Doggie Bag Policy

We went to La Maseria for dinner last night before seeing Avenue Q. Harvey Fierstein was sitting behind us. Anyway.... we get to the theater and the outside ushers would not let me bring the doggie bag to my seat. "No food in the theater". When asked what to do with it he replied to leave it on top of the garbage can out front.He told me that a homeless gentleman passes by every night and collects them. I hope he enjoyed my shrimp risotto with saffron and my tiramasu. This is the first time this has ever happend to me at the theater and I go quite often. I would have eaten more of my dinner had I known of the theaters policy.

My two questions are:
1. Do you agree with this policy? Maybe I'm in the minority.
2. Does anyone know of any other theaters that do not allow doggie bags at the seat?
My leftovers were securely wrapped. I'm just aggrivated because last year someone sat next to me at a show and proceeded to eat a very smelly tunafish sandwich.

You sort of answered your own question.

If you don't stop people from bringing in food to the show you can't stop them from eating it.

I've never seen a theater that outright allowed people to bring their dinner in (dinner theater obviously nonwithstanding). I think it's horribly rude to bring "doggie bags" into the theater. Not the place for it. And since you couldn't bring it in, you would obviously have to wait to eat it. Leaving the food outside is a good idea. It probably would have been gross and spoiled by the time the show ended and you got out of the theater and made it home, anyway.

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Updated On: 5/19/08 at 01:13 PM

What if one of the other audience had a doggie bag but wasn't securely wrapped? The theatre couldn't take that chance.

Technically, your food wouldn't have been good after the show anyway. I believe it's 2 hours in temperature danger zone (above 41˚F) before things start growing on your food.

Updated On: 5/19/08 at 01:17 PM

I find eating in the theatre (no candy, no nuthin...) more objectionable than bringing wrapped leftovers in, but it's still gross.

I think the "No Doggie Bag" policy is OK! Last night, heading out to dinner, I went past the Golden Theater, only to hear someone bickering with the usher about not being allowed to bring his doggie bag in. So I waited a bit and after he left, scooped up his doggie bag! SCORE! It was a Shrimp Rostto and Tiarmisu! MMMMM! God it was good. I'm going to hang out there every night.

When I saw Grease I ate at the Olive Garden before hand. I arrived at the Olive Garden at 1 and the show was a 2. The watier and hostest told me I'd make it to the show on time. At 1:55 our food came, so my friend and I ate as much as we could in five minutes and left (we paid when our food came). I had a breast of chicken parm in a "doogie bag".

When I arrived the ticket take joked saying I had to leave the food with him to eat. He let me in without a problem and I saw in the last row of the mezz and the food wasn't a problem. It was in a box, in a bag in another bag under a bag. I didn't smell it and I was starving the whole time. It made a great lunch two days later.

I think you can bring it in if...

1.) It's something like a chicken sandwich that wont smell. No tuna. :)

2.) You can put it in a larger bag (actually this solves the problem. Put it in your bag, don't let the ushers see it, and it will help the smell)

3.) DON'T EAT IT!

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Thanks TV.
I also have never gotten sick from restaurant leftovers.
Thanks for the advice.

This thread is making me hungry.

Most theater allow you to bring food in but it's frowned upon. They don't like you eating but you can mostly bring it in.

"...I ate at the Olive Garden before hand."

That was your first mistake.

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Or you could have left it in the coatroom, which is where all packages should be left - whether its food, clothes from last minute shopping or soaking umbrellas. I guess I was lucky that the theatre I used to work at had a refrigerator in their coatroom.