Do you reheat / takehome leftovers from restaurants? (bbq, pickle, turkey)

[newcomputer]

No body I know calls them doggy bags anymore. We don't have to pretend we are taking scraps home to the dog


When my husband was alive, we had our ordering down to a science. It was so smooth, I don't think anyone noticed. (I could be wrong ) He didn't eat salad. I would order an appetizer and eat his salad, which he ordered the way I like it. He ate fast. If I was hungry, I might also order something to go.


When I am out with women friends, the server always asks if we want a box when the eating slows down and we are just talking. He wants to free up his table. Portions are so large that none of us clean our plates. It is the servers job to make it a pleasant, unembarrassing option. And to move us along if the place is busy.


People who take the sugar packets and such..... oh my. And I agree that they are usually bad tippers.

[Cantabridgienne]

I've worked in fine dining restaurants where taking food home is less common than at more casual places (with larger portions/dishes lend themselves better to being eaten later) but insulting to the chef? There are many ways guests can be insulting to the chef; this isn't one of them.

[blueherons]

Your friend isn't very smart if she thinks taking home leftovers insults the chef.

If anything, it would insult the chef to have a half eaten entree come back to the kitchen.

[Caligula1]

It depends on a couple of things..

If a meal is very good I will eat all of it and there will be nothing for the box!!
Some things just are not good reheated and salads often get soggy..

If it's a pasta dish, most likely I will take some home because to me pasta is very filling and often over portioned..

[Rowan123]

Absolutely I do. The restaurant portions are too large for one meal most of the time and there is no sense wasting food that you paid for. I've asked to take home leftovers at high-end restaurants (where there is enough food to take home which isn't always the case). Your friend is wrong and rude to even mention it.

[ohhwanderlust]

Originally Posted by Missy2U

I always have uneaten food boxed up to take home. If I don't eat it, my husband will, or it is for the dog. Insult the chef? Please. I've never heard of anything so silly.


Now if someone could come up with a way to get me to remember to take the box off the table in the restaurant and actually GET IT HOME that'd be great!

Lol, I hear ya. The boxes somehow manage to blend in with the rest of the table!

[missik999]

Of course I do. Portions tend to be more than one should consume, and it is really awful to waste food.

[PeachSalsa]

I posted here about a week or so ago about going out to a restaurant where white rice came standard and fried rice was an upgrade, and I requested "no rice". One server gave me a small spoonful of fried rice anyway, and another brought me a big bowl of white rice, too. I ate the meat and veggies, but of course, not any of the rice. The server then asked if I wanted a to go box for the rice....no. One of my dining partners had some leftovers she wanted, so the server gave her a box, and set a box by me, too, in case I changed my mind about the rice.

I did not take the rice that I neither ordered nor wanted!

I thought they must have made a ton of rice that day and had to get rid of it!

[emm74]

I think your friend is out of touch. Most of the time, even in nicer restaurants, the server will initiate the conversation to ask if we want the leftovers boxed up. Unless I'm going from the restaurant to another activity and won't be able to refrigerate them, I always take the leftovers. And in some cases, order extra specifically to have leftovers to take home!

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by ohhwanderlust

Apparently it's not a common thing to do. A friend just told me that she thinks it's embarrassing that I ask for a box for uneaten food, because it looks cheap of me and it 'insults the chef'.

Your friend is out to lunch.