Foo - Bring own container for leftovers

Does anyone bring their own containers to restaurants for leftovers? I think I might start doing that if I leave the office for lunch. I already have several Rubbermaid containers at home and office.

This idea came to me today because during lunch today I could only finish about 1/2 my jambalaya and the restaurant only had the clam shell type of containers which would have leaked all over my bag on the ride back to work. I ended up carefully scooping everything into my Camelbak bottle after taking out the straw. The reason I biked is because most restaurants are about a mile away from the office.

Rubbermaid containers sound like a great idea if I bicycled to a restaurant. As it stands, I've never had problems with the containers that the restaurant provides. Besides, any leftovers goes home for the dogs...unless it's chicken fajitas and then I exercise my rights as pack Alpha and the dogs get to watch me eat.

yep, have been for a long time. got tired of the styrofoam containers getting crushed, having stuff leak out, take room in the fridge and garbage.
at my mom's food cart she would give ppl a discount if they brought their own containers/cupz.

I know folks who take their own containers to collect take-away.

Some restaurants (especially the local Chinese and Indian places) will put it in your containers if you get there a bit early and hand them over.

Environmental Karma Points.

I usually carry leftovers in my stomach.

Politely ask surrounding tables to dump their leftovers into your plastic pot.

yep, have been for a long time. got tired of the styrofoam containers getting crushed, having stuff leak out, take room in the fridge and garbage.
at my mom's food cart she would give ppl a discount if they brought their own containers/cupz.

Your mom sells food out of a cart?
Well who knows,in this economy I may be selling apples on the street corner.

We go out so seldom (wife's diet plus a toddler) that I eat everything I can get my hands on when we're out.

Your mom sells food out of a cart?
Well who knows,in this economy I my be selling apples on the street corner.

I'm not sure what kind of cart you have in mind, but in many big cities food trucks and carts are quite common. You can get anything from chili, adobo, bulgogi burritos, hot dogs, cheese steak, you name it someone has probably done it. Heck, there's one cart here that sells nothing but creme brulee.

I haven't had leftovers since I was about 15 years old...

Rubbermaid containers sound like a great idea if I bicycled to a restaurant. As it stands, I've never had problems with the containers that the restaurant provides. Besides, any leftovers goes home for the dogs...unless it's chicken fajitas and then I exercise my rights as pack Alpha and the dogs get to watch me eat.

Except that it's just another piece of styrofoam to enter the landfill...

Have some heavy duty ziploc bags along for the left overs, they will fit better in your bike bags, and easier to carry to the restaurant.

Rubbermaid containers sound like a great idea if I bicycled to a restaurant. As it stands, I've never had problems with the containers that the restaurant provides. Besides, any leftovers goes home for the dogs...unless it's chicken fajitas and then I exercise my rights as pack Alpha and the dogs get to watch me eat.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't fill a clamshell box with food and insert it in my backpack. Especially if it's something with a lot of liquid like Jambalaya.
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If it were a pail box like this, then it would have been fine, but not everyone has these

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Except that it's just another piece of styrofoam to enter the landfill...
Styrofoam containers are not permitted for commercial use. I think it's still possible for people to buy styrofoam cups and plates though.

Have some heavy duty ziploc bags along for the left overs, they will fit better in your bike bags, and easier to carry to the restaurant.

I had not considered this. For something dry like rice and veggies or little moisture like spaghetti, I think that could work well. Do you think it would work well enough for food with lots of liquid like a stew or curry though?

I had not considered this. For something dry like rice and veggies or little moisture like spaghetti, I think that could work well. Do you think it would work well enough for food with lots of liquid like a stew or curry though?I use the heavy duty bags and they seem to have a very strong seal. I have lots of confidence in the seal, but you might buy a few and do some testing at home to see how they hold up to different foods. You can also double bag these, if one seal leaks the other probably won't.

This topic came up a while ago on car free. My solution has been to ask to have my leftovers put in a plastic bag or to have them wrap the styrofoam box in saran wrap. Almost every restaurant has saran wrap. I usually throw out that I am on my bike when I ask for special service and around here and they come up with a quick solution to get the food home, most restaurants around here usually have at least two bikes parked out back anyway.

The alternative is just to always order pizza when riding to dinner:D