When you dine in a restaurant, if you have a significant amount of food leftover, will you ask for it to be wrapped to take, or will you leave it?

I always take it home. I can’t really eat a full restaurant meal in one sitting and I am always happy to have leftovers. I also have an almost pathological aversion to wasting good food.

And really, I am not likely to make pad thai at home.

Take it home always. I eat frequently, but can’t eat large amounts at one time. So, going out to eat usually means that I am building up a second (and possibly third) meal at home for later. Opening the fridge to a bunch of Indian food containers is a great feeling.

I rarely eat out since we’re paleo but when I do I will take it home. Fajitas are great next day.

I don’t have a problem with asking for a food container. I don’t like stuffing myself.

When I was in high school my buddy and I ate large pizza with everything on it by ourselves. And I didn’t suffer at all. Nowadays if I eat more than 3 small pieces of pizza then I’m in trouble (with acid and gas).

I always take my leftovers home. I love having another meal or two from whatever I ordered, and besides, that gives me an excuse to order dessert!

I was raised to finish the plate or get a beating, so that situation has never once arisen.

I usually take anything that I think I’ll eat, home, yes.

No one has mentioned any sort of social stigma about it to me. Servers seem quite happy to provide containers.

@Zaku Not only are they happy to provide containers, they almost always offer them when they see how much is left on my plate. I can’t eat a lot at a time; I hate feeling full. My ex and I used to love breakfast buffets, but after one too many times of feeling miserable afterwards we swore off them.

@Zaku I find they are happy to provide containers. I was asking because of the article in today’s NY Times that stated that many people no longer request to take food home. Maybe in hoity toity restaurants it’s considered gauche.

@ragingloli We didnt get beaten but we were only allowed to take what we could eat. So if you took an extra serving, you didnt just walk away or save it. You ate it or risked a whipping or other punishment.
Its actually so common here, we joke about the ‘clean plate club’ often.
Sorry that happened.
*I snuck my extras to the farm dog.

If the food is good, I’m happy to take some home. Somethings like french fries don’t really reheat well so those I will leave – if there are any left.

When I eat at a friend’s restaurant for free, I sometimes order steak and take ⅔ of it home and make fajitas for several days afterwards.