I think I would be more bothered if a guy left a bunch of uneaten food on his plate, especially if the meal was expensive.
Tapas. It’s basically all appetizers.
I went out with a woman who was, I thought, fussily trimming her meat while we ate. She placed all the off cuts in a paper napkin. I asked her if the meal was OK. She replied that it was great, she was just trimming some bits off for the homeless guy down the street to feed to his dog.
Having barely noticed the homeless guy as we walked past, let alone the fact that he had a small dog asleep beside him, I was very, very impressed.
Cute thought but the question isn’t about who’d be the better businessman (long term partner), but who knows more about selling potential investors to start up something new from scratch (get a second date). The entrepreneur-junkie knows the latter better than Bill Gates. Come to me with my over three decades for advice on how to make a marriage last through various stresses and I might be more of an expert. Making that first impression on a date with someone who does not yet know you and who you do not yet know? I have not done that in a very very long time.
Would leaving it and throwing away good money or stuffing yourself so that it’s all eaten make you MORE of a man? No, of course not. Most restaurants serve what is for me TWO meals worth of food, so it is highly likely that I’d be taking a box of food home also. I don’t see any need to feel uncomfortable about it.
I didn’t stop being impressive after I got married.
Get outta my head, you freak! Actually, this would be my go-to if:
fell flat.
Best advice for first date dining: be very much who you are. Don’t start a potential relationship off with lies and false advertising. Hell, I was the pursed (if you can believe that!) on my last first date. She drove us to Olive Garden with Insane Clown Posse on the stereo. She later said my reaction to ICP was part of the interview process, and was pleasantly surprised when I’d asked for a to-go box of breadsticks & sauce “for later” as we were leaving.
It’s absolutely something I do, have done, and it’s worked for me when dating.
That said, I’d avoid ordering so much food on a first date that left-overs are a problem to deal with. Nothing sexy about a doggy bag on a first date. My initial response was to a situation where you’ve committed the error of asking for one and want to leverage it to maximum advantage. Finally, it’s a date. You want to make the best impression you can. Whatever lousy character flaws you have will come out in due time anyway, and the doggy bag trick won’t save you.
I’m impressed with how sad this question is.
On a first date (I’m a straight woman), I would be busily picking up consciously and unconsciously one hundred million clues about what kind of person is on the other side of the table. You simply cannot out-think the human, and apparently more intensely, the female, ability to suss out your true nature.
Do what you normally do for crying out loud. You will eventually anyway. Are you trying to project some imaginarily-cooler false persona for some reason? To me, detecting this phenomenon in a guy is 30,000 black marks. I completely quit being interested. I’m sure there are women out there who are more obtuse, shallower, or just more desperate than me, but are you actually on the hunt for them?
American portions?
Receiving foreign visitors into the US, one of the things we’d do is explain the concept of being able to take part of the food to go; that if you’re in a hotel and eating that food later doesn’t seem likely, many places let you get half-portions; that sometimes asking for a half portion leads to the the waitresses (in the US they’re almost always women) to freeze up; that this is because they get an inordinate amount of their income from tips so if you’re asking for half-portions you should still tip as if you’d asked for a whole portion.
If I was out on a date, the portion was US-sized and my date asked for part of it to go I’d think “oh good, he doesn’t think he’s required to eat the whole thing, leg tables included!”
Like every else, “it depends”. Beyond all else, it depends on the girl, and there’s virtually no way to tell beforehand how she’ll view it. I personally never take food home for myself; aside from pizza I don’t generally like leftovers. I do give leftover food to homeless folks but I wouldn’t necessarily do that on a first date.
If it’s enough of an issue to make you wonder about it, just don’t do it on the first date.
Yeah, I know the homeless guy would take the doggy bag, but as the girl in the scenario, I’m saying it wouldn’t impress me if my date gave away his table scraps. It would make a better impression if he bought the homeless guy his own dinner, letting him choose off the menu.
Is it too early to admit that you gave me a bottle of MD 20/20 and $20 to sit & wait on the sidewalk outside the restaurant for the date in question?
Would it impress you further to have him invite the homeless guy to sit and have dinner with you, or would you be fine handing him the bag to sit and eat his meal in the alley?
Rhetorical.
Point is, that’s not what the OP is asking and furthermore, not all restaurants post their menu on the sidewalk where the homeless people hang out.
I guess a $20 doesn’t buy as much silence as it used to.
That’s one heck of a third wheel on your first date: “Hey, I invited this homeless dude who probably hasn’t showered in days to join us.”
Really? To me that would look like he’s trying too hard to impress me. Wrapping up and giving away worthwhile leftovers, i.e. not the excised gristle from his steak and a sprig of parsley, is a natural act of decency. Approaching a homeless person and making a grand gesture of ordering him a meal seems over the top.
Anyway, getting back on topic, I stand by answer; if the OP is in doubt, save the doggy bag scenario for a few dates in.
Fuck yeah!! I can feel the hair on my back growing thicker just reading this!
Um, i think it kinda would. At least if he made a habit out of it. 
“Oh, and he’s totally not into Starwars, so we need to pick a different movie for after dinner.”
Not if he burned it off cutting down trees with an ax and wrestling bears for prime salmon fishing spots.