I try and remember to do this when we go out.
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Most places in the US will have boxes to take, but if one also wants to reduce trash, bringing oneâs own is a great idea.
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Yes, bringing your own to reduce the general use of disposable takeaway containers. Places in the UK now often charge for takeaway boxes. I sometimes bring my own to places like bakeries when I buy items I can box them up rather than baked goods getting squashed in paper bags or using a new cardboard box..
And Iâve noticed that most restaurants in the US these days will just bring boxes and you pack it up yourself, rather than whisking the dish back into the kitchen and bringing out the packaged goods. Not a bad thing in most cases. This makes whipping out your own container a little easier.
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In the UK, it was Covid that prompted the âpack it yourselfâ attitude from restaurants. I think restaurant workers didnât want to be handling food that had been partially eaten by potentially infective people? At least that is what a few restaurant staff told us. As you said, it makes packing stuff up in your own containers less awkward!
I always bring tupperware to dim sum!
And I strongly prefer to pack my own leftovers. Because I am particular about what goes where.
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Thatâs a quitterâs attitude! Stay at the table until youâve finished it all! 
Actually, we have been bringing our own containers when we dine out for the last few years. Iâm a card-carrying member of the Clean Plate Club (and have the body to prove it), but Mrs. ricepad rarely finishes her meals out, and weâre loathe to throw anything away. We also hate adding to the solid waste stream by getting a take-out container from restaurants, so we keep a couple (in a clean bag) in the car. There have been times when weâve not had a container in the car and decided not to eat out just on that basis.
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I bring a âlunch bagâ nowadays with a sturdy container for half of my order, a small cup container for any salad dressing or sauce, a tea towel and a mini frozen ice bag to keep things cool if Iâm going to go somewhere else before home. I get sneers from waitstaff who want to charge a buck to transfer my food to their stoopid styro container. Really, a buck a piece? Everything is washable and reusable in my bag, including the bag if it gets soiled. It isnât that much trouble and even if the bag doesnât sync with my outfit, itâll hold my water bottle and the newspaper.
When we moved here 25 years ago, the landfill crowed that they had enough space for 100 years of waste disposal. Within 5 years they were crying that the disposal site was running out of room. Weâve recycled, reused and repurposed all our life in one way or another. Mama earth is precious, letâs take care of her the best we can.
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I try! But I usually fail. I just canât say no to har gow.
Har we gow againâŚand again. And again.
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We bring Tupperware containers to a few restaurants, that have in the past, provided crappy takeout containers that have leaked in our car. We are also particular in how some things are packaged to go. Some restaurants will just throw everything in one container. We like to keep the âcrispyâ food items separate from the mushy or liquid items.
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This may say more about me than anything else. But I never have leftovers when visiting a restaurant - not even on those trips in the past to the States.
By the by, as medgirl mentions, you do see food boxed for takeaway in the UK. But itâs fairly uncommon. With most places we go to regularly, I canât recall ever seeing it - exception is a place in our nearby Chinatown, where the local student diners seem to order vast quantities of food with the intent of takeaway. Our favourite Indian place offers tasting menus, featuring different Indian regional cuisines, a couple of times a month. If theyâve miscalculated quantities in the kitchen, they canât keep it till next time, so will just box it and deliver to your table as a sort of surprise
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Wait - WHAT? Iâve never heard of charging for the waitstaff to put the rest of a purchased meal into a takeout/leftover container - or are they charging you $1.00 for the actual Styrofoam container? When they cost maybe $.20 - .30 each?
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Some cities in the Bay Area require restaurant take-away boxes to be compostable, making the whole deal less wasteful and dead end. Cardboard is fine and manageable imo. The only time I ever brought my own take away box (tupperware) was getting BBQ at the old Flintâs in Oakland for a road trip. The usual styrofoam tended to leak and make a mess, as in never fails. When the nice people at Flintâs saw the box and I mentioned I was headed to LA they packed it full.
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In my corner of the world, there is this company. I havenât used them yet because either (1) the places we go to havenât signed up or, (2) at the ones that have, I clean my plate. We always try to bring our own containers not because I need to pack our own food but to cut down on more single-use takeout containers entering the waste stream. In our family, we never leave food, even when we are traveling.
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I think it is a control issue; theyâre in charge of the food and can use the buck as a âconvenienceâ fee. Either way, itâs a ripnoff and I have to package 1/2 of my order as soon as it is brought to me. ( only 1/2 stomach)
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Loved the old Flintâs. Their containers never held up, even for the ride home.
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I loved Everett & Jones, went to the one on Fruitvale and sometimes the one in Berkeley.
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I wouldnât know. Their stuff never made it home! I remember one time I stopped at Flintâs and picked up some ribs to take home (about a 90 minute drive). The smell was driving me nuts, though, so I pulled off the freeway, parked on a frontage road, and dug in, flinging bare bones out the window. I found a gas station to wash my hands and toss the trash and get rid of the (physical) evidence, but when I got home, Mrs. ricepad asked accusingly, âWhy does the car smell like barbecue?â
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