50 Great Ideas 2020

Virtual wine and cheese tasting

Aug. 11, 2020

Commander’s Palace in New Orleans offered weekly themed wine and cheese collections for delivery. Purchasers then get a guided tasting from the restaurant’s sommelier via Zoom.

50 Great Ideas 2020

Drinking game to go

Aug. 11, 2020

Korean-inspired bar Miki’s Park in Chicago sold kits of all the materials needed to play Titanic, a drinking game in which participants pour soju into a shot glass floating in a glass of beer.

50 Great Ideas 2020

Dinner and a show

Aug. 11, 2020

Lucy’s Burgers in White Bear Lake, Minn., introduced carhop service and drive-in movies with an inflatable movie screen on Saturday nights.

50 Great Ideas 2020

Every Thursday, Cowboy Chicken posted favorite recipes for dishes that were taken off the menu, such as tacos and campfire veggies. Home cooks sheltering in place could make each of the dishes in less than an hour with pantry staples.

50 Great Ideas 2020

Funding formula

Aug. 11, 2020

Erik Bruner-Yang, founder of Foreign National restaurant group in Washington, D.C., launched a crowd-funding initiative based on a mathematical model that works to hire displaced workers and feed communities.

50 Great Ideas 2020

Whose mom knows best?

Aug. 11, 2020

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit sought contenders for “Mom’s best advice” via social media through the month of May. The person who submitted the best bit of wisdom received free barbecue for a year.

50 Great Ideas 2020

Picnic fixings

Aug. 11, 2020

Fast-casual chain Tender Greens put together a box of wine, cheese, salami, condiments and fruit for a picnic at home, as well as a morning baking box for diners to prepare.

50 Great Ideas 2020