Leftovers

In two months (summer 2015) I don't think I ever saw someone talking home leftovers. I doubt that the typical Italian restaurant maintains containers for that purpose. I believe some pizzerias do a carry-out business, in which case maybe appropriate boxes would be available.

It's not generally done in lots of places in Europe. You probably won't find a need to do so, anyway, since portions are smaller.

After several meals with leftovers being thrown away we started ordering things to split. It seems so wasteful to have food thrown out. We would order 2 appys, a salad, and a main - just enough food for two and room to share a dessert. We never had a problem at any restaurant doing that. In the case of restaurants in Italy it also left us room for both pasta course & a main.

Even with the smaller portions the hard part is wanting to try so many things so splitting is a good compromise!

That being said - I always have ziplocs in my purse!

The portion sizes are really very manageable (at least at places that cater more to locals), and the food and sauces are much lighter than what you'd get in the States. I've never had a problem finishing a meal (mostly consisting of all 3 courses - primi piatti, secondi piatti, and dolci), and I say this as a petite woman.

You will have the table to yourself for as much time as you want, so if you eat rather slowly (like I do) and and just savor every bite, I doubt you'll have leftovers. Pairing the meal with wine was also very helpful in digesting what otherwise may be too much carbs (pasta always precedes or is paired with the main course, although you don't need to order it). In Europe, they tend to say "take away" instead of "to go", but it's still not typical in most sit down restaurants.

Thanks, I thought so. On previous trips I never thought about it. And didn't notice either.

We also opted to split our meal as Christi described above.
If we didn't split a desert, we would get a gelato on the way back to our hotel.
But I definitely agree that the portions are smaller than those found in many restaurants here in the U.S.

You can order one course at a time to see how it goes.

The only leftover I've taken home is the wine. No problem, though I don't know if Italians do it.

It's common in touristy restaurants, but not in the smaller local places.

Richard,

Italian "sit down" restaurants typically don't have take-out containers and the concept of a "doggie bag" is kind of lost on them. However, I spent about a month on business in a smaller Italian city and the several of my favorite family-run restaurants had enormous serving sizes - even the "price fix" menu items were enough for two meals! I started taking my own re-usable (Tupperware-like) contains and bringing home the leftovers for the next day's lunch. I, of course, politely asked each establishment beforehand but they all seemed genuinely fine with the idea.

Also, unless a restaurant is strictly a take-out (or take away) establishment, it is unlikely to have carry-out containers and if it does, may charge for them.

Actually, there have recently been laws passed in both Italy and France that require / encourage restaurants to make it easy for patrons to take food home. The goal is to reduce food waste. In Italy it's being called a Family Bag. https://www.fastcoexist.com/3062597/world-changing-ideas/italys-plan-to-destigmatize-doggy-bags-and-end-food-waste

Even before the law, I've asked humbly to take home leftover cheese, pizza, and steak (some Italian portions are gigantic). Each time the request was treated graciously and without surprise.

Ziploc bags. Big purse.

I have a good friend from Italy who now lives and owns a restaurant in Marin County.
He used to be a bar tender and waiter in several fancy places in Tuscany, including the famous club "La Bussola" on the Tuscan coast.
When he moved to the US many years ago, he first worked as a waiter in an Italian restaurant in SF. One day a customer asked him to prepare a doggy bag with the leftovers. He had never heard of such concept, but he thought it was very nice of them to care for their "pets", so he prepared the doggie bag adding also a few left over bones left from other customers, thinking the customer would appreciate having those too for their dog. Apparently the customer himself was the "doggie" and let my friend (and the restaurant manager) know he wasn't too happy about the addition. It was my friend's first week on the job and fortunately he wasn't fired for it, but I still get a kick every time he recalls that story.

In the 80's we were in Perugia and met up with several American friends and their college-aged Italian cousin for dinner. We ordered quite a lot and couldn't finish it all, so at the end one of the Americans said, 'Let's get a doggy bag.' The Italian cousin perked right up with a mischievous smile: 'Can I be the one to ask?'.

I believe there is a 2500+ year tradition against "doggie bags", since the Republican period in Roma, when public feasts would end with the poor taking food home in sacks.

Interesting to see law keeping up with the times.

Great story Roberto!

Roberto,

What a funny story!

I never had the need to do this. The food was so good in most of the restaurants where I have eaten they were lucky I didn't gnaw the plates.