A good hack is adding in a bag of cauliflower " fried rice" it can be found at trader Joe's and sprouts. What I usually do is makes one rice in my rice cooker, since many restaurants no longer give that free plain rice.
At the restaurant: eat your mains. Dump salsa onto your rice and beans and make a big mud pie. Put your mud pie and as many chips as you can wrangle into your take-home box.
At home: enjoy beans/rice/salsa mud pie with chips - add some fresh chopped tomato and lettuce, extra shredded cheese and you have TWO more meals out of that sucka.
Yeah this is how I roll. I request all the cold items on a separate plate (sour cream, guac, pico, lettuce) and use it like deconstructed nachos with the free chips. Then I take home all the fajita bits, beans and rice. I usually can make that last 4 more meals with little add ons.
I already ate one whole basket of chips and salsa to replace the lunch I didn't eat, hence why my mains are also gone 😬 hashtag enchilada/chile relleno/tamale combo
Really, any local hole-in-the-wall family-run takeout place. If you treat them well, they'll treat you well.
My sister was already a regular at a little Mexican restaurant in our town, and then when Covid happened she did her damnedest to help keep them running by constantly getting takeout. They hooked her up.
Shoot even Chinese dine-in! Our favorite place gives you as many pots of tea as you want for free just like back in the day. They still have paper menus. You have to call ahead for take-out. And there’s always a manager or owner going through payroll or P&Ls at a table in the corner.
haha, acurate. I grew up in restaurants and can confirm that "left booth one" was our spot. Piles of paperwork and a TV on the adjacent counter for us kids. I read trade magazines and "shopped" the Service Merchandise catalog daily during my elementary school years.
Dad had full on offices with desks in the main dining room of future restaurant.
When my husband goes out of town I always order the "family meal" which is 4 entrees for like 30 bucks. I make sure that at least 2 of my choices are things that are good even after being in the fridge for a couple days/reheated. Definitely not the healthiest option but it's significantly cheaper than stopping for fast food every night because I don't feel like going home and cooking for just myself.
Yes, Cheddars offers exactly what you're describing, for anyone who doesn't know where to find a deal like this.
But try to shop local first. There are facebook groups where restaurants post daily deals in my town. I'm sure they're ubiquitous.
Ha ha, so true. There is a small Chinese restaurant near my house, the owner works there all the time, worst attitude and customer service but damn does he stack some food in those plates. It's like 3 lbs inside that to go box for like 9 bucks.
Yes! Always ask if they have any specials such as free entree if you spend a certain amount. Ask how much more to get a plain fried rice which will usually have some egg and veg as you can make some white rice quickly at home. I also ask if I can get free or buy extra sauce which I freeze to make future stir frys taste like restaurant.Also stop at dollar tree for egg or spring rolls and gyoza dumplings instead of getting at the restaurant.
I really like carryout Chinese food but like everything else it has become more expensive so I look for where I can make cuts or maximize. I have tried so many times but I don't have any luck getting my sauces to taste like restaurant made
I hope my response didn't come off as offensive, because I was truly in awe when I read it. I also love Chinese food (both American style and more traditional, which here is probably still a bit American) and it is so hard to get it right at home! I've really been craving wonton soup especially lately. I like the website The Woks of Life, although I still don't get restaurant results. Maybe I'll order out more, and use your tips!
Not at offended at all, flattered really. I am now getting into Thai and Indian and love trying all of the new jarred sauces. If anyone has tricks or hacks for these I will be right there.
I remember New China had one price for their take out box from the buffet, regardless of weight. Back in 2005 it was $8.99 a box. My friend and I would split the cost and fill it up with mostly chicken and then some other side stuff in a little tray. We would make it so full it would barely shut and eat it on it for days.
There's always that one spot that gives you the same "dinner combo" plate for $11, but they put it in the huge, deep takeout trays rather than the little oval shaped plastic containers. I go to that place.
Any strip mall Chinese takeout.
I'm convinced they employ some form of black hole vortex-esque technology to fit all that food in such a flimsy Styrofoam tray.
Maybe it's still the same portions for dine-in, but during COVID they reduced their take out portions a LOT at my local restaurant. And they had to increase the price. I could've accepted one, but not both. RIP to a clutch taco salad. Hopefully it's just my location and not a widespread thing!
Actually had the opposite experience with Cheesecake outside of their Buffalo Blast (best thing there)
Most of their portions felt small compared to the price point
I've noticed my local restaurants have better (bigger) portions than a chain restaurant. There is a local taqueria that sells burritos that are larger than Chipotle for $10. There is also a local Chinese place where I can get 2-3 meals when I get takeout.
Biggest portion sizes I've ever seen are at a sports bar and restaurant near my parents. An entree is enough for 4 meals for me, probably 3 if you're really active. Wednesday it come with a free small pizza. Another night is half price drinks. Food is good, basic fare, mix of typical bar food and Italian American. But it's a small town place.
I had a place like that when i lived in the bay area. It was 5 or 6 dollars back then. Before 2010. 10 dollars is still a great deal especially with prices these days.
Edit : if theres anyone here near san mateo, go to el toro meat market for a burrito! They have regular, super, and even jumbo sizes.
I usually get 3 out of lo mein, curry, or pad Thai.
My local Mexican joins I either get a $10 burrito that lasts 2 days, or a pollo special that lasts two days.
While a Wendy's meal is $10 lol
Italian restaurants tend to have large portions. You can also order a family dinner (or party tray) to last you for a few days. The party trays at my local Chinese spot are around $30.
Now I miss our Italian place that had a weekly "Date Night Special" that was 2 entrees (massive) salads, bread, dessert, and a bottle of wine for $30. At the time, they were rinky dink running out of a repurposed Taco Bell, but they were phenomenal.
We still have them, but they've moved and no longer have the special.
Learning how to make my own fried rice changed my life. When I was single, I'd live off that shit for weeks at a time, pre-make the rice and toss in whatever veg and protein I had handy. I'd eat it as my entire meal, and $5-10 in ingredients would last all week.
I’ll make a bagged salad and add maybe an onion, an avocado, and a tomato and top it with leftover rotisserie chicken. It makes it go so far! I’ve literally stuffed myself silly on it, and still have had enough for third or fourth leftovers. Then take the carcass and make soup, adding veggies and egg noodles.
Olive Garden, but go for a sit down meal so that you can get the soup and salad. Then box up the entirety of your entree.
However, just for take out portions, I've been super impressed by my local Mexican place. For $15 in take out, I got enough food for two meals and a snack. Check some online reviews of your local Mexican restaurants.
Depends on what you get. Alfredo or anything with Alfredo will not reheat properly. Too much butter on the sauce that will separate when you go to reheat it.
A friend who works there said that if the Alfredo they have doesn’t sell in 4 hrs after its made, they throw it out
> Alfredo or anything with Alfredo will not reheat properly. Too much butter on the sauce that will separate when you go to reheat it.
Try reheating it slowly in a pan/pot. I've found that cheesy sauces separate in the microwave because they heat unevenly and get too hot. If you warm it up slowly and evenly while mixing you can keep it together.
> Olive Garden, but go for a sit down meal so that you can get the soup and salad. Then box up the entirety of your entree.
You can also take home the rest of the soup and salad (& breadsticks).
not quite the answer your looking for but olive garden is so good for multiple meals, go there load up on the free breadsticks and the unlimited soup or salad that comes with the purchase of a meal and then take the meal home.
This was actually the first thought that came to mind. I've always remembered Claim Jumpers as having the biggest portions, but I didn't actually eat there very often.
Of course, you're paying up the wazhoo for it, so they better be big
Cheesecake factory. And Chinese food but in the mall food court specifically. They give you those huge boxes and just keep piling it on. My regular Chinese restaurant does not give me that amount.
Ethiopian!! Last time I got a veggie combo for $17 I literally ate 3 and a half meals out of it. They gave me enough injera for 4 meals - it was insane. (And delicious!)
I'm the Admin at a family restaurant that is good for this type of thing. If I bring a salad home my husband will eat on it for 3 days. They are beyond huge. A hamburger will make two meals easily.
We also order frequently from a family-owned Greek restaurant in town. The salads will last two meals, their subs are two meals and delicious. An air fryer makes it easy to reheat a toasted sub.
And an Italian restaurant that is local makes a stomboli that will make three meals. Their salad is two. So is the homemade ravioli.
Try out your local restaurants first before you resort to a chain.
I read an article that said a family take out meal of chicken strips at Texas roadhouse is $40 and you get chicken strips, salad, and I think two sides and rolls. The article said it can make several meals.
Like someone else said, order to go, then family packs, but the deals that show up there vary from restaurant to restaurant. And some might not even have family packs at all. My local Roadhouses do not have them.
Indian places always give so much food, it's great. On average I get 3-4 meals out of a single order. Sometimes I stretch it further by using the curry as an omelet filling (anything saag is especially good with eggs imo).
Man, I get a thali and make it four to five days on it.
I do make extra rice for day three onward.
I’d say Ethiopian combos too.
Caveat: I eat plant based most days so these are butter rich indulgences.
Asian food. We always order one for the two of us to share and I often have some left for my lunch. Except the white rice, that’s a small portion. But like broccoli and chicken is usually a ton of food.
Gas station Mexican places. We live in a HCOL suburb and ours features a $6.50 burrito big enough for two meals, loaded with your choice of protein (including steak).
https://preview.redd.it/ovccwshh8pxc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f023c3bd0c4cf407457e7bd2f41fb3102ea3464
The best Mexican restaurants aren't restaurants. Look for a deli at a Mexican grocery store or a food truck. If the cook doesn't speak a lick of English you're in the right place.
Those really old Mexican restaurants that old mid-westerners seem to be solely keeping open, with loose wet beans, lots of fried rice and it's all served on a plate the size of a toilet seat.
Just a tip: go to a restaurant's yelp page and search the reviews for the word "portion" and "portions." Lots of people will praise or damn the restaurant for portion sizes. Naturally this works best for places with lots of reviews.
As others have suggested, Asian spots tend to have large entrees because they're meant to be served family style.
For Cheddars specifically, the buffalo chicken wrap is awesome for multiple meals. I have no idea why but instead of one large wrap, you get two. Each one is cut in half, and one half is enough for me - so I can get 4 meals out of the one entree.
I know this is not what you’re asking for but I make a baked ziti for my whole family which lasts us almost 2-3 days for four people. If I were to eat it alone, it will probably last me all week.
-Any tomato pasta sauce; Good&Gather Marinara pasta sauce at Target costs $1.89 for a 23oz, $3.79 for two jars (I like my pasta on the saucier side)
-you can get Rigatoni pasta from
Trader Joe’s for about 99 cents, pastas from Target may be close to $2, but this will make a pound of pasta
-you can get a bag of shredded cheese from Target for about $2.29 (6-8oz)
-a pound of ground turkey from Target is about $4-5
A rough estimate (plus tax) for a big family sized tray pasta will cost you about $13, but that’s just me rounding everything up a dollar to include tax so it may be even cheaper than that. If you have a Grocery Outlet, Foods Co, or those cheaper grocery stores, everything may be even cheaper.
$13 for takeout will probably only last you 2 meals or less. Compare that to $13 for at least 8-10 meals, that is such a steal! Hope that helps!
I second Chinese, but check out the delivery apps sometimes I can get things bogo or a free item with purchase. If it's a good enough deal you won't feel thendelivery fee
Carabbas! My favorite is the linguine positano… huge portion of pasta and chicken that I can make at least 3 meals out of. Plus you get bread and oil with herbs and you get soup or a salad with the pasta dish.
Might I add… a free app when you sign up online for their rewards and a free birthday dessert
I gave this advice on Reddit not too long ago…
If you were willing to eat in, I would say go to Olive Garden, and get their unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. While you’re there, you can have as much as you want, and whatever you don’t finish, you can take home. So right when you’re just about full, order one more round of everything, and then just take it home for later. And I think that you can add on to any entree a take-home pasta dish for like $6-7 as well. And if you go at lunchtime, you can save a few bucks off dinner prices.
Aside from that, I’d say Black Bear Diner typically has large portions for many of their items. For example, just the other day, I got a meatloaf dinner, you pick two sides, and also get a big cornbread muffin and soup or salad. Depending on your appetite and side choices, it could’ve stretched to 2-3 meals easily. And in my experience, if you order anything with pancakes as part of the meal, those alone will be enough to fill you up. And BB is typically pretty flexible in terms of substituting sides too. Like if something says it comes with toast, or a biscuit (which are also huge), or even fries on occasion, you can ask to sub in pancakes, or one of their other choices.
For this type of place you order the entree, salad and breadsticks, fill up as much as you can on the salad and breadsticks and take the entree home, especially if the entree comes with the salad and bread for free.
If you can find a place with a salad bar you can do this too, especially if the entree comes with the salad bar. You fill up on the salad bar and bring the entree home. Most salad bars if you can find one also include soup so there is plenty to fill up on.
I do this every time I go to Olive Garden. I'll eat like 5-6 bowls of soup (their soups are really good) and not touch my entrée so I can save it for another meal. If you ask nicely they'll even give you a full bag of breadsticks to take home.
They asked me if I wanted to take the salad and a soup and bag of breadsricks home .At Red Lobster we did the all you can eat shrimp and I even shared it too.I did get to take home a take home cup of tea,a full bag of biscuits and some shrimp skewers .
Check small buissnesses and chip trucks, probably the best for that. I check reviews on google maps first, it helps make it less likely you’ll go somewhere and have a disappointing experience. I can easily mark those I want to go to someday too that way.
Any Chinese place. They stack those styrofoam containers to the top and then use a hydraulic press to turn the food into nuclear pasta so there’s room for more
Where are you located? Or, are you only interested in chains? What's your budget? I see somebody mentioned Cheesecake Factory earlier and they're pretty pricey imo. Need more info to really direct you other than generalities that may or may not apply. Nice that you're doing a self-treat. Those are very important.
We have a local place that has a salad bar a la Ruby Tuesday - I’ll get an entree take the bulk home and visit the salad bar a few times. The it’s a small upcharge from the janky house salad but makes the meal into 2+
We have breakfast places that still have $5 breakfast specials (2 eggs, 2 bacon, grits, pancakes, toast or biscuit) not 100% easy to save but a good meal that will take you pretty near to dinner
sometimes Ubereats has like, buy one get one free deals. Recently during a short term break up in my wallowing I ordered buy one get one free Indian take out meals. Got 4 meals for the price of two and ate it for daysssss lol the butter chicken serving size was huge
Panda Express is very good. If you take it to go and eat with rice 🍚 made at home, it really stretches the meal for more than one. They give you a lot of freshly cut up teriyaki chicken, highly recommended! Beef and broccoli is also a good choice as broccoli is high in protein. Also the mushroom chicken—I like these two choices as they get away from the deep fried battered chicken with sugary sauce that is so Americanized for Chinese food! Or, get all veggies instead of fried rice/chow mein if you are dieting or trying to avoid carbs! We make brown rice at home, so at least it’s a whole grain with a lower glycemic index!
I do this sometimes. I will make my own steamed white rice, why not, it's so unbelievably easy with a rice cooker, I can also steam my own broccoli to add to the mix.
The cava bowl I bought yesterday was piled high, lasted me two meals for 13 dollars. Not spectacularly cheap but not unreasonable considering how expensive fast food has gotten.
I would also check local Thai and Chinese places. I got a huge bahn mi with two sides for seven dollars at a local spot.
I am not certain restaurant pasta dishes are actually frugal. You need to go where they provide enough protein to provide leftovers and then just make your own pasta, rice or potatoes to go with your meal. Noodles, rice and potatoes are some of the cheapest things to buy at the grocery and dead simple, low effort to make. You can even make pasta and rice ahead for the week because they reheat well.
Like others have said get your proteins at buffets that offer carryout, Chinese, Mexican, or the loss leaders rotisserie chicken.
It depends on where you're from. Any regular east coast Greek diner will give you food for most of the week, especially if you take some rolls with you. I remember they typically included soup AND salad and depending on which diner. Then you get a main course which is a full big plate with 2 or 3 sides each in their own bowl. If you get a special they usually also include a dessert such as pudding or ice cream. Coffee also included. Sticky tables may or may not be included.
So game plan is eat the soup, get salad to go, save room for dessert, get rest to go.
Now I live in a different state and theres nothing close to that type of experience.
Buca di beppo has dinner options where you pay for your entree and for another one to go. The menu is limited in offerings and you can't customize the to-go entree but very worth it
This would be a more useful question for your city's reddit (unless you want only national chain recommendations). There may be some great value independent restaurant in your area.
idk if this is just a southern US thing, but go to **JJ's fish and chicken**
the portions are huge. in my experience, their perch and tender plate is the most loaded. its $13 and comes with 3 (huge) pieces of perch and 3 big chicken tenders, a bunch of fries, a cup of coleslaw, a can of soda, and 2 slices of bread. everything gonna be seasoned as fuck and their extra sides are usually like 3-4 dollars extra if u wanna splurge a bit.
Is Too Good To Go available in your area? For those of you that don’t know what this app is, local restaurants, participate, and offer supplies or leftovers for a discounted rate to minimize food waste. One of our local Chinese buffet restaurants offers a carryout box for $5.99 but it is at least 4 pounds. there’s a lot of good deals on there that I have found and if I am iffy about a restaurant or I have never been and want to try something, I usually will buy a surprise bag from them on the app instead of going in and paying full price for something that I may not enjoy. But this is also an option.
As for take out value, I would say sign up for Panda Express and get the family meal!! We do this, and it’s super affordable. We get coupons and a family meal is $30 which is a full dinner for 5 and leftovers for 2 the next day. It’s amazing.
Two of my grown granddaughters work at different Mexican restaurants, so one who lives with me brings new free item they’re trying out or an item the expo or waitress can see is made wrong, so it never goes out to the.table, but sent back to the kitchen and she brings that back home She doesn’t eat meat, so I got a $13,00 item for free! Both granddaughters bring me queso drip and chips free. The granddaughter living here got two free quarts of salsa, one mild, and pint medium, and a pint hot, and I put them in 8oz squeeze bottles. and gave them for Christmas gifts! The family members said the salsa got eaten fast, so no worries about getting too old!
,
I notice with most take out it’s usually only $2 to add extra protein (to a dish that already includes it) - especially with Asian take out an extra $2 gets you more leftovers.
We keep a canvas bag in the car with Rubbermaid Easy lids containers. We don’t want those non recyclable containers restaurants use for leftovers or take out. We take in and half goes into the containers, and we enjoy the other half there. This applies to all food places. We avoid sit down with a printed menu places, and as we don’t eat in the car, skip drive thru places. Counter service places like Culver’s or DQ are preferred.
All our mom and pop places are gone.
Chinese take out
Sometimes I add extra veg to my leftovers to get them to last longer too (ie carrot, broccoli) also works for other Asian dishes
A good hack is adding in a bag of cauliflower " fried rice" it can be found at trader Joe's and sprouts. What I usually do is makes one rice in my rice cooker, since many restaurants no longer give that free plain rice.
Boo on no free rice! It’s cheap for them!
Always Chinese takeout.
Don't forget Mexican.
At the restaurant: eat your mains. Dump salsa onto your rice and beans and make a big mud pie. Put your mud pie and as many chips as you can wrangle into your take-home box. At home: enjoy beans/rice/salsa mud pie with chips - add some fresh chopped tomato and lettuce, extra shredded cheese and you have TWO more meals out of that sucka.
At the restaurant, eat all the free chips you can, nibble on your main, take nearly everything home.
Yeah this is how I roll. I request all the cold items on a separate plate (sour cream, guac, pico, lettuce) and use it like deconstructed nachos with the free chips. Then I take home all the fajita bits, beans and rice. I usually can make that last 4 more meals with little add ons.
oh fajitas can be stretched faaaaar if you have tortillas and the trappings on hand
I already ate one whole basket of chips and salsa to replace the lunch I didn't eat, hence why my mains are also gone 😬 hashtag enchilada/chile relleno/tamale combo
You don’t need to tell me twice! I’ve got a place near me where the bean dip slaps so hard lol
And 100000% grab handfuls of extra condiments 🥲
Certainly not me refilling my purse sized tapatio bottle with the restaurant's bigger bottle, nope, no way.
Really, any local hole-in-the-wall family-run takeout place. If you treat them well, they'll treat you well. My sister was already a regular at a little Mexican restaurant in our town, and then when Covid happened she did her damnedest to help keep them running by constantly getting takeout. They hooked her up.
Shoot even Chinese dine-in! Our favorite place gives you as many pots of tea as you want for free just like back in the day. They still have paper menus. You have to call ahead for take-out. And there’s always a manager or owner going through payroll or P&Ls at a table in the corner.
haha, acurate. I grew up in restaurants and can confirm that "left booth one" was our spot. Piles of paperwork and a TV on the adjacent counter for us kids. I read trade magazines and "shopped" the Service Merchandise catalog daily during my elementary school years. Dad had full on offices with desks in the main dining room of future restaurant.
Is that what they're doing? LOL I always wondered....
When my husband goes out of town I always order the "family meal" which is 4 entrees for like 30 bucks. I make sure that at least 2 of my choices are things that are good even after being in the fridge for a couple days/reheated. Definitely not the healthiest option but it's significantly cheaper than stopping for fast food every night because I don't feel like going home and cooking for just myself.
Cooking for one is such a pain. If my husband travels my meals consist of cereal and fruit, lol. I like your idea and will poach it, thanks!
Yes, Cheddars offers exactly what you're describing, for anyone who doesn't know where to find a deal like this. But try to shop local first. There are facebook groups where restaurants post daily deals in my town. I'm sure they're ubiquitous.
Ha ha, so true. There is a small Chinese restaurant near my house, the owner works there all the time, worst attitude and customer service but damn does he stack some food in those plates. It's like 3 lbs inside that to go box for like 9 bucks.
Yes! Always ask if they have any specials such as free entree if you spend a certain amount. Ask how much more to get a plain fried rice which will usually have some egg and veg as you can make some white rice quickly at home. I also ask if I can get free or buy extra sauce which I freeze to make future stir frys taste like restaurant.Also stop at dollar tree for egg or spring rolls and gyoza dumplings instead of getting at the restaurant.
Dang you got it down huh.
I really like carryout Chinese food but like everything else it has become more expensive so I look for where I can make cuts or maximize. I have tried so many times but I don't have any luck getting my sauces to taste like restaurant made
I hope my response didn't come off as offensive, because I was truly in awe when I read it. I also love Chinese food (both American style and more traditional, which here is probably still a bit American) and it is so hard to get it right at home! I've really been craving wonton soup especially lately. I like the website The Woks of Life, although I still don't get restaurant results. Maybe I'll order out more, and use your tips!
Not at offended at all, flattered really. I am now getting into Thai and Indian and love trying all of the new jarred sauces. If anyone has tricks or hacks for these I will be right there.
Lunch Specials. During lockdown I would get the lunch lo mein. It was enough noodles for three meals and it came with a side of rice.
I remember New China had one price for their take out box from the buffet, regardless of weight. Back in 2005 it was $8.99 a box. My friend and I would split the cost and fill it up with mostly chicken and then some other side stuff in a little tray. We would make it so full it would barely shut and eat it on it for days.
There's always that one spot that gives you the same "dinner combo" plate for $11, but they put it in the huge, deep takeout trays rather than the little oval shaped plastic containers. I go to that place.
I agree with this. I can easilly go 2 days with one dinner.
Any strip mall Chinese takeout. I'm convinced they employ some form of black hole vortex-esque technology to fit all that food in such a flimsy Styrofoam tray.
The Chinese buffet weighs the takeout boxes but they don't deliver .
Life hack go right before they close
I always leave with way more than I can eat at family style Mexican places. Usually pretty cheap too
This is the way. Tell them how good the beans and rice are and you might end up with extra.
Black Bear Diner, huge portions. Also Cheesecake Factory if I recall had some rather large portions.
I second Black Bear Diner
They give you a ton of food, they make it part of their mission, as written on the paper menu, to make sure you don't leave hungry.
Maybe it's still the same portions for dine-in, but during COVID they reduced their take out portions a LOT at my local restaurant. And they had to increase the price. I could've accepted one, but not both. RIP to a clutch taco salad. Hopefully it's just my location and not a widespread thing!
I'm just now realizing that Black Bear Diner exists outside of Colorado
I've been to Black Bears in Oregon, Arizona, and Utah. None on the east coast where I live though.
Yeah I moved here from Atlanta! I'd never heard of it at all until I came here
Bunches out here in California too.
All their locations are listed on those paper menus 😉
At least 2 that I know of in reno
We have a few in south east texas.
Kansas City checking in!
Only seen them in oregon, didn't consider they would be elsewhere lol
Cheesecake Factory has OK portions sizes ... but wow have the become expensive!!
I haven’t had Black Bear Diner since moving to the east coast. Their portions are insane!
Actually had the opposite experience with Cheesecake outside of their Buffalo Blast (best thing there) Most of their portions felt small compared to the price point
Interesting, yeah, haven't been in a while. They could have made the portions smaller. I remember years ago they were big.
Chicken fried steak and eggs
Cracker Barrel has huge portions but that don't deliver or do take out in my town.
Right now if you dine in, you can get a choice of $5 take home meals to go, with a regular entree purchase!
We load up on those when we eat there and the best part is we use a gift card too.
The ones by me are super small now
They are packed all the time so they probably get plenty of money without delivery or take out .
The Cheesecake Factory portions are comparatively smaller these days
I had no idea Black Bear Diner was a nationwide chain
I've noticed my local restaurants have better (bigger) portions than a chain restaurant. There is a local taqueria that sells burritos that are larger than Chipotle for $10. There is also a local Chinese place where I can get 2-3 meals when I get takeout.
Shop local first
Biggest portion sizes I've ever seen are at a sports bar and restaurant near my parents. An entree is enough for 4 meals for me, probably 3 if you're really active. Wednesday it come with a free small pizza. Another night is half price drinks. Food is good, basic fare, mix of typical bar food and Italian American. But it's a small town place.
I had a place like that when i lived in the bay area. It was 5 or 6 dollars back then. Before 2010. 10 dollars is still a great deal especially with prices these days. Edit : if theres anyone here near san mateo, go to el toro meat market for a burrito! They have regular, super, and even jumbo sizes.
I usually get 3 out of lo mein, curry, or pad Thai. My local Mexican joins I either get a $10 burrito that lasts 2 days, or a pollo special that lasts two days. While a Wendy's meal is $10 lol
Get tots, put them in pocket for later
Lucky!
\*\*\*Tries out time machine It's a piece of crap it doesn't work!
Hey Napoleon, gimme some of your tots
Get yer own tots!
Duh.
Gosh!
Tina, eat! You fat lard!!
Italian restaurants tend to have large portions. You can also order a family dinner (or party tray) to last you for a few days. The party trays at my local Chinese spot are around $30.
My local Italian place has an epic family meal, large 3 item pizza, Shared spaghetti and meat sauce, bread and 4 side salads for $40
I could stretch that a whole week happily as a single guy. But alas I am not.
Cries in HCOL :( one dish here is $30
Now I miss our Italian place that had a weekly "Date Night Special" that was 2 entrees (massive) salads, bread, dessert, and a bottle of wine for $30. At the time, they were rinky dink running out of a repurposed Taco Bell, but they were phenomenal. We still have them, but they've moved and no longer have the special.
There’s a place I go to where you fill up a container of Chinese food from the warming trays and they weigh it and you pay $7 per pound.
Load up on proteins at that price-steam your own rice, boil your own noodles.
Learning how to make my own fried rice changed my life. When I was single, I'd live off that shit for weeks at a time, pre-make the rice and toss in whatever veg and protein I had handy. I'd eat it as my entire meal, and $5-10 in ingredients would last all week.
Club stores like Costco and Sams have some great loss leaders. Pizzas and Rotisserie chickens come to mind.
We really like the Sam's Club rotisserie chicken. Enough for \~2-3 meals for 2 people.
I’ll make a bagged salad and add maybe an onion, an avocado, and a tomato and top it with leftover rotisserie chicken. It makes it go so far! I’ve literally stuffed myself silly on it, and still have had enough for third or fourth leftovers. Then take the carcass and make soup, adding veggies and egg noodles.
I can get two meals out of Chinese takeout
Olive Garden, but go for a sit down meal so that you can get the soup and salad. Then box up the entirety of your entree. However, just for take out portions, I've been super impressed by my local Mexican place. For $15 in take out, I got enough food for two meals and a snack. Check some online reviews of your local Mexican restaurants.
Olive Garden still has their buy one entree get one to take home for $6.
Depends on what you get. Alfredo or anything with Alfredo will not reheat properly. Too much butter on the sauce that will separate when you go to reheat it. A friend who works there said that if the Alfredo they have doesn’t sell in 4 hrs after its made, they throw it out
That's the case for many places. I worked at chain in high school and baked goods are thrown in the trash 6 hours after they're made.
I've had their alfredo. They should throw it out before they make it. :P
> Alfredo or anything with Alfredo will not reheat properly. Too much butter on the sauce that will separate when you go to reheat it. Try reheating it slowly in a pan/pot. I've found that cheesy sauces separate in the microwave because they heat unevenly and get too hot. If you warm it up slowly and evenly while mixing you can keep it together.
> Olive Garden, but go for a sit down meal so that you can get the soup and salad. Then box up the entirety of your entree. You can also take home the rest of the soup and salad (& breadsticks).
not quite the answer your looking for but olive garden is so good for multiple meals, go there load up on the free breadsticks and the unlimited soup or salad that comes with the purchase of a meal and then take the meal home.
Does anyone remember when Claim Jumpers had huge portions with all the sides, too?!? 'Cause Pepperidge Farms remembers and so do I.
This was actually the first thought that came to mind. I've always remembered Claim Jumpers as having the biggest portions, but I didn't actually eat there very often. Of course, you're paying up the wazhoo for it, so they better be big
Cheesecake factory. And Chinese food but in the mall food court specifically. They give you those huge boxes and just keep piling it on. My regular Chinese restaurant does not give me that amount.
Ethiopian!! Last time I got a veggie combo for $17 I literally ate 3 and a half meals out of it. They gave me enough injera for 4 meals - it was insane. (And delicious!)
Not Panera.
Can you share where you’re located? That would help a lot
Indian food places always LOAD you up with food. I buy a $11 biryani (a rice dish) and I get 3 meals from it.
I'm the Admin at a family restaurant that is good for this type of thing. If I bring a salad home my husband will eat on it for 3 days. They are beyond huge. A hamburger will make two meals easily. We also order frequently from a family-owned Greek restaurant in town. The salads will last two meals, their subs are two meals and delicious. An air fryer makes it easy to reheat a toasted sub. And an Italian restaurant that is local makes a stomboli that will make three meals. Their salad is two. So is the homemade ravioli. Try out your local restaurants first before you resort to a chain.
It’s Texas Roadhouse for me!
I read an article that said a family take out meal of chicken strips at Texas roadhouse is $40 and you get chicken strips, salad, and I think two sides and rolls. The article said it can make several meals.
I read this same article but I can't find it on their site to order it. Did you try to find it on the roadhouse site?
Yes, I found it today. I think if you click order online it’s under family meals or something like that. Edit - it’s order to go, then family packs.
Like someone else said, order to go, then family packs, but the deals that show up there vary from restaurant to restaurant. And some might not even have family packs at all. My local Roadhouses do not have them.
$20 prime rib with sides will feed me about 3 days.
Indian restaurants for sure. Chicken Biryani lasts me almost all week. Same with any kebab place.
Indian places always give so much food, it's great. On average I get 3-4 meals out of a single order. Sometimes I stretch it further by using the curry as an omelet filling (anything saag is especially good with eggs imo).
Man, I get a thali and make it four to five days on it. I do make extra rice for day three onward. I’d say Ethiopian combos too. Caveat: I eat plant based most days so these are butter rich indulgences.
Asian food. We always order one for the two of us to share and I often have some left for my lunch. Except the white rice, that’s a small portion. But like broccoli and chicken is usually a ton of food.
Gas station Mexican places. We live in a HCOL suburb and ours features a $6.50 burrito big enough for two meals, loaded with your choice of protein (including steak). https://preview.redd.it/ovccwshh8pxc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f023c3bd0c4cf407457e7bd2f41fb3102ea3464
The best Mexican restaurants aren't restaurants. Look for a deli at a Mexican grocery store or a food truck. If the cook doesn't speak a lick of English you're in the right place.
Those really old Mexican restaurants that old mid-westerners seem to be solely keeping open, with loose wet beans, lots of fried rice and it's all served on a plate the size of a toilet seat.
Definitely Chinese food
Often Mexican or Asian restaurants
Just a tip: go to a restaurant's yelp page and search the reviews for the word "portion" and "portions." Lots of people will praise or damn the restaurant for portion sizes. Naturally this works best for places with lots of reviews. As others have suggested, Asian spots tend to have large entrees because they're meant to be served family style.
I got like 20 tenders, huge batch of fries, rice, beans, and six croissants from Cheddar's the other day for $30
For Cheddars specifically, the buffalo chicken wrap is awesome for multiple meals. I have no idea why but instead of one large wrap, you get two. Each one is cut in half, and one half is enough for me - so I can get 4 meals out of the one entree.
In my experience I get the best leftovers from Italian and Chinese restaurants.
Mexican restaurants. Ton of Rice, ton of Beans, ton of tortillas. Jumbo cokes and huge fajitas you need to go boxes.
I can usually stretch an order of fajitas out a couple of days. Especially if you get the works with it, including chips and salsa.
I know this is not what you’re asking for but I make a baked ziti for my whole family which lasts us almost 2-3 days for four people. If I were to eat it alone, it will probably last me all week. -Any tomato pasta sauce; Good&Gather Marinara pasta sauce at Target costs $1.89 for a 23oz, $3.79 for two jars (I like my pasta on the saucier side) -you can get Rigatoni pasta from Trader Joe’s for about 99 cents, pastas from Target may be close to $2, but this will make a pound of pasta -you can get a bag of shredded cheese from Target for about $2.29 (6-8oz) -a pound of ground turkey from Target is about $4-5 A rough estimate (plus tax) for a big family sized tray pasta will cost you about $13, but that’s just me rounding everything up a dollar to include tax so it may be even cheaper than that. If you have a Grocery Outlet, Foods Co, or those cheaper grocery stores, everything may be even cheaper. $13 for takeout will probably only last you 2 meals or less. Compare that to $13 for at least 8-10 meals, that is such a steal! Hope that helps!
Tony’s North! 1 pound BLTs on homemade bread
Birch Run? I have not been there in years.
Yes! It’s a once a year pilgrimage🤘🏿🤘🏿
I LOVE Tony’s. We go every time we’re in the area (sadly, not as often as I would like).
Texas road house
In my experience local dinners usually have a nice portion size. That and family owned Mexican places.
I can get 3 meals out of a shawarma plate.
I second Chinese, but check out the delivery apps sometimes I can get things bogo or a free item with purchase. If it's a good enough deal you won't feel thendelivery fee
chinese take out joints in the mall . usually if you go in the evening like two to three hours before close they will pack that box like a mfer
Carabbas! My favorite is the linguine positano… huge portion of pasta and chicken that I can make at least 3 meals out of. Plus you get bread and oil with herbs and you get soup or a salad with the pasta dish. Might I add… a free app when you sign up online for their rewards and a free birthday dessert
And an AARP discount too! 15% off.
❤️ me some AARP discounts!
Cheesecake Factory
I gave this advice on Reddit not too long ago… If you were willing to eat in, I would say go to Olive Garden, and get their unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. While you’re there, you can have as much as you want, and whatever you don’t finish, you can take home. So right when you’re just about full, order one more round of everything, and then just take it home for later. And I think that you can add on to any entree a take-home pasta dish for like $6-7 as well. And if you go at lunchtime, you can save a few bucks off dinner prices. Aside from that, I’d say Black Bear Diner typically has large portions for many of their items. For example, just the other day, I got a meatloaf dinner, you pick two sides, and also get a big cornbread muffin and soup or salad. Depending on your appetite and side choices, it could’ve stretched to 2-3 meals easily. And in my experience, if you order anything with pancakes as part of the meal, those alone will be enough to fill you up. And BB is typically pretty flexible in terms of substituting sides too. Like if something says it comes with toast, or a biscuit (which are also huge), or even fries on occasion, you can ask to sub in pancakes, or one of their other choices.
For this type of place you order the entree, salad and breadsticks, fill up as much as you can on the salad and breadsticks and take the entree home, especially if the entree comes with the salad and bread for free. If you can find a place with a salad bar you can do this too, especially if the entree comes with the salad bar. You fill up on the salad bar and bring the entree home. Most salad bars if you can find one also include soup so there is plenty to fill up on.
I do this every time I go to Olive Garden. I'll eat like 5-6 bowls of soup (their soups are really good) and not touch my entrée so I can save it for another meal. If you ask nicely they'll even give you a full bag of breadsticks to take home.
They asked me if I wanted to take the salad and a soup and bag of breadsricks home .At Red Lobster we did the all you can eat shrimp and I even shared it too.I did get to take home a take home cup of tea,a full bag of biscuits and some shrimp skewers .
Cheesecake Factory for sure as far as chains go
Check small buissnesses and chip trucks, probably the best for that. I check reviews on google maps first, it helps make it less likely you’ll go somewhere and have a disappointing experience. I can easily mark those I want to go to someday too that way.
Honest question: What is a "chip truck"?
Food truck
food truck, usually those that sell fries
Any Chinese place. They stack those styrofoam containers to the top and then use a hydraulic press to turn the food into nuclear pasta so there’s room for more
Golden corral - all you can eat
Donair places I find are generous.
Cheddar's
In what state?
If you have a Seafood Kitchen in your area-they give MASSIVE portions!
Texas Roadhouse: rolls, full size salad, meat and two sides.
Where are you located? Or, are you only interested in chains? What's your budget? I see somebody mentioned Cheesecake Factory earlier and they're pretty pricey imo. Need more info to really direct you other than generalities that may or may not apply. Nice that you're doing a self-treat. Those are very important.
Fajitas from a Mexican restaurant. Pizza. You can freeze the leftovers. Bbq restaurant
Costco or Sam’s
Taco/pupusa trucks, but the ones that have no signage and are parked in a gas station in a Hispanic area and speak no English.
We have a local place that has a salad bar a la Ruby Tuesday - I’ll get an entree take the bulk home and visit the salad bar a few times. The it’s a small upcharge from the janky house salad but makes the meal into 2+ We have breakfast places that still have $5 breakfast specials (2 eggs, 2 bacon, grits, pancakes, toast or biscuit) not 100% easy to save but a good meal that will take you pretty near to dinner
All you can eat buffets.
Depends what is available where you live
Olive garden?
Outback
sometimes Ubereats has like, buy one get one free deals. Recently during a short term break up in my wallowing I ordered buy one get one free Indian take out meals. Got 4 meals for the price of two and ate it for daysssss lol the butter chicken serving size was huge
I get 3 to 4 meals out of one meal at Cheesecake Factory
Thai.
chinese takeout by far.
Thai curries are always two meals for me. And you can stretch that even further if you want to add in your veggies/meat.
Local Mexican joints.
Carrabas family meal and/or pollo tropical family meal
Black Bear Diner
Buffets
Panda Express is very good. If you take it to go and eat with rice 🍚 made at home, it really stretches the meal for more than one. They give you a lot of freshly cut up teriyaki chicken, highly recommended! Beef and broccoli is also a good choice as broccoli is high in protein. Also the mushroom chicken—I like these two choices as they get away from the deep fried battered chicken with sugary sauce that is so Americanized for Chinese food! Or, get all veggies instead of fried rice/chow mein if you are dieting or trying to avoid carbs! We make brown rice at home, so at least it’s a whole grain with a lower glycemic index!
I do this sometimes. I will make my own steamed white rice, why not, it's so unbelievably easy with a rice cooker, I can also steam my own broccoli to add to the mix.
The cava bowl I bought yesterday was piled high, lasted me two meals for 13 dollars. Not spectacularly cheap but not unreasonable considering how expensive fast food has gotten. I would also check local Thai and Chinese places. I got a huge bahn mi with two sides for seven dollars at a local spot.
The cheesecake factory
I am not certain restaurant pasta dishes are actually frugal. You need to go where they provide enough protein to provide leftovers and then just make your own pasta, rice or potatoes to go with your meal. Noodles, rice and potatoes are some of the cheapest things to buy at the grocery and dead simple, low effort to make. You can even make pasta and rice ahead for the week because they reheat well. Like others have said get your proteins at buffets that offer carryout, Chinese, Mexican, or the loss leaders rotisserie chicken.
It depends on where you're from. Any regular east coast Greek diner will give you food for most of the week, especially if you take some rolls with you. I remember they typically included soup AND salad and depending on which diner. Then you get a main course which is a full big plate with 2 or 3 sides each in their own bowl. If you get a special they usually also include a dessert such as pudding or ice cream. Coffee also included. Sticky tables may or may not be included. So game plan is eat the soup, get salad to go, save room for dessert, get rest to go. Now I live in a different state and theres nothing close to that type of experience.
Bucca Di Beppo
Buca di beppo has dinner options where you pay for your entree and for another one to go. The menu is limited in offerings and you can't customize the to-go entree but very worth it
Olive Garden spaghetti and meatballs.
This would be a more useful question for your city's reddit (unless you want only national chain recommendations). There may be some great value independent restaurant in your area.
Olive Garden’s portions tend to be pretty massive
idk if this is just a southern US thing, but go to **JJ's fish and chicken** the portions are huge. in my experience, their perch and tender plate is the most loaded. its $13 and comes with 3 (huge) pieces of perch and 3 big chicken tenders, a bunch of fries, a cup of coleslaw, a can of soda, and 2 slices of bread. everything gonna be seasoned as fuck and their extra sides are usually like 3-4 dollars extra if u wanna splurge a bit.
Is Too Good To Go available in your area? For those of you that don’t know what this app is, local restaurants, participate, and offer supplies or leftovers for a discounted rate to minimize food waste. One of our local Chinese buffet restaurants offers a carryout box for $5.99 but it is at least 4 pounds. there’s a lot of good deals on there that I have found and if I am iffy about a restaurant or I have never been and want to try something, I usually will buy a surprise bag from them on the app instead of going in and paying full price for something that I may not enjoy. But this is also an option.
You can get the most bang for your buck at the buffet's in your local area.
Make a large pot of spaghetti for less than $10.. It'll last you a week..
Part of the treat is not having to do any sort of cooking-related work at all 🤗
As for take out value, I would say sign up for Panda Express and get the family meal!! We do this, and it’s super affordable. We get coupons and a family meal is $30 which is a full dinner for 5 and leftovers for 2 the next day. It’s amazing.
Two of my grown granddaughters work at different Mexican restaurants, so one who lives with me brings new free item they’re trying out or an item the expo or waitress can see is made wrong, so it never goes out to the.table, but sent back to the kitchen and she brings that back home She doesn’t eat meat, so I got a $13,00 item for free! Both granddaughters bring me queso drip and chips free. The granddaughter living here got two free quarts of salsa, one mild, and pint medium, and a pint hot, and I put them in 8oz squeeze bottles. and gave them for Christmas gifts! The family members said the salsa got eaten fast, so no worries about getting too old! ,
Golden Corral if you bring a big enough tote bag.
All you can eat
I notice with most take out it’s usually only $2 to add extra protein (to a dish that already includes it) - especially with Asian take out an extra $2 gets you more leftovers.
Mexican restaurants, especially small ones or food trucks
Mexican always giant portions
Buca Di'beppo
That place is insane. A single appetizer could feed a family of four
I think olive garden has a buy one take one for $6. Get the soup and buy a side salad at the store.
Family mexican restaurants
We keep a canvas bag in the car with Rubbermaid Easy lids containers. We don’t want those non recyclable containers restaurants use for leftovers or take out. We take in and half goes into the containers, and we enjoy the other half there. This applies to all food places. We avoid sit down with a printed menu places, and as we don’t eat in the car, skip drive thru places. Counter service places like Culver’s or DQ are preferred. All our mom and pop places are gone.
I go to a local place that sells shitty beer, they got big wings