Fornebufox

Yes, I did.

But now I don't

I don't blame the waiter for being snobby -- the French just don't do doggy bags.

(I miss the wine bar, actually. It was a good stop after the show. Suspect they're more likely to have gone out of business because of the new non-smoking laws)

GekkoHQ

Yeah although I was glad about the non-smoking laws (I'm not a fan of sitting in smoke), it has effected a number of my favourite bars, with a few going out of business. It's a big shame.

jakuda

Your post made me think about the Claim Jumper restaurant chain...

caipiroska

To the original question:
In Hong Kong they do, a lot. As ppl tend to order too much food anyways (food is shared between all guest mostly), it is absolutely normal to take home the leftovers.

trilinearmipmap

A waiter is supposed to serve you. That means cater to your wishes, within reason. If some French waiter thinks it is uncouth for you to bring home a doggy bag, he should keep his arrogant thoughts to himself and do as he is told. A waiter is a paid servant. Not to denigrate waiters but he is paid to wait on you and fulfill your requests. Who cares whether a snooty French waiter thinks that a request for a doggy bag is low-class. I think it is low-class to waste food.

8dimsum

I recall around 30years ago, Hong Kong diners would not pack up dinner leftovers...a sign of class. With more interactions with their "thrifty/cheap" American cousins, packing up the leftovers became OK. Of course, with the advent of more people having microwaves for at home use, the leftovers no longer are "cooked" to death.

dgcpaphd

In the larger cities of Brazil I often ask for leftovers to be given to me or my group. The food portions in nicer restaurants are huge and usually there is a lot uneaten after one finishes a meal.

After dinner, we usually take a short walk. When we pass some homeless people on the street, we give the leftovers to them.

In Brazil, there are lots of homeless people even on Sao Paulo's Avenida Paulista where it is "upscale" so to speak.

Waiters do not frown on customers who ask to have leftovers packed and taken away. In fact, waiters often pack the leftovers in special containers that keep food hot.

You should hear the responses or see the happy looks we get when we give food to homeless people who could never afford the quality food they get from restaurant customer benefactors. Many of the homeless people recognize the containers from various restaurants in the area.

No, it is not unusual in Brazil.

djk7

I did the same recently in the Haight-Ashbury area in SF with some baby back ribs my daughter barely touched. The homeless guys were right outside, so didn't have to walk far.

Traveling here in the states, I sometimes feel guilty when the server asks if I want to take the rest home and I say no, since my room doesn't have a fridge, but really don't have much choice. I would be perfectly happy if more places offered half portions, but that isn't very common.

iff

I agree. Nowadays I often order an appetizer and small salad or veggie so I don't have to deal with huge portions and leftovers I can't use.

Kagehitokiri

its not cultural or regional, its more about restaurant.

small portion of high quality x at moderate to high price = youre not going to have leftovers, and you dont take stuff home

its kind of the same as splitting dishes. at nicer places, they will do it in the kitchen.

Gaucho100K

Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.4; Series60/5.0 NokiaN97-3/10.2.012; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1; en-us) AppleWebKit/525 (KHTML, like Gecko) WicKed/7.1.12344)

Its perfectly ok to ask for a DB... its all about how its done that makes a difference.

Then again I never ask for one....