Famous Food

The L.A. restaurant owner who called it a "slap in the face" her place is shut down -- while a film set operates next door -- might be back in biz soon ... thanks to an outpouring of support.

Employees at the Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill in Sherman Oaks tell TMZ ... awareness of the restaurant's struggle has skyrocketed and led to an influx of donations. ICYMI ... owner Angela Marsden called out Governor Newsom and L.A. Mayor Garcetti for apparent double standards with COVID-19 restrictions.

Pineapple Hill's GoFundMe has currently raised about $150,000, and we're told because of the generosity, there's a strong chance it will be able to reopen for takeout soon ... allowing employees to earn a much-needed paycheck again.

While celebs like Maria Shriver have encouraged people to donate, we're told others like Ricky Schroder, Todd Hoffman (Wheels from "Meatballs") and Maria's son, Patrick Schwarzenegger, have also hit up the restaurant directly, offering to help in any way possible.

As for the restaurant's newfound fame ... employees tell us it's a team effort right now to keep spreading the word about why small businesses need to be allowed to operate outdoors. Some of the workers are even helping Marsden schedule media interviews to do so.

Pineapple Grill tells us it did get some backlash from people who thought they were doing a disservice to the entertainment workers who were being employed on the film set. It wants to clarify it has no problem with that, and it supports all those who were working on the set of NBC's "Good Girls" that day.

Cops in Georgia are searching for this maniac who stabbed a teenage Dunkin' Donuts worker -- on video -- because the joint didn't have the flavor he wanted.

This went down over the weekend in Union City, GA where a drive-thru customer got irate the Dunkin' had run out of his favorite donut. Union City PD tells TMZ ... the guy left, but returned a short time later and went inside to start arguing with the employee.

You can see from the video, things got violent quickly ... as the suspect started flailing away with a knife ... stabbing the 17-year-old worker twice -- once in the left forearm and the upper arm.

The suspect fled before cops arrived ... bolting in a red Audi with a female passenger. Police are still looking for him, and asking for the public's help.

NASA sent a massive goody bag of supplies and treats up into space this week to help their astronauts out for the holidays -- and we found out what they're noshing on!!!

A rep for NASA tells TMZ ... part of the resupply load, aboard a SpaceX capsule, that docked at the International Space Station Monday were thousands of pounds of cargo for scientific research -- and also some fresh grub.

We're told among some of the fresh food items -- which is a rare treat in space, since most everything is either freeze-dried or thermostabilized -- was a bunch of fruit. Sounds basic, but in space ... even a first bite at the apple is something to savor for these expeditions.

Some of that produce included Gala apples, navel and blood oranges, mandarin oranges, and ... lemons!!! Hey, when life gives 'em to you, gotta make the most of it right???

We're told there were also some holiday-themed hot foods sent up as well -- which are all probably arriving in some type of airtight packaging, a la Tang.

Among that lot, NASA says it shipped stuff like cherry blueberry cobbler, cornbread dressing, cranapple dessert, jellied cranberry sauce, macaroni & cheese, potatoes au gratin, roasted turkey, shortbread cookies, southwestern corn, sparkle gel, spicy green beans, french vanilla cappuccino and wheat flatbread. Mmmm -- space munchies 😁.

BTW, these are the same astronauts that were shot up into the sky a few short weeks ago in another SpaceX Dragon capsule. So, they're probably due to a fresh shot of fuel.

Pete Davidson making fun of a bar in his hometown and its stance against COVID restrictions is pissing off a lot of the locals, and they're blasting him for it.

A Staten Island activist named Mr. Tobacco tore the 'SNL' star a new one Monday during a news conference over the watering hole called Mac's Public House -- which has been in the news a lot lately for defying COVID closures.

ICYMI ... one of Mac's co-owners, Danny Presti, was arrested AGAIN this weekend after he allegedly let people inside (against a closure order). Tobacco and co. were addressing that when he referred to Pete's 'Weekend Update' appearance, where he criticized the Staten Island community and Mac's owners for acting like babies.

Welp, Mr. Tobacco says Pete's words are a betrayal, considering people in town know him and his fam. He got very personal and even referenced Pete's father ... a firefighter who died on 9/11 in the Twin Towers.

You'll have to watch the video to see how he frames it ... but it's pretty clear that Tobacco and some of the other Mac members were hurt by Pete, who Tobacco calls someone with a huge platform putting the little guy down.

How'd Tyrod Taylor get over an embarrassing 45-0 loss on Sunday??

DATE NIGHT WITH DRAYA MICHELE, BABY!!!

Just hours after the Chargers were pummeled by the Patriots at SoFi Stadium ... Taylor decided to date the pain away by hitting up an Orange County hotspot with his model GF.

The two were all smiles as they strolled into Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach ... and yeah, doesn't seem like L.A.'s backup QB was too hurt about his team's horrendous loss earlier in the day.

Then again ... how could you NOT smile on a night out with Draya?!?!

Michele posted about the evening on her social media page ... sharing a video of the couple's cocktails and writing, "Last night to dine out in LA."

Michele and Taylor have been linked for the past couple months now ... and it seems the two are going strong despite the global pandemic and the Chargers' abysmal season.

An L.A. restaurant owner is calling out Mayor Garcetti and Gov. Newsom for allowing film sets to continue operating, while once again closing down outdoor dining ... but her comparison might be apples to oranges as far as containing the virus.

This is restaurateur Angela Marsden, and she posted a video showing  a movie production in full swing -- with outdoor tables and tents set up right next door to her now-shuttered eatery, Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill, in Sherman Oaks.

In the video, Marsden says she can't fathom why her restaurant was forced to shut down (again) -- even after she had successfully ran outdoor dining for months behind her building -- but film sets like this, which look virtually identical in set-up dining-wise, can soldier on.

The new rule -- restaurants close on-the-spot dining, while music/video production can keep rolling -- is one of many that have left Angelenos scratching their head as Mayor Garcetti has instituted a new stay-at-home order in the City, which just got expanded to all of SoCal.

In a section about activities and businesses allowed to keep operating, production in L.A. can continue -- which explains the Sherman Oaks set -- but it says clearly ... they gotta follow COVID protocols as outlined by the County.

That's where Marsden might be mistaken in her juxtaposition. Fact is ... there's a ton of rules that production companies must abide by in order to shoot, including regular testing, plus a bunch of other mandates ... mask-wearing, temp checks, social distancing, sanitized sets, etc.

The big difference is the testing, and who's allowed in or out. A movie or TV shoot can have an awful lot of people on hand (just like a restaurant) at any given time, but the dinstinction is that the set -- while it's shooting -- is treated almost like a bubble, whereas a restaurant is revolving door of strangers, who aren't required to get tested to partake.

The old adage "There's no such thing as bad publicity" is ringing true for TRUE Kitchen + Kocktails ... because all's very well after its recent twerking controversy.

The Dallas restaurant's owner, Kevin Kelley, tells TMZ ... the joint's been inundated with requests to dine there since he gained some notoriety for his anti-twerking speech earlier this week.

He says TRUE's been a reservation-only business since they opened 5 months ago, and they're all booked up now for the foreseeable future. More importantly, Kelley says sales have remained strong in wake of what went down ... and he has no plans to change anything up.

The owner tells us ... "I'm glad the public has had a chance to decide what they do and don’t want in their restaurants. The effect on our restaurant has been overwhelmingly positive."

He adds that former Dallas Cowboy Dez Bryant's been a supporter, and says ... "We’ve received an outpouring of support that we did not anticipate online and in person. This lets us know the public believes in our vision for the restaurant and they will support a concept working to fill a void in our communities."

In case you missed it ... Kelley received both praise and backlash for his stance against twerking in his restaurant, and doubled down -- it's just something he doesn't want at his establishment.

"Jersey Shore" stars Snooki and Deena are getting dragged into a food fight, but not in the cafeteria, this one's in court and it's all over their meatball merch.

The Meatball Shop just filed a lawsuit against Snooki and Deena, claiming the duo's meatball merch is full of the New York sandwich shop's trademarks.

As "Jersey Shore" fans surely remember ... Snooki and Deena call themselves the meatballs on the reality show, and now they're using the moniker to sell shirts and hoodies on the Internet.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, The Meatball Shop claims Snooki and Deena straight-up jacked the store's swag and slapped it on a bunch of merchandise ... totally ignoring the restaurant's cease and desist letter.

The Meatball Shop is no fan of Snooki and Deena's side hustle ... in the docs, they say the reality stars' merch is ruining their brand's good name.

This is the definition of a sitting duck -- a dead bird gunned down by hunters got swallowed up by a massive alligator ... and it's all on video!!!

The wildlife (and death) scene went down on a Florida lake after some hunters had shot down the duck. Its body was floating when an absolutely enormous gator came into the picture.

The hunters instantly knew they had zero chance to claim their prize when they saw ol' Godzilla here swimming toward the carcass.

The gator opened wide and the whole duck disappeared in one big gulp. Apparently, duck is kinda gamey ... as the alligator took a good 20 chomps to get down the fowl snack. Maybe it just likes playing with its food.

Truthfully, this wouldn't be that bizarre of a scene -- definitely bad timing for the hunters -- but what really stands out is the SIZE of this reptile. Florida, man.

A Black restaurant owner went off on a section of mostly Black women after one of them got up at their booth and twerked ... and now he's getting dragged AND applauded, while also defending his actions.

The incident went down at a joint called TRUE Kitchen + Kocktails -- it opened just 5 months ago -- when the owner, Kevin Kelley, says multiple women got up and danced on their chairs up against a glass wall.

Kevin just wasn't having it and decided to loudly let everyone in the restaurant know about his ground rules, which several people recorded. You see him walk over to one of the twerkers and shut her down.

Another video shows him lecturing women in that section of the restaurant ... which many did not dig. He said he doesn't wanna see that type of behavior in his establishment, and that if they don't like it ... get out.

Now, we talked to Kevin on "TMZ Live" Monday, and pressed him on what exactly he had a problem with -- twerking, in general ... or the fact that it was happening in his building? He insisted it was the latter, noting there was a time and place for that type of dancing.

However, watch what he says about "classy and nice Black women" at his restaurant because it's at the heart of the backlash -- the insinuation being twerking doesn't fit that description ... for him.

You can watch and judge for yourself, but long story short -- his tone didn't sit right with a lot of people who feel TRUE bumping music, serving booze and promoting itself like clubs do make it ripe for dancing.

Tiffany Haddish rattled off a list of things she's thankful for in life, and they're all very relatable ... except the part about the Grammys.

The comedian and actor put on a Thanksgiving Day show outside Hollywood's Laugh Factory -- accompanied by "The Office" star Craig Robinson on the keys -- to provide a little levity during this most unusual holiday season.

She also served up turkey with all the fixins for folks who didn't have a meal or a place to go.

Tiffany sings about how she's thankful for so many things, but she keeps it pretty basic -- food, shelter, health ... with a little bathroom humor mixed in.

But, to top it off, Haddish thanks all of her fans who watched "Black Mitzvah" on Netflix ... which helped her score a Grammy nomination for Comedy Album.

It's actually her second nom -- she got her first a couple years ago for the Spoken Word Album, "The Last Black Unicorn" -- but as she points out ... neither have been for her singing voice.

Mike Tyson is gearing up for his big Thanksgiving weekend fight -- BY EATING ROY JONES JR'S HEAD!!!

Sure, it's a cake "head" -- but Mike went straight for his favorite part, THE EAR ... and the video is hilarious!!!

The 54-year-old fighter got his own adorable kids to take part in some Turkey Day trash talk directed at Roy -- warning the fighter to watch his lobes, or he'll get the Evander Holyfield treatment when they clash on Saturday night!

In the clip, Mike starts off by acknowledging he has a lot to be thankful for this year -- like the reported $10 mil he's scheduled to make from the Roy Jones Jr. fight -- before taking some shots at his opponent.

"It's a turkey," Mike says while revealing the cake of Roy's head.

Once he slices off Roy's ear, Mike jokes, "Tastes so much better than Evander's!"

Mike and Roy have said it's all fun and games until the bell rings on Saturday night -- with both guys telling TMZ Sports they'll both be trying to KNOCK EACH OTHER OUT.

The fight is technically an exhibition match, but Roy and Mike -- who's planning to walk to the ring with the song he created with EDM group Tiki Lau -- have each said they're approaching the event like a pro ... and want to put on a violent show for everyone spending money to watch. (It's available on PPV via cable and satellite, and PPV streaming at Triller).

America's most notorious prisoners will sit down for a Thanksgiving like the rest of us in 2020 ... complete with turkey and the fear of catching COVID-19.

Lori Loughlin, Mossimo Giannulli and Harvey Weinstein are spending their first turkey day behind bars, and they're about to discover what Bill Cosby, Kodak Black and Bobby Shmurda know all too well ... the prison meal sounds better than it tastes.

We did some digging and found out what these famous convicts will be eating on Turkey Day ... here's a breakdown of their spreads, which are hopefully limited to food and not virus.

Lori at California's FCI Dublin:

• Herb-roasted turkey with pan gravy, honey glazed country ham, garlic mashed potatoes, baked potato, candied sweet potatoes, savory cornbread dressing, southern style green beans or steamed green beans, cranberry sauce, fresh dinner roll with honey apple butter
• If Lori wants to avoid the bird and the pig, she can choose the no-flesh entrée ... tofu stir fry with glazed chickpeas and stuffed bell peppers.

Mossimo at California's FCI Lompoc:

• Turkey roast, baked turkey ham, soy chicken patty, mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken gravy, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie

Kodak at Illinois' USP Thomson:

• Turkey roast or tofu stir fry, mashed potatoes, corn, cornbread dressing, turkey gravy, dinner rolls, pie or cranberry sauce

Weinstein at New York's Wende Correctional Facility:

• Roast turkey with gravy, bread dressing, whipped potatoes, steamed carrots, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls and margarine, ice cream sundae

Shmurda at NY's Clinton Correctional Facility:

• Same menu as Weinstein

Cosby at Pennsylvania's SCI Phoenix:

• Roast turkey or garden burger, whipped potatoes, bread stuffing, green peas, gravy, dinner rolls, margarine, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie

A$AP Rocky's not one to forget where he came from ... which is why he personally delivered 120 meals to families at a homeless shelter where he and his mom once used to live.

The rapper personally turned himself into a Postmates delivery guy on the eve of Thanksgiving Day to deliver 120 hot meals from one of his favorite joints in Harlem ... Amy Ruth's Restaurant.

The two-time Grammy-nominated rapper delivered the grub to the Regent Family Residence ... a homeless shelter on the upper west side serving 83 families, including 111 kids. The org's part of the Volunteers of America - Greater New York ... which has provided affordable housing assistance since 1896.

Don't worry ... Rocky adhered to all COVID-19 safety protocols to contactlessly deliver the meals. This selfless act for this shelter, no doubt, tugged at the rapper's heartstrings ... he and his mother, Renee Black, stayed at the shelter back in the early 2000s.

No turkey, stuffing, mac and cheese, green bean casserole or pumpkin pie will be consumed by Jake Paul on Turkey Day ... 'cause the social media star tells TMZ Sports he's too busy cutting weight for his big fight against Nate Robinson!!!

The YouTuber-turned-boxer gave us an inside look at what his Thanksgiving is gonna look like -- and considering he's 2 days from his bout with the ex-NBA star on the Tyson vs. Jones Jr. card, it's not so fun.

"We're going into the bubble on Thanksgiving," Paul tells us. "I'm just gonna be watching people eat."

That SUCKS ... but Paul -- whose goal weight is 189 for the event -- says it was even worse for his fight against AnEsonGib in January, which made him miss out on all the fun surrounding Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's AND his birthday.

"So, only having to give up one holiday for this fight is not bad at all."

Jake gave an inside look on talks between his brother, Logan, and Floyd Mayweather ... but won't say 100% it's gonna go down.

Michael Jordan is feeling the holiday spirit -- the NBA legend just donated $2 MILLION to help feed people in need!!!

"In these challenging times and in a year of unimaginable difficulty due to COVID-19, it’s more important than ever to pause and give thanks," Jordan said.

"I am proud to be donating additional proceeds from 'The Last Dance' to Feeding America and its member food banks in the Carolinas in Chicago to help feed America’s hungry."

Of course, "The Last Dance" documentary was wildly successful -- it's very cool to see MJ using that extra cash to help the less fortunate have a nice holiday.

The people at Feeding America -- which touts itself as "the largest charitable food assistance network in the U.S." -- were stoked to receive MJ's gift.

"An incredible gift to be thankful for -- NBA legend Michael Jordan is donating $2 million to help our neighbors facing hunger!"

Feed America says it works with 200 food banks and 60,000 food partners across the country -- and they're encouraging everyone who can help to pitch in!