Royals Hot Chicken

Royals Hot Chicken in NuLu is still open for curbside carry-out orders. (WDRB Photo)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- At Akasha Brewing Company in NuLu, they're getting creative, and they have to.

Tuesday afternoon, the entrance to the taproom was blocked by a table stacked with beer. There, Rick Stidham and his employees sold customers their favorite cans ā€” and several new brewsĀ ā€” without having those customers enter the building.

"I haven't experienced anything else like it since we opened in 2015," Stidham said.

Both Kentucky and Indiana have closed in-person dining and drinking at restaurants and bars to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

"Obviously, when you're not allowed to be open, and you have a taproom that seats 100, and you're not allowed to let one person inĀ ā€” it's kind of devastating," Stidham said.

Akasha Brewing Company

Akasha Brewing Company is still selling its beers during the outbreak. (WDRB Photo)

But delivery and carry-out are still allowed, which is something they're embracing at Akasha, nearby at Royals Hot Chicken and other spots across Kentuckiana.

ā€œWe need everyone to come out and show their support as much as they possibly can, even more than usual," Stidham said.

Kevin House, from Pleasure Ridge Park, is ready to do that, and he's launched a campaign encouraging others to do the same.

Louisville Take Out

Kevin House hopes the pages gives restaurants a platform to connect with customers during the outbreak. (Source: Facebook)

Monday night, he launched a Facebook page called "Louisville Take Out," and all are invited to join.

ā€œA friend of mine was on his personal page, and he was asking for information on restaurants that were, you know, doing take out and delivery, and there were a lot of people commenting," he said. "And I just thought to myself, 'Iā€™ll create a platform that, you know, the restaurants can hop on and let everybody know in real time, you know, whatā€™s going on.'"

Feast BBQ

Feast BBQ has designated parking spots for carry-out during the outbreak. (WDRB Photo)

The page allows restaurants a space to report any new hours, special carry-out or delivery procedures and promotions directly to diners.

"There's over 7,000 members at this point, so I think that's a great sign," House said. "I think that shows that people in this town want to support the industry."

Others are also stepping up.

A Louisville woman has launched a website called Keep Louisville Restaurants Strong to encourage diners to buy gift cards from local restaurants now to use later.

A group called APRON is fundraising to help restaurant workers impacted by the virus.

New Albany is also designating new parking zones to allow diners to pick up food easier from its restaurants. The city has posted a list of participating restaurants on its website.

House sad its now the community's turn to step up and carry out.

"Eat out as much as possible, and do not forget to tip," he said.Ā ā€œThese people survive on the money they make every night.ā€

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