Famous Food

A guy who wanted to chow down at an IHOP without a face covering wouldn't take "no mask, no service" for an answer -- because cops say he went to town on the staff with a knife.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... this wild incident went down Tuesday in Queens where surveillance video captured the horrifying scene. At first, you see the customer in the waiting area with another guy -- although, we're told there were at least 3 men who rolled in together.

Looks like a staffer's telling him to mask up, which seems to piss him off. He gets up to argue, and appears to leave the building -- but when the whole crew comes back, he's way more agitated.

The video shows the guy who allegedly refused to put on a mask storm back into the IHOP and charge past a table and other waiting customers ... apparently trying to get at someone off-camera.

While trying to get a hold of that person, the guy reaches over and grabs something from his friend -- cops say it was a knife -- and then chases some workers through the restaurant. Toward the end of the video, he actually swings at someone before booking it.

According to our sources, the man swung at a 40-year-old female employee and cut her arm, which required stitches.

Lots of folks are about to be giving thanks to Ibotta ... the shopping rewards app is hooking up free Thanksgiving dinners, and they're pretty easy to snag.

Here's the deal ... Ibotta's teamed up with a bunch of brands to offer cash-back rebates for Thanksgiving meal staples like turkey breast, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, crispy fried onions and cream of mushroom soup ... as long as they shop at Walmart.

Hungry folks can wash it all down with a free Coke, just like the Pilgrims did.

All ya gotta do is select from a fixed menu of 9 products from Butterball, Campbell's, Coca-Cola, French's, Great Value, Idahoan and McCormick at your local Walmart or online ... and then head over to Ibotta to get the refund for the meal.

To get the dough, ya gotta scan your Walmart receipt with the Ibotta app and boom ... turkey dinner, winner winner!!!

There is a limited selection, but with so many hurting economically during the pandemic ... this is pretty clutch.

Free Thanksgiving dinner beats the hell outta super spread meals. Every time.

Ben Watkins, famous for competing in "MasterChef Junior," is dead after a battle with cancer.

Ben, who was undergoing treatment for an extremely rare form of cancer at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, died Monday ... according to his family.

He was diagnosed with a soft tissue tumor when he was only 13 years old, and the family says doctors told them Ben was 1 of only 6 people in the entire world diagnosed with the rare illness called Angiomatoid Fibrous Histiocytoma.

An aspiring chef, Ben used to cook and man the front counter at Big Ben's Bodacious BBQ and Delicatessen in Gary, Indiana. with his late parents, who died 3 years ago in a murder-suicide. Ben's grandma and uncle remembered him as "the strongest person we've ever known."

Ben competed in season 6 of the Gordon Ramsay-hosted cooking competition show, "MasterChef Junior," when he was only 11 years old and quickly became a fan-favorite.

Gordon and Ben's former "MasterChef Junior" competitors sent him a special video earlier this year when he was battling cancer, letting him know they were praying for him and helping raise donations for a GoFundMe, which is now a memorial fund.

Ben was 14.

A parking spot brawl quickly morphed into violent road rage ... ending with a car crashing into a bakery celebrating its grand opening, and it was all caught on video.

The insane incident went down Monday in Queens where a group of men were throwing hands in the middle of the street over a parking spot. The video picks up with one man stuck in a headlock while another man wields a bat, swinging it like crazy.

You see the bat-wielding gent land several shots before everyone appears to walk away. Keyword ... appears. That's when all hell broke loose ... with the dude taking a whack at the Audi's front bumper. That's when the man behind the wheel floors it and mows down the man with the bat ... violently hurling him onto the sidewalk before crashing into Rainbow Bakery. The bakery had just opened for business Monday.

Cops say 3 women and a man -- including a bakery employee -- were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Jie Zou, the man behind the wheel, was arrested for assault and reckless endangerment. Jonathan Zhang, the passenger in the Audi, was also arrested for assault.

"Hosting? Plan a super spread." That's the tone-deaf holiday advertisement that's got an East Coast supermarket chain bending over backward to say sorry for its brain fart.

Giant Food ran the full-page ad in its own magazine, slapping the slogan in bold letters in front of a backdrop of grub synonymous with sharing ... including a shrimp cocktail platter, fruit tart and a cheeseboard.

The advertisement is encouraging folks to host holiday parties and entertain guests with foods that are easy to get your hands on and share -- but it's doing so using a phrase synonymous with COVID-19 outbreaks ... and as the virus is surging around the country. Basically, a horrible time for a "super spread."

As you know, health and government officials across the country are discouraging folks from getting together for large gatherings with Thanksgiving and the holidays fast approaching ... warning against potential super-spreader events.

The supermarket chain -- which has stores in Delaware, Maryland Virginia and D.C. -- should have known better ... after all, they're operating in Joe Biden and Dr. Fauci's backyards ... and now it's apologizing.

Sylvester Stallone has an odd recommendation on how to make this already strange Thanksgiving even more bizarre ... ditch the turkey altogether!!!

We got Rocky in Bev Hills and asked about the many challenges families will be facing during their upcoming holiday get-togethers ... and it seems his visit to Mulberry Street Pizzeria was still very much on his mind.

Rambo tells us he thinks everyone needs to switch it up -- just for 2020 -- and dish out Chicago style hot dogs and pizza this year. He even says he's going to do this himself ... though we get the feeling he's fibbing.

Sly sounds sincere about one thing though -- he feels families should be left to decide what's best for them in regards to handling Turkey Day with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next time you're at Costco, after you buy the obligatory 50 rolls of paper towels, you might want to plunk down a small fortune at checkout for a private jet membership.

Yep, it's a sign of the terrible times. Costco is hawking access to the world of private jets for the very reasonable cost of $17,500.

It's another acknowledgment during COVID times ... lots of people are afraid to hop on a commercial jet with hundreds of passengers.

Here's how it works. Costco hooked up with Wheels Up, a charter jet company offering 1- year memberships. The company touts its service as being as easy as ride-sharing.

So here's what you get for $17.5k -- in addition to the 1-year membership, you get a $3,500 Costco Shop Card and $4,000 in-flight credits. The package includes a 1-year membership to Inspirato, which offers luxury vacation rentals.

Wheels Up has more than 300 planes in its fleet and 1,250 more with partner companies, so there's access to an aircraft pretty much year-round.

He may not be happy in Houston, but Russell Westbrook was all smiles in L.A. on Thursday ... where he celebrated his birthday at one of the swankiest spots in town.

Russ turned the big 3-2 on Thursday -- and hit up Delilah with his wife, Nina, and some close pals (No, James Harden wasn't there).

As you may have heard, Westbrook is looking to leave the Houston Rockets ... where he's reportedly unhappy with the team's "accountability and culture," according to The Athletic.

He apparently wants to play for a squad where "he can have a role similar to his prior, floor-general role in Oklahoma City."

So, Westbrook has reportedly made a trade request with just about a month until the 2020-21 NBA season kicks off. Tick tock ...

Westbrook still has 3 years left on his current contract -- which is set to pay him out more than $132 MILLION.

Costco is giving members a new thing to bitch, moan and fight about ... anyone who can't wear a face mask, has to wear a face shield.

The superstore's nationwide face-covering policy update goes into effect Monday, and the new rules require all members, guests and employees to shield their faces, even if they have a medical condition preventing them from wearing a mask.

Costco was one of the first retailers to roll out mask mandates early on in the coronavirus pandemic, but originally folks with medical conditions could get a pass on face coverings.

It'll be interesting to see if the change sparks a new round of Costco shoppers losing their minds over face shields ... like this guy who got booted from a Costco back in May after refusing to mask up.

Kodak Black's not letting imprisonment stop him from putting food on the table for thousands of folks in Florida this Thanksgiving.

The rapper dropped $15k to provide more than 1,000 frozen turkeys for families in Pompano Beach ... according to his attorney, Bradford Cohen.

We're told Kodak arranged for the birds to be sent to the E. Pat Larkins Community Center on Wednesday, where hundreds of people waited in a long line of cars to get their free food -- including a bag of chips and sodas -- courtesy of the incarcerated rapper.

As you can see ... Kodak's team members were at the community center to safely place the frozen turkeys in recipients' trunks before they drove off. We're told KB's giveaway lasted from 11 AM to 1 PM, and his people were responsible for the huge turnout by putting up flyers in local neighborhoods.

Cohen tells us another community leader who focuses on feeding the needy also helped spread the word for Kodak. We're told the rapper's working with the man on future outreach projects.

Kodak himself will be spending Thanksgiving in his new prison cell at USP Thomson, a high-security prison in Illinois. As we first told you ... he got transferred there last month from the Kentucky prison where he claimed he was being tortured.

It was TACO (and Sushi) TUESDAYYYYYY at The Masters this week ... Tiger Woods finally got to host his champions dinner at Augusta -- and he picked Mexican food and rolls for the occasion!

If you're unfamiliar ... every year at golf's most prestigious tournament, the past year's winner gets to host previous champs for a feast before tee times begin.

Normally, it all goes down in April -- and it's LAVISH -- but because of COVID, Tiger had to wait 7 months to do the honors.

Don't worry, Tiger still was able to get in an April celebration ... remember his backyard Masters dinner with his kids and GF???

But, when the time finally came for Woods to do the real thing on Tuesday before the major tourney begins in Georgia ... he sure as hell delivered.

Tiger picked an exotic menu ... there was an Augusta Roll (featuring tempura shrimp and spicy tuna), and prime steak and chicken fajitas.

For dessert, Tiger offered up flan, churros and sopapillas. He even had everyone wash it down with some fancy red wine!!

Seemed like it was all a hit ... Jack Nicklaus tweeted of the evening, "Mr. Woods has gotten a lot of practice at picking a menu. 💯"

The Masters officials say the dinner was pared down this season to help prevent the spread of COVID ... explaining only 33 people were allowed to attend.

Ya wanna know what Bill Belichick hates more than losing?? Coffee and everything about it -- the smell, the taste and even java-flavored treats.

Like ... the dude freakin' LOATHES the stuff with a burning passion.

Here's how we know -- the New England Patriots coach came clean on his disgust for joe in an interview with WEEI's "Ordway, Merloni, and Fauria Show" on Tuesday ... and it basically turned into a roasting session on all things coffee.

"Look, I mean I understand I am probably missing it, but I just don’t like coffee," Belichick said.

"I can’t stand the smell of coffee. I don’t like coffee ice cream and I like every sweet that has ever been made. But, that’s not one of them."

"I don’t like coffee-flavored anything."

He didn't stop there.

"I just don’t have the taste for it. I've tried, but it just doesn’t work for me. My grandmother put a glass of milk and poured like probably a thimble of coffee and I couldn’t even drink that."

"It’s just one of those things I didn’t develop a taste for. I didn’t develop a taste for scotch either. I tried that. I just couldn’t develop a taste for it," he added.

"Nothing against coffee. Nothing against Dunkin' Donuts. Nothing against anything, it’s just not for me."

There's a limited edition Travis Scott McDonald's action figure on the resale market ... and it's gonna cost you a lot more than his $6 signature meal.

Here's the deal ... someone who scored the super-rare figurine from Travis' collab with Mickey D's is looking to sell the action figure on reseller marketplace StockX for a cool $55,000 ... and that's not a typo.

The action figure depicts the rapper holding a McDonald's tray with his Travis Scott Meal -- a $6 deal that comes with a Quarter Pounder with cheese and bacon, medium fries with BBQ sauce and a Sprite.

The rare figurine was given out to a handful of lucky folks via sweepstakes ... and McDonald's says the figurines are handcrafted and numbered.

Fans have already shown an appetite for all things Travis and McDonald's ... his meal has been super popular at McD's locations across the nation, with some stores running low on ingredients after its launch, and Travis also released an extremely popular merch line with everything from chicken nugget-shaped pillows to t-shirts.

The craze started with a bang too ... with Travis getting mobbed by a huge crowd when he showed up to celebrate the launch at a McDonald's in Downey, CA.

It's so good to know ... even chill Canada is losing it.

Check out this video of a McDonald's in Toronto, where a very impatient customer got out of her car in the drive-thru and walked to the window, which enraged the dude behind her.

She called the guy a "fat bitch," middle fingers come to attention and there's plenty of anger and cursing. She threatens to spit on the guy and then blanches that he keeps calling her Karen. She says she's not a Karen, but ...

Trae Young with the assist!!!

The Atlanta Hawks superstar did a VERY cool thing on Friday -- splurging for lunch for the people counting ballots at State Farm Arena ... and they couldn't be happier about it!

The 22-year-old NBA sensation's rep hit up Jason's Deli in midtown Atlanta -- and told the crew Young wanted to do something nice for everyone helping out with the election process.

Young ended up buying 50 boardroom box lunches -- complete with sandwiches, chips, a pickle and a cookie. He also sprung for extra fruit side items for all. Way to keep it healthy!

Total cost -- $670 plus a nice 20% tip.

Obviously, Young can afford it -- he's super-rich, but this is more about the gesture than the price.

The Fulton County election workers were stoked when the food arrived with a note from Young that read, "Thanks for all you do!"

Fulton County thanked Young and the ATL Hawks -- noting the NBA team has "supported us throughout this election process."

There's a ton of pressure on the election workers in ATL right now -- as the votes in that area are playing a pivotal role in the presidential election.

Pour one out for Keith Smith's poor toilet ...

The Atlanta Falcons fullback admitted this week he has a SERIOUS affinity for Chipotle ... explaining he gets bowls from the Mexican food joint 4 or 5 times a day!!

"You probably won't believe it," Smith said on the "Endless Hustle" podcast this week. "But, most people who know me know that it's legit."

The 6-foot, 240-pound NFLer explained he uses the restaurant as a way to sort of meal prep.

Smith -- who turned 28 back in April -- says he gets his bowls compartmentalized ... getting the chicken, rice and beans all separate so he can concoct the deliciousness whenever he's ready.

"Like, this is not a joke," Smith said. "Like, 4 or 5 times a day, I got my bowl. Same thing every time."

As for why Chipotle and not El Pollo Loco or some other spot? Smith says it's simple ... "You know what you going to get. The consistency."

In case you were wondering, a modest Chipotle chicken burrito bowl has around 800 calories in it. So, do the math -- that's roughly 4,000 calories of Chipotle PER DAY!!