Famous Food

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.

Bad news hot dog fans ... the greatest hot dog eating competition in the world is in danger of being canceled over the coronavirus.

But, here's some good news ... JOEY CHESTNUT WANTS TO PUT ON A SHOW ANYWAY!!!

The greatest eater of all time tells TMZ Sports he still hasn't been informed about the state of the famous Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest (scheduled for July 4 at Coney Island) ... but he "wouldn't be surprised" if it gets the ax.

However, just like LeBron James, Tom Brady and other GOATS ... Chestnut says he's still training like the champion he is.

"Last week, I did like 8 pounds of cucumbers," Joey said ... "I feel like I'll be ready when the contest starts."

We reached out to Major League Eating (the org. that runs the contest) -- and they told us they're still monitoring the situation. In other words, no official decision yet.

But, if the contest does get canceled, like so many other major events, Chestnut says he's 100% willing to put on a solo eating show for America, as long as he can get the wieners and the proper medical support staff in place.

"It would suck not to do it in front of a huge crowd, but there'll still be people watching and I'll still be able to make people happy, I guess. And, I'd push myself to a ridiculous limit."

As for Nathan's, Joey says their focus isn't on the competition right now -- they're trying to do their part in helping the community.

Getting your food in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is getting downright robotic.

There's been a seismic shift in interest in self-delivering robots in the last few weeks. Serve -- a self-delivery robot for Postmates -- has been out and about delivering grub to hungry customers.

Postmates introduced Serve last December, and there's obvious new-found interest in the contraption. For now, they're meant to travel only short distances.

BTW ... check out the vid ... it looks like the robot's eyes blink at 10 seconds and then again at 21 seconds.

This little doggy does a double-take when it sees the newfangled machine tooling down the street with purpose.

As for cool features ... Serve can carry 50 lbs of food and it travels 30 miles on a single charge.

Serve communicates with dynamic lighting in the eyes ... a light ring on top signals movement, like a change in direction.

BTW ... Serve's not the only game in town. Starship Technologies created a delivery robot that is already making the rounds in the U.K.

Forget "Saving Private Ryan" ... Steven Spielberg's saving our doctors and nurses by hooking 'em up with some grub as they work day and night to treat COVID-19 patients.

We're told the three-time Oscar winner's production company, Amblin Entertainment, sent over a bunch of food to treat doctors and nurses at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. Spielberg's company is based in nearby Universal City.

The docs and nurses were treated to Indian food for lunch recently and BBQ for dinner the next day. There was also a card thanking the staff as "frontline ER heroes." You can see from the picture the staff really appreciated the #ComfortFood because, as you very well know by now, hospitals have been flooded with patients battling the deadly virus.

With hospitals reaching maximum capacity, tons of docs, nurses and staff don't have the luxury to go out and grab a quick bite. That's why sending them food has been a huge relief.

As we've reported ... tons of celebrities have stepped up big time during this pandemic. Oprah, for example, donated $10 million to feed Americans in communities hit hard by the virus.

As if the coronavirus name thing wasn't enough, now Corona beer won't be brewed at all ... in Mexico, anyway -- not for now.

Grupo Modelo, which brews Corona and several other brands, announced Thursday it would close operations at its 11 breweries in Mexico as of Sunday due to government regulations.

Mexico is closing all businesses deemed non-essential ... and that includes beer. The shutdown will impact Grupo's other brands too -- including Pacifico and all the Modelo brews.

Interestingly, it's open season for alcohol here in the U.S., where booze sales are reportedly booming while more than 40 states are under stay-at-home orders.

As the spread of coronavirus reached pandemic levels, there were several reports the beer sales were sagging, because ... well, people are simple and superstitious. However, company honchos claimed sales were actually up 5% in March.

The point is moot now -- and depending on how long the Mexican plants are closed ... a 6-pack of Corona could become a commodity.

Strange times, indeed.

Cardi B is doing her part to make sure medical professionals risking their lives to save others get the nutrition they need while working 12+ hour days.

The rapper donated 20,000 bottles of OWYN -- a plant-based, vegan meal supplement drink -- to NYC-area hospitals for their medical staffs and ambulance crews. We're told she wanted to help the workers who, in most cases, don't even get a chance to eat during their shifts.

Cardi's had some health issues of her own recently, revealing Thursday night she dropped 6 pounds in just a few days with a nasty stomach bug. Cardi went to the E.R. earlier this week but she's home and recovering ... good news.

Cardi was also one of the first celebs to call attention to coronavirus before it hit hard, telling fans it was going to get "real."

As for the OWYN drinks she's donating, the product is 100% plant-based and without dairy, soy, gluten, egg, peanut, tree nut, fish or shellfish.