A.

Helluva way to give back during a nationwide medical and economic crisis. As we first reported ... Steven Spielberg's production company earlier this month fed a bunch of frontline ER heroes working at a Burbank hospital.

#NotAllHeroesWearCapes

Jon Taffer has a good idea what your favorite restaurant is going to look like when the pandemic smoke clears, and says the new key to culinary success won't be taste.

The "Bar Rescue" star joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" and outlined some of the sweeping changes he sees coming to restaurants whenever shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted.

Jon's confident people won't be shy about eating at restaurants or going to bars, because Americans want to socialize and support local businesses. He says what will change is what customers value -- and many will prioritize trust over taste.

The way Jon sees it, people are gonna go to the restaurant they trust to keep them safe, and not necessarily the one with the best food.

And, when Americans do start eating inside restaurants again, Jon says customers are gonna be confronted with lots and lots of changes ... involving capacity, spacing and all-new safety precautions. Let's just say the staff at your fave steakhouse might look more like medical pros.

While experts say the restaurant industry has already lost $255 BILLION due to the outbreak, and 1 in 5 restaurants could close permanently ... Jon says it's not all doom and gloom.

Good ... restaurants and their customers could use a side of positivity!!!

Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin has the likes of Kevin Hart, Meek Mill, Justin Bieber and Magic Johnson backing his amazing plan to raise money for COVID-19 relief.

Rubin launched the "All In Challenge" Tuesday -- it's a massive fundraiser to feed Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic ... and it's offering once-in-a-lifetime fan experiences in hopes of raising tens of millions of dollars.

People who want to donate to a great cause can throw down as little as $10 to enter to win awesome prizes ... like a chance to be in Kevin's next movie or spend a day with Ryan Seacrest on ALL of his jobs!!!

Meanwhile, Meek is auctioning off his 2019 Rolls-Royce Phantom!!! Opening bid ... $200k. If ya wanna be a baller in the NBA -- it'll be back eventually -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is giving you a shot to suit up for a game. FOR REAL!!

And, for those big ballers, there's a bunch of auctions ... like a $50,000 opening bid to play H.O.R.S.E. with Magic and sit courtside at a Lakers game. NBD.

Scores of other actors, athletes, singers and celebs, in general, are getting involved -- it's a challenge, after all, so everyone's calling out their friends. Kevin's lookin' at you, Rock.

So, check out what Yo Gotti, Alex Rodriguez, Todd Gurley, Zach and Julie Ertz, Ben Simmons and many more are offering. It's all at allinchallenge.com.

Justin Bieber just joined too, and says he's gonna fly to the winner's home and sing, "One Less Lonely Girl."

Rubin says 100% of money raised will be donated to programs to feed the hungry, including ... Meals on Wheels, No Kid Hungry, World Central Kitchen, America's Food Fund and Feeding America.

Good luck and be on the lookout for way more celebs to join the fundraiser. Whatchu got Dwyane Wade???

Sweet gesture from NFL star Quinnen Williams ... the NY Jets D-lineman donated $25,000 worth of food to medical personnel in N.J. -- and it was all handmade by a celeb chef!!

The former first-round pick hit up Brianna's Nutrition Kitchen this month to take care of staffers at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, N.J. -- and the meals didn't disappoint.

TMZ Sports has learned Quinnen and the private chef hooked up the heroes with superhealthy products ... including seasoned protein, veggies and potatoes.

One of the coolest parts of the gift? Quinnen labeled each meal with a smiling photo and the message, "Thank you for your service! Love, Quinnen Williams."

Seemed the people who are laying their lives on the line to stop the effects of coronavirus were more than happy with the grub -- smiling and posing with the meals on Tuesday!

Of course, New Jersey has been one of the states hit hardest by COVID-19 ... with more than 68,000 confirmed cases in the area.

Get your mouths ready ... 'cause the fastest food eaters on the planet are teaming up for a quarantine tournament for the ages!!!

Thanks to Major League Eating, sports fans FINALLY have some competition to look forward to -- a livestreamed event on April 17.

The biggest names in the biz -- from Joey Chestnut to Matt Stonie to #1 female eater Miki Sudo -- are slated to compete ... and the food choices are extra quarantine friendly.

Here's the breakdown ...

Qualifying Round: Sliced Bologna -- two pounds

Quarterfinals: Milk and Cookies -- one family pack of Oreos and a half-gallon of milk

Semifinals: Baked Beans -- 1.5 gallons

Finals: Ramen Noodles -- 10 individual ramen cups

MLE chairman George Shea noted this is the first major sports competition to come back since the global pandemic ... and he sees it as a good thing.

"While there has been substantial discussion about which professional sport would be the first to return -- with baseball, basketball, golf and MMA all floating recent potential return plans -- competitive eating is first to come back. It is a powerful statement of American resilience."

To make it an even more sports-centered event, BetOnline is taking bets on who will go home the big winner!!

Speaking of the winner, whoever ends up the champ will take home a $5,000 reward!!

Both BetOnline and MLE are also donating $10k to Feeding America ... so it's for a good cause!!

Boxing superstar Tyson Fury wanted to help his favorite local pizza joint weather the COVID-19 storm ... so he ordered $700 worth of food -- and tacked on a $125 tip!

Fury and his family -- wife Paris and their 5 children -- are shacked up at their mansion in Lancashire, England ... but they wanted to help stimulate the local economy on Easter Sunday, so they hit up Manjaros Restaurant.

The order was massive ... lamb chops, shrimp, chicken, a bunch of pizzas, pasta ... and 25 cans of Diet Coke!

Total bill came out to £557.35 -- roughly $700 -- and Fury slipped the delivery people a £100 tip ($125). Not bad!

Despite all the food, Paris Fury insists there were no outside guests at the home -- a la Dak Prescott.

"The food order was just for us and the children," Fury explained to local media ... "We've got 5 children and the food arrived in a lot of boxes."

The delivery driver also told media, "Tyson is a regular customer to Manjaros in Preston, but the restaurant is currently closed and only offering deliveries."

Food trucks might not officially be "essential" ... but they are when they're giving back to people on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.

It's a pretty heartwarming national movement ... while demand and profits for food trucks are almost nil -- with office buildings closed -- some trucks in NYC, L.A. and Denver are serving free food at hospitals, healthcare facilities, fire departments and police stations.

Wafels and Dinges, a food truck in NYC, visited Mount Sinai Hospital, serving up free Belgian waffles and coffee to all the workers in the COVID-19 unit and ICU. The truck barely has an income, so it was sponsored by Imagine Society.

The Wafels & Dinges food truck in Denver also passed out free food at 4 major hospitals there -- Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center, University of Colorado Hospital, Saint Joseph Hospital and National Jewish Health -- donating 2,000 waffles and counting.

Meanwhile, The Halal Guys food cart tells us it's provided more than 800 meals to various hospital workers -- and partnered with Lysol to donate $80,000 to the CDC Foundation.

Happy Ice L.A., a mobile water ice truck, is giving away water ice to medical first responders around L.A. -- and sponsoring an Easter Sunday fundraiser to give $75 grocery gift cards to 1,000 families.

Also in L.A., Fraiche Signatures by Chef E Dubble has been handing out free meals for 3 weeks and counting ... feeding over 1,200 people from MLK Hospital and Kaiser Baldwin Hills, plus firefighters, police officers and sheriffs.

A food bank in Texas is overflowing with cars and hungry families looking for their next meal in desperate times ... and the line to get grub looks like a parking lot.

The sobering scene played out Thursday in San Antonio, where the city's food bank prepared to serve 6,000 families at Trader's Village ... and then an extra 4,000 households showed up with their hands out.

The line to get the free food and the overwhelming demand were more than officials expected for San Antonio's fourth drive-thru food distribution giveaway. Some folks even got in line the night before the 10 AM event, and as you can see, that was a savvy decision.

Fortunately, everyone was served and no one was turned away ... all they had to do was wait for hours in their cars in the sweltering Texas heat.

The food bank says it hasn't seen this large a line or this big of a crisis in 25 years ... and it's all because of the coronavirus, which has put about 10% of the country's workforce out of work and closed schools, which feed lots of kids.

And, get this .... the food bank says it distributed over a million pounds of food, and it's gonna need federal or state aid to keep operating. Jeff Bezos is donating $100 million to stock our nation's food banks, but it sounds like they need a lot more help.

Hope you've stocked up on vats of blue cheese and ranch ...

Experts say with the NCAA Tournament's cancellation last month ... there's now a massive, national surplus of chicken wings -- but sales of the delicious treats are nearing an all-time low!!

ALERT: THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!

Poultry experts told The Washington Post this week that chicken wings are down to nearly $1 per pound after "millions of pounds" of the goods went uneaten due to March Madness' cancellation.

This all comes just a few months after the price for the wings was nearly $2 per pound during the Super Bowl.

"The basketball, it’s for real," one expert told the WaPo. "The basketball didn’t happen. People are not going to restaurants and there’s a lot of excess."

According to the report, just before the annual NCAA Tourney was canceled last month ... poultry farmers sold over 1.2 MILLION pounds of wings.

Last week, however, they say those sales dipped dramatically ... with only 433,000 pounds being sold.

Tiger Woods didn't let the pandemic stop one of the greatest traditions in golf -- the Masters Champions dinner -- only this time, it was WAY smaller than usual.

Every year, the reigning Masters champ hosts a lavish dinner for his rival golfers at Augusta National ... and the winner usually customizes the menu with meaningful (and usually pricey) food items.

Since coronavirus threw a huge wrench in this year's plans, Tiger pivoted -- and threw a much smaller dinner for his girlfriend, Erica Herman, and his kids, Sam and Charlie.

"Masters Champions Dinner quarantine style," Tiger says ... "Nothing better than being with family."

Woods even busted out his Green Jacket for the meal -- another tradition he's dead set on carrying on! Did you notice the replica trophy on the table?!

Unclear exactly what he served up, but it looks like Tiger had some sushi, some meat ... and cupcakes!!

By the way, the 2020 Masters has been postponed to November -- with the Champions Dinner tentatively scheduled to go down on Nov. 10 ... as long as the pandemic is over by then.

"Saved by the Barn" star Dan McKernan says just dipping your toe into a plant-based diet could help reduce viral pandemics ... and, of course, spare more of the animals he rescues.

Dan was on "TMZ Live" Tuesday when he made a pitch for the vegan lifestyle, and the positive impact it can have on the planet. He's not militant about it, and instead suggests you start slowly -- a method he says worked for his 63-year-old "stubborn farmer" dad.

He also believes reducing animal consumption will reduce the number of pandemics caused by viruses jumping from animals to humans -- a la the coronavirus.

Dan's main focus, though, is on saving animals across the country and raising them on his Michigan farm. He's had a lot of success ... documented on his new show.

So far, he's saved over 100 animals -- none cuter than his pal, KJ the goat!!! Watch our video with him, we think you'll agree ... and catch the premiere of "Saved By The Barn" Saturday at 10PM on Animal Planet.