'Delivery Night' Saturday encourages support of Arlington Heights restaurants

Two Arlington Heights friends are spearheading an effort to encourage patrons to order from local restaurants on Saturday.

Scott Lietzow and Court Harris have started the Delivery Night Arlington Heights social media campaign to invite people to order takeout, delivery or a gift card from any Arlington Heights restaurant affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

While a state order has restaurants temporarily shut down to dine-in customers, many establishments are still open for carryouts. Village officials have compiled a list at discoverarlington.com/what_s_new/supporting_our_restaurants.

"These establishments are here for us for every major occasion from birthday parties to graduation celebrations to helping make events like the Mane Event a success," said Harris, who also serves as chairman of the Chicago Executive Airport board. "We want to do our part to be there for them during this uncertain time."

Harris and Lietzow have encouraged people to sign up on the event's Facebook page, facebook.com/events/215139036566083 and, after orders are placed Saturday, to post pictures of families enjoying their favorite foods as a way to connect as a community.

"As a young family with a newborn, the village's culture is what brought us here," Lietzow said. "After this crisis is over, we hope that culture comes back stronger than ever, and we can't do that unless we support our restaurants during these trying times."