A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada and the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. and Canada);[1] takeaway (England, Wales, Australia, Lebanon, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally in North America);[1] takeaways (India, New Zealand); grab-n-go; and parcel (Bangladesh, Pakistan)[2] is a prepared meal or other food items, purchased at a restaurant or fast food outlet with the intent to eat elsewhere. A concept found in many ancient cultures, take-out food is common worldwide, with a number of different cuisines and dishes on offer.
The concept of prepared meals to be eaten elsewhere dates back to antiquity. Market and roadside stalls selling food were common in Ancient Greece and Rome.[3] In Pompeii, archaeologists have found a number of thermopolia, service counters opening onto the street which provided food to be taken away. There is a distinct lack of formal dining and kitchen area in Pompeian homes, which may suggest that eating, or at least cooking, at home was unusual. Over 200 thermopolia have been found in the ruins of Pompeii.[4]
The Take Out
In the cities of medieval Europe a number of street vendors sold take-out food. In medieval London, street vendors sold hot meat pies, geese, sheep's feet and French wine, while in Paris roasted meats, squab, tarts and flans, cheeses and eggs were available. A large strata of society would have purchased food from these vendors, but they were especially popular amongst the urban poor, who would have lacked kitchen facilities in which to prepare their own food.[5] However, these vendors often had a bad reputation, often being in trouble with city authorities reprimanding them for selling infected meat or reheated food. The cooks of Norwich often defended themselves in court against selling such things as "pokky pies" and "stynkyng mackerelles".[6] In 10th and 11th century China, citizens of cities such as Kaifeng and Hangzhou were able to buy pastries such as yuebing and congyoubing to take away. By the early 13th century, the two most successful such shops in Kaifeng had "upwards of fifty ovens".[7] A traveling Florentine reported in the late 14th century that in Cairo, people carried picnic cloths made of raw hide to spread on the streets and eat their meals of lamb kebabs, rice and fritters that they had purchased from street vendors.[8] In Renaissance Turkey, many crossroads saw vendors selling "fragrant bites of hot meat", including chicken and lamb that had been spit roasted.[9]
The Industrial Revolution saw an increase in the availability of take-out food. By the early 20th Century, fish and chips was considered an "established institution" in Britain. The hamburger was introduced to America around this time. The diets of industrial workers were often poor, and these meals provided an "important component" to their nutrition.[18] In India, local businesses and cooperatives, had begun to supply workers in the city of Bombay (now Mumbai) with tiffin boxes by the end of the 19th century.[19]
Take-out food can be purchased from restaurants that also provide sit-down table service or from establishments specialising in food to be taken away.[22] Providing a take-out service saves operators the cost of cutlery, crockery and pay for servers and hosts; it also allows many customers to be served quickly, without restricting sales by remaining to eat their food.[23]
Although once popular in Europe and America,[5] street food declined in popularity in the 20th century. In part, this can be attributed to a combination of the proliferation of specialized takeaway restaurants and legislation relating to health and safety.[5] Vendors selling street food are still common in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East,[24] with the annual turnover of street food vendors in Bangladesh and Thailand being described as particularly important to the local economy.[25]
Many restaurants and take-out establishments offer drive-through or drive-thru[26] outlets that allow customers to order, pay for, and receive food without leaving their cars. The idea was pioneered in 1931 in a California fast food restaurant, Pig Stand Number 21. By 1988, 51% of McDonald's turnover was being generated by drive-throughs, with 31% of all US take-out turnover being generated by them by 1990.[27]
Some take-out businesses offer prepared food for delivery, which usually involves contacting a local restaurant by telephone or online. In countries including Australia, Canada, India, Brazil, Japan, much of the European Union and the United States, food can be ordered online from a menu, then picked up by the customer or delivered by the restaurant or a third party delivery service.[28] The industry has kept pace with technological developments since the 1980s, beginning with the rise of the personal computer and continuing with the rise of mobile devices and online delivery applications. Specialized computer software for food delivery helps determine the most efficient routes for carriers, track order and delivery times, manage calls and orders with PoS software, and other functions. Since 2008 satellite navigation tracking technology has been used for real-time monitoring of delivery vehicles by customers over the Internet.[29]
Take-out food is packaged in paper, paperboard, corrugated fiberboard, plastic, or foam food containers. One common container is the oyster pail, a folded, waxed or plastic coated, paperboard container. The oyster pail was quickly adopted, especially in the West, for "Chinese takeout".[36]
Aluminium containers are also popular for take-out packaging due to their low cost. Expanded polystyrene is often used for hot drinks containers and food trays because it is lightweight and heat-insulating.[39]
Packaging of fast food and take-out food is necessary for the customer but involves a significant amount of material that ends up in landfills, recycling, composting, or litter.[41] Foam containers for fast-food were the target of environmentalists in the U.S. and were largely replaced with paper wrappers among large restaurant chains.[42]
In 2002, Taiwan began taking action to reduce the use of disposable tableware at institutions and businesses, and to reduce the use of plastic bags. Yearly, the nation of 17.7 million people was producing 59,000 tons of disposable tableware waste and 105,000 tons of waste plastic bags, and increasing measures have been taken in the years since then to reduce the amount of waste.[43] In 2013, Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) banned outright the use of disposable tableware in the nation's 968 schools, government agencies, and hospitals. The ban was expected to eliminate 2,600 metric tons of waste yearly.[44]
China, by virtue of the size of its population and the surging popularity of food delivery apps, such as Meituan and Ele.me, faces significant challenges disposing of or recycling takeout food packaging waste.[47] According to a 2018 study published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling, for the first half of 2017, Chinese consumers ordered 4.6 billion takeout meals, generating "significant environmental concerns". The study's authors estimated that packaging waste from food delivery grew from 20,000 metric tons in 2015 to 1.5 million metric tons in 2017.[48] In 2018, Meituan reported making over 6.4 billion food deliveries, up from 4 billion a year earlier.[49]
Take Out is a 2004 independent film depicting a day-in-the-life of an undocumented Chinese immigrant working as a deliveryman for a Chinese take-out shop in New York City. Written and directed by Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker, the film was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award in the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards.
Take Out is a day-in-the-life of Ming Ding, an undocumented Chinese immigrant working as a deliveryman for a Chinese take-out shop in New York City. Ming is behind with payments on his huge debt to the smugglers who brought him to the United States. The collectors have given him until the end of the day to deliver the money that is due. After borrowing most of the money from friends and relatives, Ming realizes that the remainder must come from the day's delivery tips. In order to do so, he must make more than double his average daily income.
Take Out was filmed in and near upper-Manhattan, New York, in the spring of 2003 on a budget of $3000.[4] The film was shot on digital video due to both the cinema vérité style and a non-existent budget with an ensemble cast of both professional and nonprofessional actors[5] while shooting without a full crew in an actual take-out restaurant during operating hours.[6][7]
Our full-color entertainment booklet is handed out with every delivery and takeout order featured in over 12,000 restaurants in the United State and Canada.The Takeout Times surveys the local business owners and managers for recommendations on the best locally-owned restaurants in your area. The local businesses in the community that have referred the restaurants, sponsor the booklet, which allows us to provide it to you absolutely free. Participating restaurants see at least a 25% increase in their takeout and deliveries within their first 90 days.
We offer a Sponsorship Program for local businesses to strengthen their community presence and maintain connections with current clients through our Restaurant Elite Program. This program helps top, locally-owned restaurants enhance their takeout and delivery business by including custom-designed takeout menus in our localized entertainment booklets, which the restaurant includes with every takeout and delivery order.
When picking up specifications from the Bid and Bond Room, you will be asked to leave a business card or to fill out the specification take-out list. A record of all prospective bidders is kept to allow the Department of Procurement Services to inform you if any addenda are issued and for prospective subcontractors to inquire who may be bidding on that particular job. 2ff7e9595c
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