Illinois restaurant offers free toilet paper with every takeout, delivery order amid COVID-19 outbreak

close

Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for March 18

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.

A Chicago-area restaurant is offering a free roll of toilet paper with each meal as the nation endures shortages of the crucial item following increased demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Beacon Tap in Des Plaines launched the promotion Tuesday for delivery and takeout orders. The eatery is making deliveries within a 6-mile radius, according to its Facebook page.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered all restaurants in the state to close to dine-in customers for two weeks beginning Monday night to prevent further coronavirus infections.

PHOTOS: EMPTY PLACES ACROSS AMERICA

Beacon Tap General Manager Tommy Riemer said he had a meeting with other managers in his restaurant group about the idea.

"[We were] trying to figure out ideas, and one of our other general managers over at Cafe Touché said 'Hey what about this?'" Riemer told WMAQ-TV. "I immediately made a phone call to Trimark [which supplies toilet paper to the Beacon Tap] ... and ordered as much as I could so we could offer it to customers as a little comic relief."

He said he ordered 300 rolls of toilet paper. Shoppers have emptied store shelves across the U.S. as many stock up on essential items amid the pandemic.

Riemer said the response to the promotion has been positive.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

"We had an extraordinary day yesterday, which was mind-blowing," he said. "I'm at a loss really. It hit a lot of us yesterday that we were working. We were able to bring in extra employees yesterday because we were so busy and it was really awesome."