Jeannie in NJ Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 ok, this is very minor but last night, dh, sil and I went out to dinner. Dh got pizza, sil got a sub and I got a meal that came with a salad and a WONDERFUL sesame seed roll. Well, I ate the salad, the roll and half my entree. The waitress came by and asked if I wanted another roll. I told her I was taking the rest of my meal home but could she put another roll in my take home container. She said "Of course" and did not act wierd about it at all. Both my dh and sil said that I should not have asked for a roll to be put in with my leftovers. They said that was being very cheap. I said well if I was still hungry, I would have had her bring me the roll that she offered and would have eaten it there so what was the difference if I take it home and eat it later. Also whenever we eat at a place that brings a full bread basket and there is bread left over, I always wrap up the bread and take it home, cause I assume that they will just be throwing it out and the bread is always so good. so was I being cheap, would you have done the same or should I not have asked to take a roll home? As i said this is very minor in the scheme of things but I am just curious if I did something "socially unacceptable" lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starwarsmomma Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I have done that-- I usually say something like, I love your rolls so much, could I please have just one more to enjoy tomorrow-- they are such a treat! I'm happy to pay if they charge me, but I have never been charged. As far as I know it's really no big deal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 So the bread is just complementary? I don't see a problem with putting one in your to go box. We've taken home rolls before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I think saying "My, that roll was so good - could I please have another in my doggie bag?" is not a problem at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 No, not a big deal at all. If you would have asked for half a dozen rolls, it would be a different story. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoundAbout Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Not a big deal. It's only a roll. They probably throw out a bunch at the end of the night anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 You're not being cheap. I've done the same thing at Olive Garden with their breadsticks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 You asked. She said of course. Where's the problem? I think it was a breach of etiquette for your dinner companions to chastise you for it at the table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 And Texas Roadhouse has offered some to take home after we were done with a meal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 thanks everyone, next time I will just tell dh and sil to buzz off, lol. I am right now going to heat up my leftovers, including roll and enjoy it for lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I probably would have said, "Could I get an extra in the doggie bag, I don't mind paying for it!" To which the waitress would have said, "OH, they're no charge!" But no, nothing you did strikes me as cheap. If they were given away, she would have said, "Ok, but I need to bill you 1.40 for a take away. Is that ok?" But she didn't, which means throwing one in the doggie bag is common practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 It makes no difference to the restaurant - as the pp said, they would have given you the roll if you had carried on eating. To me it does feel odd though: something about taking more food when you haven't finished what's on your plate. Not a big deal either way though. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 It's not considered cheap. I worked in a restaurant for many, many years when I was younger. Lots of people ask the same thing. Many times, when packaging up leftovers we put one in there anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatherwith4 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Nope - not cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Since she obliged you so sweetly, we'll assume you gave her a generous tip. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Your DH and SIL are way too uptight. The waitress offered! It's not as if you grabbed one off another table's abandoned plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2Ride Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Nope, you were fine. I do it all the time and never has a place blinked an eye at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 You're only getting what the restaurant offers. Your DH and SIL sound like you asked for a discount on your food after you ate. Maybe they would have been okay if you said yes to having a roll delivered to your table, and then taking it? I'm more surprised that someone packed your to go box. The restaurants I eat at hand you boxes at the table and you pack them yourselves! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 If she were offering your another roll anyways why not put it in the to go box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 As a food server I would have tucked one in with your leftovers myself. Well, that is until so many people have gone gluten free. Now I don't do it anymore because I might accidentally get gluten on someones meal and spoil it. But previously I always tucked a fresh roll in with someone's meal when I boxed it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I don't think you committed a terrible faux pas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I wouldn't have asked because it would make ME feel cheap, but I don't care if anyone else asks for a free roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 You asked. She said of course. Where's the problem? I think it was a breach of etiquette for your dinner companions to chastise you for it at the table. :iagree: Your DH and SIL are way too uptight. The waitress offered! It's not as if you grabbed one off another table's abandoned plates. :iagree: We always ask for Bread in our to go boxes when we eat at Outback Steakhouse. And they almost always give us "extra". I asked for a loaf to take home one time, and the waitress brought us a bag w/ four! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 nope. not cheap. i wouldn't have thought twice about asking & i wouldn't have thought twice about being asked if i had been the waitress or at a neighboring table :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 um, that isn't cheap. load up the rolls and let's go! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Personally, I probably would have accepted the roll, then later on asked to have the remainder of my meal boxed up (including the roll). That way it would seem like I intended to eat the roll there, then ended up being too full. Asking for it to be added to my takeout box would make me feel uncomfortable, not cheap, but like I was taking advantage of their generosity. But that's just me. I wouldn't care if someone else in my party did so, and I certainly wouldn't say anything about it. If it were just dh and I, I would probably just roll my eyes at him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M&M Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 From one Jersey Girl to another, bread in an Italian restaurant in NJ is like a condiment. Extra bread is like putting ketchup on a burger --you can always ask for more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 no big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PachiSusan Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 No big deal at all. The waitress would have said no if she couldn't do it and that would be the end of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I've never heard of it or thought to ask for it, but why not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I think it's great that you even asked! She could have said, "no, we can't do that." I've had really good bread in restaurants before and wish I could take some home with my leftovers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Tell your dh it's rude for him to talk like that to you in front of the sil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Tell your dh it's rude for him to talk like that to you in front of the sil. Yes. I see his behavior as rude, and not respectful of you as his wife. Asking for a roll to go is not unusual, nor is it it cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowWhite Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 "Yes, please" would have been fine- and it's nobody else's business WHEN you eat the food you paid for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansmama Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Nope, not cheap if you tipped appropriately for great service. I waited tables through college and could definitely tell the difference between cheap customers and those with proper etiquette by the way they tipped, especially if I went out of my way for them. I think whenever anyone asks for their food to be packaged up and especially when they ask for extras to be thrown in, they should remember to tip well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tita Gidge Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I think cheap is a frame of mind ... an attitude. Asking for more bread isn't what may make you cheap, it's why you're asking (IMO). If you're asking because you enjoy it, and you appreciate that they include it - great! If you're asking because you think they charge too much and you want your "money's worth" or something ... cheap! LOL It's like taking sugar or ketchup packets :) I always keep 2-3 sugar packets in the car for "emergencies" when they don't add enough to my drinks. Not cheap. But I have a relative who grabs a handful of ketchup packets every time she eats out so she can keep an overflowing stash at home (thereby avoiding buying her own ketchup). Cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 OP is fine. Her dinner companions strike me as overly strict. I would not have asked for "an extra to go"; but neither do I think this is a cosmic-level issue. Usually, bread is a low-profit-margin item. Also, if the evening was drawing to a close, a restaurant would prefer to give a diner that extra roll for free. Happy Customer makes Repeat Customer. Also, the bread legally may not be sold the next day, so it either would go into the dumpster, to a hog farm, or to a local charity with which an arrangement is in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 1) You were fine. The waitress would have told you if the restaurant didn't like giving away free rolls in doggie bags. 2) Your dh and sil were out of line. What is the purpose of telling you that you embarrassed yourself (in their opinion) AFTER the fact? Especially in a ganging-up situation. Yuck. Now that is bad manners. 3) Just don't take home the rolls at a buffet place. Once I took my grandmother, who didn't get out much, to Old Country Buffet. She thought it was wonderful, but her eyes were bigger than her stomach, and she took one more roll than she could eat. Being from the depression era, she could not bear to leave it on her plate, so she wrapped it in a napkin and put it in her coat pocket. Would you believe they apprehended her on the way out the door for "stealing?"! She was utterly mortified. Obviously they were only going to throw that bread in the garbage. However, I guess their theory is that if you let old ladies take a roll home, next time they will come in with a garbage bag and fill it up or something. Bah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymommy Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 When made from scratch, bread is so cheap it's practically free. Maybe it was "socially unacceptable" but it's not like one roll cost the restaurant anything. I know people from other countries are horrified at the American idea of taking leftovers home, period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 The waitress first asked you if you wanted another roll. She offered it first. There is no reason not to ask her just toss it in your to go box instead of bringing it to the table. Your dining companions needed a little chill-pill after dinner mint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luanne Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Back when I could eat bread, I had lots of places ask me if I wanted a roll/breadstick to take home with the rest of my meal. There isn't anything wrong with that. They offered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I worked in restaurants back in college and they always threw out the extra bread. No one in the restaurant would bat an eye over putting a roll in a to go bag. Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Am I the only one who is kind of P.O'ed that I've never gotten extra bread thrown in my to go bag? I mean, never! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Cheap is my millionaire ex-MIL taking home two slices of the cheapest, nastiest bread it is possible to buy, that was left over from her husband's hospital breakfast. It's not like she really enjoys it or something either. Ex left 3/4 of specialty fruit loaf from the farmer's market in the pantry last week, stayed over at a friend's place for the night and it was gone when he got back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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