Doggie Bags

Inspired by Backy in another thread. I think she was referring to a actual full meal/menu item ordered to go. For clarity I'm referring to partial meals or "leftovers."

Do you ever request them?

If you do, do you (or somebody) actually eat the food? How often do they get thown away?

Under what circumstances will you (or not) ask for one?

Do you find it annoying/in poor taste when others at your table do?

etc. etc. etc.

Me personally: I never used to, but I now find myself asking under certain circumstances. First of all I need to know my dining companions very well. I would never do it with casual business colleagues or at a business dinner in general. Second, it needs to be something I genuinely think I'd enjoy eating later. That is I'm going straight home (vs. it sitting in and stinkling up a car for a couple of hours) and can properly refrigerate it and it will reheat well.

In fact I've found myself at lunch ordering extra meals "to go" to be reheated as dinner for myself or myself and friends, depending on schedules. Obviously somethings reheat better than others.

One pet peeve. I have a business associate that I end up in group meals with quite a bit. He always skips desert but orders one to go that he says he gives to his daughter later in the evening. Now I'm sure he scores points as the All-Star Dad but I think that it is poor form to deliberately order something you aren't going to eat when someone else is picking up the check. If you feel bad about missing dinner with the family, stop at the ice cream shop on the way home and get her a treat.

One pet peeve. I have a business associate that I end up in group meals with quite a bit. He always skips desert but orders one to go that he says he gives to his daughter later in the evening. Originally Posted by atlcomedy

Now that is totally tacky. Me trying to get two meals out of a good steak dinner, not so much.

With the portions they serve these days, I either order a 1/2 order (some places will; some won't) or I order off the appetizer menu.

If I eat here at the local BBQ joint, I do take some home. They serve on these huge platters, and when they set them down on your table, ribs are stacked up so high they actually fall off the plate! Also, my son really enjoys BBQ, so it's a great snack for him later on.
As far as anything else, not really 'able' to....Chinese I always get the buffet.... and who wants to bring a hamburger home? Mexican usually doesn't reheat well and I always finish my plate if its good mex....and the Italian...well, I just hate dried up noodels!

I generally take food home that hasn't been eaten unless it doesn't translate well after being refrigerated. I can certainly understand the business dinner/lunch thing not being socially correct at the time but not taking uneaten food home is silly.

In my 20's, half of the time I wouldn't have eaten if I hadn't taken home leftovers from meals eaten out with dates. But I never got extra food for later. Not if someone else was paying.

To order extra just to have food for later doesn't seem right at all.

When I used to have business lunches, I always ordered something on the modest side anyway so there wouldn't be leftovers, or not much.

But like Charles suggested, with portions being so huge these days, often there is always something left over.

Elisabeth

Now that is totally tacky. Me trying to get two meals out of a good steak dinner, not so much. Originally Posted by Ansley

nothing wrong with that...see portion size as mentioned by Cums & Whispers

....Chinese I always get the buffet.... and who wants to bring a hamburger home? Mexican usually doesn't reheat well and I always finish my plate if its good mex....and the Italian...well, I just hate dried up noodels! Originally Posted by Tiffany Cums

Chinese Buffet - fair enough, but actually some of the best for transporting...thus why they are so popular for delivery

Hamburger? Ok....not so much for the bun or sides that usually come with it.

Mexican....lol....there was a place in Buckhead, now defunct, that tried to offer delivery of their $5-6 specials....lasted about a month....

I have to differ with you on Italian....some of the best leftovers ever whether made at home or from a restaurant are pasta dishes....some would argue they are even better the morning after...and when I order dinner to go at lunch it is nearly always Italian

I generally take food home that hasn't been eaten unless it doesn't translate well after being refrigerated. I can certainly understand the business dinner/lunch thing not being socially correct at the time but not taking uneaten food home is silly.
Originally Posted by ElisabethWhispers

That's it. Portion size. (Assuming I'd paying) Why not take something home vs. it go to waste?

and who wants to bring a hamburger home? Originally Posted by Tiffany Cums

Umm me. About once a week I go have lunch at a place here in Atlanta. Many times I will order one of their burgers and a side of spinach and take half of it home for dinner.

Some of the restaurants offer a two course feature. I like to order those but I am always able to eat all of it. So no leftovers to take home... darn it.

Umm me. About once a week I go have lunch at a place here in Atlanta. Many times I will order one of their burgers and a side of spinach and take half of it home for dinner.

Some of the restaurants offer a two course feature. I like to order those but I am always able to eat all of it. So no leftovers to take home... darn it. Originally Posted by Ansley

But the bun isn't so good, correct? I assume you peel the bun off and just eat the remains as a platter?

Chinese Buffet - fair enough, but actually some of the best for transporting...thus why they are so popular for delivery Originally Posted by atlcomedy

I hope to never have to eat Chinese in a restaurant. For over three years I had it delivered way too many times. yuck

I hope to never have to eat Chinese in a restaurant. For over three years I had it delivered way too many times. yuck Originally Posted by Ansley Chang

Are you talking about your clientele or the food?

But the bun isn't so good, correct? I assume you peel the bun off and just eat the remains as a platter? Originally Posted by atlcomedy

I have them make my burger without a bun. I try to be careful of the amount of bread that I eat. Okay the real story, I don't eat the bread so I can eat ice cream.

I love food and hate waste. Doggie bag, please! I love leftovers -- it's a great meal that you don't have to spend the time getting or making. Win-win. Exceptions being the obvious: stuff that won't keep (sushi, salad, anything still en flambé) or wasn't very good even when fresh (a mediocre dish isn't going to get better by lunch the next day, no matter how much you wish it would). I finish my leftovers a good 95% of the time.

Agree with your pet peeve, though -- that is tacky.

I like to cook but rarely have time so leftovers are always convenient, if my food will reheat well and I am on my way home then I generally get it to go. Never really factored in who I was with as to if I would take it or not.

On the pet peeve you handle it better than myself. I am one of those who would have to say something to the person no matter what my loss might be for doing so, it is probably best to just ignore it but I can't help it. If I am buying my meal then my taste seems to be one of the more expensive items on most menus but if someone else is paying I normally try to find something a little cheaper even if I won't like it quite as much, unless it is business and I know that it is going on a company card.

Good Morning;

"The US & the UK are two nations divided by a common language"; well, we are also divided by what we regard as 'normal'.

Nowhere in Europe are 'Doggie Bags' the norm, firstly because portion sizes are nowhere near the size I see in the US (an example: 3 months ago, a Spanish colleague & I went to a Thai restaurant in Las Vegas, we ordered the same items that we would have ordered back home, when they arrived they were quite literally three times the size we would have received either back home or in Thailand). The second reason is that we Britons do not dine out as often as Americans but the third reason is that the idea of reheating already cooked food strikes most people here as distasteful (in both meanings of the word).

The irony is that when we are in Italy, and we have a Bistecca Fiorentino (a very large T Bone steak which serves the whole table), I always ask for the bone, as our neighbour's dog loves them.

Thank you for reading.
Cyclops

As our OP said it depends on the environment. A biz meeting isn't the forum for that. It is even suggested that one goes with smaller portions so that you aren't pounding food down as the conversation might be talking salient points of a new marketing strategy (if we offer a squirrel and a dog in a hotel room video, we'll make a fortune "Dogs and Squireels Goen Wild!"). With friends, yes in a casual place that's fine. Per Say, mmmm, no. French Laundry maybe. But the portions are so small there's nothing to take home anyway.