Meatballs from Etta Photo: Jeff Marini

With restaurants abruptly closed to onsite dining, digital product designer Sean Lynch, his wife, Marina Rostein (who works for a Shabbat dining nonprofit), and restaurant publicist Jenn Galdes decided they had to do something to mitigate an unfolding catastrophe. So in March they launched a simple, scalable online spreadsheet for local diners into which restaurateurs could input their delivery, menu, and contact information. Now the Dining at a Distance website serves more than 80 cities across the globe, and it is constantly updated based on user- and restaurant-generated info. At last count, its roster included 2,400 restaurants in the Chicago area alone.