Saturday night my wife and I went out for Thai food and had plenty of leftovers. The server asked if we wanted boxes for the leftovers. Indeed we did.
Which got me thinking: when you have leftovers, and want to take them home, restaurants handle it two ways. Some places bring containers to your table, and you put your own food in them to take home. And some places take the food back to the kitchen and box up your leftovers for you.
I also realized that I kind of prefer doing it myself, just so I don’t end up with garnishes in my handy microwaveable container of stir fried rice, or something similar.
I much prefer to do it myself. If the waiter takes it somewhere and comes back with a box, how do you know you’re getting everything you paid for? Maybe he leaves some refried beans on the plate whereas I’d be very carefully scraping every last bit.
If it’s a sandwich I’ll do it myself. Spaghetti? I’d rather they take it into the kitchen so I don’t risk having a spill all over myself. I don’t mind losing a couple of noodles along the way.
I guess a rule of thumb is “If I can pick it up, I’ll do it myself. If I can’t, they can do it for me.”
I prefer to do it myself. I don’t want some poor wait staff to have to deal with my nasty-ass, half-eaten food (or even worse – the kids’ food). They have better things to do and I don’t tip them enough for them to have to do that. I always ask them to just bring us the box and we’ll do it ourselves.
I also do it myself. I don’t want to be surprised at what was included and what was left out, or how it’s been mixed together, when I open up the polystyrene clamshell in front of the microwave at work the following day.
I’d rather do it myself, but if they don’t ask I’m ok with them doing it.
Sometimes I like to divide out what I’m taking home before I start eating. Usually at a place like Olive Garden because the portions are so big I want to put some away to reduce my temptation of eating it in one sitting. Then I absolutely do it myself.
I prefer to be asked what I would rather, and after I am asked, I prefer to do it myself. I know what I plan to be eating (or not eating) at home. Also, if I’m with close friends, sometimes we split up the leftovers so that we get more variety.
The thing I really cannot stand is when the server asks if I want to take the food home, and then after I say yes, flips a to-go container at me on his/her next stroll by the table. This has happened to me several times lately, when the service has otherwise been good. It feels to much like the waiter can’t be bothered, and so throws a container in my general direction. This annoys the bejebus right out of me.
I like to do it myself. I’m picky about my food, and too many times I’ve had that divine hunk of bread smothered by pasta and turned into mush. Gooey mush.
Either way is fine with me, but I really don’t like what happened to me at one restaurant: the server brought a box to the table and then started scraping my food from the plate into the box AT the table. I would like them to either bring me the box so I can do it myself, or take the food away to the kitchen and return with a box full of food. It seemed really weird and awkward and I didn’t feel like i could continue with my conversation with my dinner companion while the waitress was standing there scraping. (That restaurant went out of business soon thereafter.)
I don’t get it. You ask for a box. They give you a box. What do you expect them to do? is it that they literally throw the box at you rather than handing it to you? That seems a little strange but I have a hard time believing it would be a regular occurrence. Is it that they toss it onto your table as they pass, rather than placing it in your hands? Big deal. They probably think putting it on your table is less intrusive than shoving it into your hands. Is it that they toss it onto your table rather than placing it gently? Ok, whatever. I can’t see myself ever even noticing that, much less taking offense at it. I’m just not that high maintenance.
I prefer to do it myself otherwise I have to give “instructions” on what I want and don’t want in the box. Some restaurants box it up for you atuomatically in foil swans like at Mortons steakhouse and that I don’t mind. Sometimes all I need is a piece of foil and they say “we only have the boxes” (:dubious: yes I doubt that there is absolutely no foil in that kitchen) so I end up with a huge styro box for half a steak.
I think I should sometimes carry Ziploc bags in my purse for just those occasions.
I agree the box-tossing is a little strange – at this point I’ve been laughing at how often it happens to me. It’s most likely a bizarre coincidence. It’s like they drop it on the table, but without any regard for where it is landing. I’ve had it land on my plate more than once, which means it’s on the food on my plate, making for a box that is messy to hold. I’ve also had it dropped so casually that it skiddles off the table and lands on the floor. (I’m not that picky, I’ll still use it but the fact that it falls on the floor seems to speak to the carelessness of the delivery.) And believe it or not, I eat in nice restaurants!
You’re right – if I ask for a box, then yes, I expect a box. But sometimes the question is more vague, like “Do you want to take that home?”
I guess a better description of what I would prefer to happen is for the waitperson to say either “Would you like that wrapped up for you to take home?” OR “Would you like me to bring you a box?” so I would know what to expect. If I’m wearing something dressy and eating something potentially sloppy, I might accept the former, but decline the latter with no hard feelings.
Amen. To me, it’s this weird class snobbery thing I’ve got going on: deep down inside I think it’s a little uncouth to take left-overs home, and if it’s a nice resturant, I want it to be handled discretely. The waiter making a big production of it makes me feel like there is a sign over my head saying “Cheap”. I KNOW this is not true and is my own hang-up, but there it is. In a place where it’s ok to be cheap–anywhere that has a mixed drink menu on the table, say–I’d rather box it up myself because them taking it away seems pretentious.
This is my preference also. Don’t scrape my food into the box FOr me, like you’re my mommy cutting up my meat. Either do it out of sight or let me do it myself.
This seems as good a place as any to mention a Wisconsin supper-club tradition that absolutely squicks me out (well, OK, not lately because I don’t eat steak any more): You’ve finished your meal except for part of your steak. The waitress comes along and asks, “Want a doggie bag for that, hon?” You say yes, and she produces said doggie bag, usually printed with a cute poem that ends something like: “So I’ll save it for another time / or feed that dog or cat of mine.” She then turns it inside out over her hand, uses that hand to pick up the leftover piece of meat, turns the bag right-side out over the hand that’s grasping the meat, and ties it in a handy-dandy knot to close. Isn’t that appetizing? (UGH.)
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