Restaurant leftovers: box ’em up yourself or have the server do it?
A Recent question was  posed on the Hockomock supper club regarding  doggy bags?
Can anyone explain to me why, when at a restaurant, I pay people to cook food for me and to serve it to me but it’s up to me to put it in a box to take home?
I worked in the food service industry for 15 years, in some of the finest places in NYC and with world renowned chefs and never saw this until I came back home to Ma.
I don’t get it and I don’t like it!
So how what do Swampies think of this hot restaurant debate-over 100 comments in a few hours there is plenty of thoughts on this mostly wanting  to box the leftovers themselves.
Keeps your food in your sight… Lots of complaints/concerns about food handling in the kitchen…its newer, but it changed with a lot of food handling regulations, which vary state to state…
I prefer to wrap myself. If the waiter/waitress tries to take my plate I decline. I’d rather be the one to touch my food & decide what is coming home with me.
I have seen some restaurants package it for you, others will bring the containers to you. I have seen the ‘self packaging’ option for years now, though. It isn’t new. When it first happened to me I asked and was told liability. Some people will say they didn’t get their full meal packaged or complain it was bad or something was wrong with it. That was the answer I got.
I’m very specific about how my food is positioned. If something has a topping for example, I don’t like it dumped in upside down. I don’t like sauce from one food running into another. I place everything so that the borders don’t touch each other. Waitstaff don’t care, they just scrape it all in. Ketchup getting in with your mashed potatoes….”oh yum”
I always offer to wrap someone’s food, no matter how busy I am.. I have had a few people tell me it’s against regulations for me to take the food and wrap it as there needs to be a completely dedicated place for wrapping food, and most restaurants do not have one.. If a guest declines and wants a box, I still try to do so at the table, then they can watch me package it right in front of them.. I have seen a lot mod places just bring boxes so they don’t have to deal with any allegations.