Famous Food

College towns in the U.S. are biting their fingernails at the prospect of students being kept home for the upcoming fall semester, including one prominent California university ... UCSB.

We called up several small businesses operating in the bordering campus neighborhood of Isla Vista, and they all pretty much told us the same thing ... they need kids to come back to school this fall, or else they'll have little to no clientele and, more importantly, employees.

Take Woodstock's, a famous pizza joint around there. A manager tells TMZ that a vast majority of their workforce is made up of students, and if they're told to stay home when September rolls around ... there won't be enough staff to man the ship throughout the year.

That, obviously, could spell trouble for keeping the business afloat. Not only would there be a reduced staff, but there'd also be virtually no one to sell the food to if students vanish.

Ditto for Rockfire Grill -- they tell us 80% of their employees are students, and they put it bluntly ... no students, means no business. They're now ramping up marketing efforts to reach folks outside of UCSB's immediate vicinity ... perhaps in Goleta or Ventura, perhaps.

Funny enough, one store that's doing well is Isla Vista Bicycle Boutique, which says tons of people are buying their bikes right now. They do acknowledge though ... if students aren't around in the fall -- they too will be hurting financially, as they rely on those customers.

An industrious bear is drawn to the finer things in life ... and if you don't believe it, watch the video of the majestic animal deftly finding a way into a fancy Mercedes.

The video is hysterical. It appears the people narrating were occupants of the car, until they went for a hike and noticed the very large brown bear rooting around for food.

The bear then spots the Mercedes and beelines it for the whip. Check out how he/she opens the door. This isn't his/her first rodeo ... or bear-jacking.

Then the question ... how do you scare a bear away? Experts are divided, although the prevailing view is quietly stay clear.

These folks were anything but quiet, and guess what ... it worked!!!

A Domino's Pizza delivery guy who let his frustrations get the best of him and dropped a couple f-bombs on 2 teens who didn't tip their driver is now out of a job.

We broke the story ... the father of the 2 kids told us he let his daughter use his credit card to order some grub from Domino's, but when she signed for it, she mistakenly left the tip line blank. When the brother handed the driver the receipt, he was pissed ... and unloaded on him.

The dad tells TMZ ... he called Domino's that night and lodged a complaint ... the following day both the GM and owner of that franchise called to apologize to him and his kids.

On top of that, we're told the area supervisor and the store manager personally paid a visit to the family's home to deliver some gift cards for their trouble -- a $200 prepaid gift card for each teen, and a $100 Domino's gift card for the fam.

Not such a happy ending for the delivery driver though ... he got the ax.

The owner of the Domino's says the decision was made after reviewing the video and investigating the incident. The owner tells us ... "I am a small franchisee that is locally owned and operated, and we always strive to do what is right."

A Domino's Pizza delivery guy let frustration get the best of him over a zero-tip order ... with video showing him going off on a couple of teenagers, but their dad tells us it was all just a huge misunderstanding.

The father of the 2 teenagers tells TMZ ... he was recently out of town when his 13-year-old daughter back home in Albuquerque called him, asking if she could place a sandwich order with Domino's.

The dad said sure, and he gave her his credit card info over the phone. He says she placed the order, but when the delivery arrived, the teen signed the receipt and left the tip amount blank ... thinking the delivery charge was the driver's tip.

That's where the video starts. The dad said it was his daughter's first time signing for a credit card and clearly she was just confused. He says she handed the receipt to his older teenage son, who then handed the receipt to the delivery man wearing a protective mask ... 'cause, y'know, the pandemic and all.

You can see the delivery guy -- unclear if he's a teenager himself or an adult -- sarcastically tell the teenage son, "Thanks for the tip." The teenage boy shrugs him off, but this appears to set off the delivery guy who calls the teenage son a "douchebag" and tells him, "f*** you, bro."

The teenage son laughs but reiterates he didn't place the order and appears to shift the blame to his sister. The delivery guy claps back, "Well, tell her. I don't make f***ing money if I don't get tipped ... I just brought you your [order] with my gas."

The kids continue laughing, but the dad makes it clear -- especially in these times it's important to tip service workers. The dad said, "On top of all this, the order was wrong. She ordered a sandwich but received cheese bread. Go figure."

You be the judge.

What's the appropriate amount to tip on a $37 check?

HOW ABOUT ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS?!!!

That's the kind of math Chad Ochocinco is all about -- and he proved it Monday, by dropping a killer tip at one of his favorite restaurants.

The ex-NFL wideout popped by Havana's restaurant near Ft. Lauderdale -- which recently reopened amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not only did Chad order up some delicious grub, but man -- he blessed the good people with a some serious tippage!

"Congrats on reopening, sorry about the pandemic, hope this helps," Ochocinco wrote on the bill ... "I love you!"

The restaurant staff felt the love and publicly shouted out the former Cincinnati Bengals star on social media.

"We would like to thank Chad 'Ocho Cinco' Johnson for his continued patronage."

"We greatly appreciate your generosity to our employees now during these most difficult times. Many blessings to you and your family. Thank you again!"

We know what you're thinking -- how rich is that dude? Johnson reportedly made close to $50 mil during his 11 year NFL career ... but he's famously thrifty with his cash.

... but hey, it's good to make an exception once in a while!

Props to Chad!

Chuck E. Cheese appears to go by a new name on Grubhub -- but don't worry, nothing shady's going on ... according to the company, anyway.

The well-known pizza chain franchise has an offshoot brand it's using on the food delivery app, which goes by Pasqually's Pizza & Wings. It's got a completely new logo that doesn't make any reference to its OG roots. There's no mention of Chuck being at the helm either -- despite there being hundreds of locations across the U.S.

It's a bit strange, as all the Pasqually's Pizza joints on Grubhub reroute back to an actual Chuck E. Cheese location when you punch in the address. So, what gives???

Chuck E. Cheese says it recently launched Pasqually as its own thing within the CEC empire, and it's meant to be a premium pizza with a different makeup than their usual kid-friendly pies you might see at a birthday party or something.

CEC adds, "Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings’ recipes use fresh, homemade pizza dough, just like Chuck E. Cheese, but it is a different pizza that features a thicker crust and extra sauce, giving consumers a more flavorful, more premium pizza experience. While Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings recipes are currently only available for delivery, select items might be added to the Chuck E. Cheese menu in the future." Got it? Good.

As for why they wanted to intro this new pizza brand from its own pizza brand, the jury's out. Some have speculated it might have something to do with bad pub they've recently received ... a la YouTuber Shane Dawson. But, that's a rabbit hole we won't go down.

In any case ... this could be seen as kinda crappy for other Pasqually pizza joints, like the mom and pop shop in Philly that bears a very similar name. Sure enough, Chuck E. Cheese's new Pasqually's restaurant has a location there in town too. So, there ya go.

Pick your Pasqually's grub wisely, folks.

Michael Jordan is coming clean about his epic flu game performance in the 1997 NBA Finals ... saying he didn't actually have the flu -- it was some bad pizza.

Remember, #23 was dealing with "flu-like symptoms" before a crucial Game 5 against the Utah Jazz ... and fought through the pain for a 38-point performance to give the Bulls a 3-2 lead.

But, MJ's trainer, Tim Grover, revealed it was actually food poisoning -- not the flu -- that had Jordan under the weather ... after a late-night order from the only place that was open -- a pizza shop.

When the pie was delivered, Grover says 5 dudes pulled up to Jordan's hotel room ... and the trainer hinted there could have been something fishy going on, saying, "I’ve got a bad feeling about this."

Glover's instincts were right ... 'cause MJ woke up at 2 AM "throwing up left and right."

"So, it really wasn’t the flu game. It was food poisoning," MJ admitted on ESPN's "The Last Dance."

MJ's mom thought it was best he didn't play ... but as we all know, he didn't listen and went on to put up one of the most iconic performances of his career.

Now, this is what we call American ingenuity -- giant inflatable inner tubes on wheels so people can safely return to bars and properly distance themselves ... hopefully sooner than later.

This spectacle was recently shot at a seafood joint called Fish Tales in Ocean City, MD, and they were demonstrating this nifty new contraption they're planning to use (possibly en masse) once they can go back to dine-in services, with tweaked 'rona guidelines in place.

It's exactly what it looks like here on video -- patrons would come in with these massive apparatuses around them ... and they'd be able to mingle and do their thing without the staff having to hover and enforce social distancing, 'cause these tubes are 6 feet wide.

They're called Bumper Tables, and Fish Tales owner Donna Harman tells us she's already bought up 10 of them, which she plans to roll out once she's allowed to. She says she'll probably let people use these in the parking lot -- it'd be kinda tight inside -- and estimates she can safely fit 40 to 50 of them at a time in that space, so she'll probably buy more.

As for how these even came about ... they're actually a new invention manufactured by a company called Revolution Event, which is run by Erin Cermak. Cermak says she and her partners whipped these babies up from scratch, adding they're all custom-made and in direct response to the pandemic. It's a neat idea, and apparently others think so too -- Cermaks tells us she's getting calls from tons of businesses, including a pro sports league.

A couple of real-life melon heads thought it'd be a great idea to walk into a store wearing these homemade masks to jack some s*** -- luckily, cops might've already cracked the case.

Check out these two bozos out of Louisa, Virginia -- not too far from Washington D.C. -- walking into a gas station convenience store called Sheetz about a week or so ago and making off with some goodies inside -- with watermelon bandit disguises in tow, no less.

The Louisa Police Department was asking for the public's help in identifying the two larceny suspects -- who were caught on surveillance video before hopping in their getaway vehicle. The department wrote ... "On May 6, 2020, at 2135 hours, two subjects arrived at the Sheetz in a LIFTED 2006 Black Toyota Tacoma wearing hollowed-out watermelon rinds with holes cut out for the eyes into the store where they proceeded to commit a larceny."

Looks like their local citizenry recognized the seedless perps, 'cause an arrest was recently made and the cops thanked their community for the assistance.

Unclear what these boys might've taken, but it doesn't sound like weapons were used in the alleged grab and snatch. We're guessing they left their bananas at home for this heist.

G-Eazy and Ashley Benson are each other's ride or die ... for eating out and also for dating, it appears.

The rapper and actress were hanging out again on Wednesday as they and another couple hit up the popular joint Apple Pan Restaurant in L.A. to pick up some grub. Ashley was behind the wheel while G-Eazy dialed things riding shotgun.

They were kicking it on the same day pictures surfaced of them together last weekend on a grocery store run, so food seems to be their thing. Hey, these are the quarantine rules.

The apparent new coupling comes about a month after Ashley reportedly split from Cara Delevingne. Ashley and Cara were last seen together in late March going on ... what else? A grocery store run with their new pup.

For her part, the "Pretty Little Liars" star tried throwing cold water on the new hookup rumor by liking a fan account's IG post shutting down the G-Eazy buzz.

To be fair, it's quite possible G-Eazy and Ashley became super-close friends after they collaborated on Radiohead's "Creep." G-Eazy posted that video to his YouTube page a few weeks ago. They've seemed inseparable since then.