Restaurant. my son and i are eating out at a local cafe....?

Question

i get a to go container for the rest of his lunch ...so he can eat it at our next destination or later.

my point i left the to go food on the table so we could go to the bathroom. he is 4 and i help him and usually have a purse to shuffle too(b-rooms dont always have hooks). and im not really into bring my food in the public restroom. where do i set it ??? the floor, the sink...gross !

the staff is busy,no one to tell....the tables are not full yet. so i thought ill just leave it and be quick.

i come back the food has been tossed. the staff looks like oops, and offers a new one...which was nice, but we gotta go..so i ask for an oatmeal cookie.

so my thought leave a small toy on top of the food ??? it will happen again i'm sure, hasen't happened before, we eat out often.

and the staff was being efficent, have to respect that. but, almost a whole lunch thrown away. argh.

no biggie, just curious what other parents would do, have done.

Answer 1

When they bring you the to-go box, grab their attention before they rush off and mention that you will be leaving it on the table for a couple of minutes while you rush your son to the restroom real quick.  They will pass on the message to the bussers.  :-)

Answer 2

I am sure that the staff has been instructed to clean each table as soon as the customers leave.  What you could have done was handed the leftovers to a staff member on the way to the bathroom and asked them for a doggy bag.  

That way you would have had the container ready for you when you were finished in the bathroom and wouldn't have had to worry about taking it in with you.

Personally, I would not ever trust taking food from a table that was not attended, in todays world there are too many people causing dangerous situations for others.

Good luck and have a good day.

Answer 3

I feel your pain-my son is almost 2 and doesn't eat well at restaurants alot, so I take food home too.  I guess maybe you could leave a note on top of box stating "don't throw out-gone to restroom"  something simple and straightforward would be best.  Hope that doesn't sound too dumb.

Answer 4

Perhaps next time you could ask the waitress to box the meal and place it at the check out or with the hostess until you are ready to leave.  This way it is not left sitting on the table where anyone could tamper with it or where the bus person might not realize that it was being saved.   I had a whole steak tossed once by leaving it on the table while I went to the ladies room.  So sad

Answer 5

See if they can put the to-go box in a plastic bag (or carry one in your purse).  Then you could take it with you to the bathroom, and when done, throw the bag away and the to-go box will never have touched a counter.  Or take it to the hostess and simply say "I have to take my son to the restroom, we'll be right back for this.  I don't want it thrown out."