Famous Food

Here's further proof not all heroes wear capes or badges ... sometimes they're famous TV mobsters like Joseph Gannascoli, who is taking it upon himself to feed frontline workers.

The actor -- famous for playing capo Vito Spatafore on the hit HBO series -- started his mission early last month with a goal of raising $50k to feed hospital workers, firefighters and other frontline workers.

Joseph started a GoFundMe and the donations started piling up pretty fast. So far, he's raised just over $25k and he's ordered food from his local neighborhood restaurants and delivered it throughout NY ... from Long Island and Staten Island to the Bronx and Brooklyn.

His objective -- help local restaurants with some much-needed business while also helping emergency workers who are working nonstop to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. So far, he's brought TONS of meals to hospitals, fire departments, police departments and even a U.S. post office.

Joseph's massive deliveries -- from his neighborhood restaurants like Villa Maria, Vincent's Clam Bar, Greek Xpress, and Habanero Mexican -- have really wowed those receiving it, including Cohen Children's Hospital, Nassau University Medical Center to the Lynbrook Police Department. And, as long as the money keeps coming in, he'll continue to order the food, pick it up himself and also deliver the food himself.

And, get this ... Joseph got some much-needed good news just a few days ago after learning his 104-year-old aunt, Ida Acconciamessa, survived her bout of COVID-19 after she was diagnosed early last month ... when Joseph started his feed-frontline-workers project.

She's a tough woman ... having survived stage 4 melanoma, two broken hips, and not to mention, having lived through the Spanish Flu. Goes without saying ... Joseph will also be delivering food to her nursing home in Brooklyn later this week.

It's not the first time Hollywood's done its part to help frontline workers. As we first reported ... Steven Spielberg did the same with hospital workers in Burbank. Danny Trejo personally delivered tons of Mexican food from his famous L.A. joint.

There's an old saying -- "Close but no cigar" -- which precisely describes what went down at Luke Bryan's Florida cigar bar Friday night, because patrons were super close to each other.

Luke's cigar bar, Shore Thing Cigars, is located in Watersound, Florida, and on Friday night, it was the backdrop for Karaoke night, and stir-crazy customers flocked to the joint. The bar touted Friday, "TODAY'S THE DAY .... GRAND RE-OPENING!"

As you can see ... most were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.

Florida has had a massive coronavirus outbreak and the lack of social distancing as they belted out No Doubt's "Don't Speak" during karaoke night ... well, doctors and scientists have told us how that ends.

Florida is allowing restaurants to reopen effective Monday ... but bars must still remain closed.

The bar is hosting a crawfish day Saturday ... patrons get free crawfish with the purchase of a sampler pack.

Bottom line ... as far as we can tell, the bar should not be open under any circumstances, and even if it's a restaurant, it was not supposed to open this weekend. And, even when restaurants open in Florida, they cannot be at more than 25% capacity inside.

Beyonce and Megan Thee Stallion's new track is providing more than listening pleasure -- it's immediately feeding people in need by inspiring others to give.

As we told you ... the 2 women are donating proceeds from Bey's remix of Meg's "Savage" to Bread of Life in Houston, a nonprofit that supplies food for families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The charity tells us the song's release is already paying dividends though -- it received donations from 500 new donors in the first 24 hours after the song's Wednesday debut!

We're told the money continues to come from the 'Savage' attention -- most donors give anywhere from $5 to $50 -- and it's all being used to stock up for the increased demand for food with so many millions out of work.

Bread of Life sets up a drive-thru pick up spot for families to get boxes of groceries loaded right into their trunk. The org makes sure to take coronavirus precautions too ... there's no physical contact between the families and the staff, and masks and gloves are required.

As for how Bread of Life was chosen by Beyonce and Megan Thee Stallion -- other than the Houston connection -- we're told Bey and her mom, Tina Knowles, have worked with the nonprofit in the past.

We're told the mother-daughter duo helped build an apartment complex for some folks in need who Bread of Life supports. Plus, Beyonce and the org's founder grew up in the same church.

Costco is making some big changes in the face of the coronavirus pandemic ... the superstore is requiring anyone walking through its doors to cover their faces.

The new nationwide change goes into effect Monday, and the rules require all members, guests and employees to wear masks or face coverings that cover the mouth and nose at all times while inside the superstore.

Costco says members who do not cover their faces will not be permitted inside its stores. However, the company says the mask policy does not apply to children younger than 2 or people who are unable to wear a mask or face covering due to medical conditions.

Seems many Costco members are already wearing masks ... as you can see at this Costco in Washington D.C. Wednesday, most shoppers are wearing masks and face coverings inside the superstore.

2 Chainz is looking out for his community ... by feeding the homeless instead of reopening his Atlanta restaurants for dine-in service.

The Atlanta rapper fed about 120 homeless people Monday, the day he was originally slated to reopen his 2 food joints, Escobar Restaurant and Tapas, for table service.

2 Chainz and his business partner, Snoop Dillard, distributed free meals outside their downtown Atlanta location ... and folks in need practiced social distancing while waiting for the free grub, standing six feet apart in line.

On the menu -- butter garlic chicken pasta and water. Snoop also hopped in a car and drove around the neighborhood, handing out free meals to people living on the streets.

As we reported ... 2 Chainz and Snoop were planning to reopen their restaurants Monday with Georgia lifting many of the state's coronavirus restrictions, but they reversed course after more consideration.

The restaurants are still open for take-out service, which is way safer than dining out.

Lil Durk brought some warm meals and happiness to healthcare workers on Chicago's frontlines against COVID.

The rapper and his team pulled up to Chicago's Rush Hospital Friday with boxes of meals from PHLAVZ Restaurant -- owned by Durk's manager -- to distribute. We're told a member of the hospital's hospitality staff then brought the meals inside to distribute.

Not only did they drop meals off at the hospital, PHLAVZ also made 100 meals available to healthcare professionals for pickup later Friday night.

Durk -- who grew up in Chicago -- but now lives in Atlanta, tells us, "Everyone back home has been in my thoughts, especially those doing something for the community and all the neighborhood heroes. I thought about all the first responders putting their lives on the line to help out and it inspired me, so I took a jet back to Chicago to show my thanks."

Escobar season has returned for 2 Chainz ... the rapper is reopening his Atlanta restaurants for sit-down service, and he says he has a plan for keeping folks safe from COVID-19.

Both of 2 Chainz's joints, Escobar Restaurant and Tapas, are serving dine-in meals starting Monday -- his business partner and co-owner, Snoop Dillard, tells TMZ -- and they're making public safety a top priority.

Escobar restaurants were strictly doing take-out orders due to coronavirus restrictions, but with Georgia's Governor paving the way for businesses to reopen -- in many cases recklessly -- 2 Chainz is getting people back to work.

We're told sales at both locations have been down 95% during the shutdown, and the restaurants were forced to furlough around 80% of its staff.

With dine-in service coming back, Snoop says they're planning to bring back 65% of restaurant staff -- 80 people -- and the hope is to have everyone back at work eventually.

As you know ... a debate is raging over Georgia's plan to reopen its economy. Governor Brian Kemp is giving the green light, but Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is urging people to be responsible and cautious and stay home.

2 Chainz's restaurants are trying to have the best of both worlds, and they think they will be able to host sit-down service safely.

We're told safety precautions at the restaurants include staff having their temperatures checked when they clock in, mandatory gloves for all employees, masks for the cooks and single-use paper menus.

Any staff member showing coronavirus symptoms will be asked to go home and quarantine for 14 days.

We're also told the restaurants are bringing back hookahs, which will be cleaned and sanitized frequently. Most folks bring their own hoses anyways.

And, on the weekends, we're told live DJs will return to both locations ... 2 Chainz and Snoop say the DJs need to make a living as well, but things aren't going into full party mode yet. They even paid a few DJs to come in and spin when it was take-out only -- just to brighten people's days.

2 Chainz and Snoop donated hundreds of meals to medical workers on the frontlines ... and we're told they're planning to give more free meals to workers at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Piedmont Atlanta Hospital.

Eating out in a pandemic-afflicted world might look more like visiting a loved one in prison ... if this test run in Italy is any indication.

Restaurant owner Valerio Calderoni and his wife, Martina, are serving as guinea pigs for a possible new setup at eateries, intended to lower the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

The couple is seated at a table for 2 in Calderoni's Il Ciak restaurant in Rome's Trastevere district, and as you can see ... there's a large piece of plexiglass between them.

Clearly, the separator makes for a less intimate dinner date, but Valerio and his wife have plenty of room for their food and are still able to cheers with their wine glasses.

It's unclear how the dividers would affect sound travel in the restaurant -- especially if patrons are also wearing masks -- but this is just a test run ... probably a lot of kinks to work out still.

Employees at a Jersey Mike's at LAX flouted the Los Angeles city order to wear face coverings ... but it looks like the customers were too.

The order went into effect in L.A. April 10, which requires both shoppers and workers at essential businesses that are open during the coronavirus pandemic to wear a face covering.

This includes businesses providing food, like the Jersey Mike's at Terminal 2, but based on this video shot April 16 during the lunch hour ... the workers weren't complying.

As you see, at least 2 employees were serving customers without wearing masks -- including the one cutting the meats -- and we're told the guy at the register was wearing a face mask ... but it was pulled down to only cover his beard and chin, leaving his mouth and nose exposed.

Two men ordering food in the vid, including an apparent pilot, were also not covering up.

As you may know ... many health experts now suggest wearing a mask outdoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, though it's not required in the majority of states and cities in the U.S.

However, in L.A. it's considered a misdemeanor to not comply, though Mayor Eric Garcetti has said he hopes people will voluntarily follow the order.

This Jersey Mike's might need a little more encouragement.