bensyd

They were lying. As with everything these days, people are more concerned about being sued.

http://www.health.vic.gov.au/foodsafety/faq.htm

Showbizguru

I didn't think leftovers were that common an event in US restaurants.

nrr

In most of the "upscale" restaurants I've eat at, if I have a large portion left over, the waiter has offered to let me take it home.

cbn42

Leftovers are more common in the US than elsewhere thanks to the ridiculous portion sizes.

VivoPerLei

Really depends on the style of dinner - long tasting menu, no, I wouldn't ask to take leftovers home. Actually, I probably wouldn't even have any leftovers at that kind of meal. A la Carte, absolutely. I ate at one place a couple of years ago where I couldn't even touch the dessert I was so full. They boxed it up without my even asking and presented it to me on leaving.

obiterdictum

A valid point based on what I have witnessed during my travels.

I live in the UK and have never personally, or indeed witnessed (apart from one famous exception: Nandos) anyone boxing up food to take home, not only in Britain, but also the rest of Europe.

However, when in America, not only do I see everyone doing it, the waiters actually offer it!

The general European view on it is that it's a 'cheapskate' 'lowerclass' thing to do.

Personally, I don't see why it should be an issue, but I don't do it because I like to comply with social norms. Just in the same way I wouldn't scoop up food with my hands at the table despite it being acceptable in certain Indian states.

agarfield

I was told that people in mainland China like to over-order food (and not box any leftovers) b/c they don't want to be perceived as poor.

I have no problem w/ taking leftovers home. And I think it's one way to show appreciation for the chef. While I get uncomfortable when people ask for extra rolls to go with their leftovers, never had a restaurant had a problem w/ it. Honestly, I think how much you tip is far more important than anything else.

Sometimes I do get weird looks when I ask for a box overseas, especially when the restaurant charges extra for such requests.

missydarlin

I was in a little cafe in Paris once (the kind where the owner is the chef. waitress, and dishwasher) and had well over half my dinner left. I asked if she had a takeout box and she looked at me like I had two heads. But she brought out a little tupperware type container that she was using for her own storage purposes in the back. I brought it back to her a couple days later ... she was very appreciative.

obiterdictum

Now that is the sort of service I would remember and lead to me seeking out the venue again in future.

darthbimmer

One of my grandmothers was like that, too. Similar background-- came of age during the Great Depression, started raising a family during wartime rationing. She would not only scoop up the leftover pieces in the bread basket but take the foil wrapped pieces of butter as well. Individual packets of jam at the breakfast counter were fair game, too.

I always thought of that as low class. Taking home something provided for your convenience, merely because it isn't nailed down.

On the other hand, taking home your own food, that you legitimately paid for, is simply being fair and prudent.

One thing I haven't seen addressed here is the argument that asking for "a doggie bag" is impolite. I agree with that. You are telling the waiter the food is fit for an animal! Much better to make a request that conveys, "I have truly enjoyed your food but cannot eat another bite. It would be a shame to waste it, so would you please wrap it for me so I can enjoy the other half for lunch tomorrow?"

jasonp622

i have never had an issue taking leftovers at any US restaaurant

JDiver

This. Class be damned . If it's good I'll try to take it, if it's not worth taking, I'll fuhgeddaboudit.

Small tasting menu, dining at an event, probably not appropriate. Places like Macaroni Grill one meal makes three - most US restaurants I can not "eat the whole thing" and it ends up as leftovers.

OTOH true classlessness is like the time I saw a guy using ZipLoc bags in his coat of many pockets. With ScottEVest, he'd have even been more avid.

CMK10

Interesting that the subject of Grandmothers came up, mine was the same way. She was a Holocaust survivor so you did not waste any food. Have three bites left on a PB&J you can't finish? That goes in the fridge. She was really strange about it though, the restaurant would offer to box it up and she'd get firm and say "no! bring me a to go box and two bags and I'll do it". She had her whole system

I do agree that butter packets etc. are too much and also that if it was a tasting menu would be inappropriate. What's funny is Mr. "That's Lower Class", my Father himself, helped himself to so many packets of tea to take home at the RDU Admirals Club when he'd take trips that they now keep it behind the bar and you have to ask for some

Ceres

My neighbor, the guy makes four bones a year. He is a great lawyer. Biggest spender you'd ever meet. Has season tickets to Sox . ten season tickets to Purdue. You have to fight him for, checks sends people drinks. And lets say there are just five people at the bar.... And he only knows two of them. He still sends everyone a drink. He says he doesn't want them to feel left out.

You u guess it, this is the guy that keeps gallon storage bags in the wife's purse to take everything home. Bread, butter everything that isn't nailed down.

Go figure...

cubbie

Having followed this discussion and reflected on my own experiences in the US and living in and travelling in other countries, the insight I've arrived at --- which might not be a definitive explanation, but is an explanation that makes sense to me --- is that Americans are comfortable with taking leftovers home from restaurants than because (1) they (at least those of certain generations) abhor wasting food and (2) they don't have class-associated hangups about it.

Re (1): My parents were most definitely children of the Depression, raised in an error of scarcity and fear of disaster. Those of their generation, and their children, like me, were raised to abhor wasting food -- or clothes or paper or anything else. Even 10 cents' worth of vegetables were worth putting in the refrigerator to add to tomorrow's dinner. My parents, both born in 1929, who had 7 children, did not think thoughts like "oh, just throw the rest of it out; I can't be bothered to put it in a container and save it in the fridge." I think my generation (the grandchildren of the Depression) was greatly influenced by this mindset of our parents. What American my age doesn't remember being admonished to eat the food we were served and think of all the poor starving children in China who could only wish they had what we had?

Re (2): So, reflecting on the point above makes me wonder why an abhorrence of wasting food is not even stronger than in the US in, say, the UK, which endured years of food rationing after WWII? And not having any first-hand knowledge, I can only guess that class perceptions (as someone mentioned above) play a role in the UK, and perhaps some other European countries, that they do not play in the US. If so, then taking home leftovers, which in the US is respected for being frugal, seems to be disrespected in some other countries for the same reason.

I lived for several years in Chile, where taking home leftovers is also not done. My sense was that this was due very much to a wannabe sense of identification with European culture and norms and very little related to practicality --- Chile being an economically healthy country by South American standards, but nonetheless a poorer country than the US. And anyone who’s had a Chilean lomo a lo pobre for lunch --- a grilled steak covered in french fries and topped with a fried egg --- knows that it’s not because the portion sizes are smaller.