Our family is leaving for Italy very soon. This is the first time my husband and I have taken our kids on a trip of this size, so I keep thinking of these little ways that having them with us will make things different! When we eat in a restaurant, my kids almost never finish their food and one of them in particular usually eats about three bites. Besides the fact that I have a personal opposition to throwing away food, I would like to be able to take leftovers back to our apartment for the kids to eat when they inevitably become hungry again (usually an hour after dinner ).

Is it considered appropriate to ask to have our food boxed? And if so, what would be the proper way to do this? I really don't want to offend.

thank you for your help!
ET

You will probably find that the portions are much smaller in Italy. Order less--it's perfectly acceptable for the kids to share. You will find that restaurants will be very accommodating about preparing a portion appropriate for your child.

(However, in more than 20 trips to Italy, I have never seen anyone take a doggie bag from a sit-down restaurant.)

Agree with ellenem. The whole "doggie-bag" experience is non-existant in Italy. Another option, and not only because you are traveling with small children, is to go to a supermarket and buy picnic supplies and make your own food. I don't know whether you are in a hotel, B&B or apartment but even when we stayed in hotels and traveled with our children when small, we always managed to get food together and make small picnics. Of course we were very careful about cleaning up and not making a mess!!
Other options include going to a pizza place where things are more casual. And as ellenem writes, Italians LOVE children and are very accomodating towards them so you should really not have a problem. They may even prepare a special "not-on-the-menu" meal for them.
Have a great time.

I'm not sure that Italian restaurants and cafes even have the boxes necessary to do what you want. I haven't seen them.

There are, however, wonderful take out food places in Italy. The kids could eat antipasti or share a portion of pasta in a restaurant, and you could rely on these and fruit to fill out the meal. I remember in particular a place in Bologna with cases of delicious-looking prepared dishes, just like you would find in a restaurant.

Smaller Italian towns usually have street markets with trucks that have delicious roasted chickens and other meats turning on spits. The potatoes roasted under them are even better!

I was in Italy last summer and did not see anyone taking away leftovers. I agree that you will see smaller portion sizes. Even now with a 10 and 12 y.o., we usually order 3 main meals and an appetizer when overseas, as the 10 y.o. eats very little.

Another add-on strategy, if you can be discreet about it, is to bring along on your trip a good supply of the quart-size Ziploc bags & keep 1-2 in your day-pack ... not for lasagna of course, but for non-messy finger-food ... that bread-stick or piece of baked chicken.

I developed this ploy when dining solo in Greece ... Greeks do not understand anyone eating alone, all their side dishes are meant for sharing. One night, I ordered some olives to precede my main dish -- the plate had 35 Olives on it! I stared and then, discreetly, dumped 25 of them into a ziploc I fortuitously had in my bag. They were part of my noon picnics for days.

No, no doggie bags available but you might get a paper bag for a slice of pizza!
Never had that problem as my kids were always ravenous on vacation and usually ate more than I did from age 9.

I suggest letting the kids have 3 bites of your meal or something small and then picking up a slice of pizza to go on your way home. There's always gelato too!

And you have an apartment so definitely pick up some snacks from the grocery stores. I wouldn't pay restaurant prices for food that I know will be thrown away!

Maybe things have changed in the last 2 or 3 years, but my experience in Italian restaurants is that plates are generally shared, as though you are at home serving a family dinner. You don't buy one salad and one main course for one person -- it's supposed to be shared, that's the reason why there's primo, secondi, and all that.

So if you're feeding a family of four, a couple of pasta dishes may be enough, or too much!

As a parent, I suggest that the trip might be a good time to teach your kids that meal time is the time to eat (and not an hour later back in the hotel/apartment). We had to work through this issue with one of our children. Slower paced European dining does help because the longer the child sits there, the more he or she will probably eat.

Have never seen a doggy bag in Italy - or anywhere in europe. As mentioned above the portions are smaller - and if the kids are sitting there 2 hours for dinner anyway they will probably end up eating enough and not want another meal.

(Agree this is a good time to break them of a habit that is such a PIA. There's nothing wrong with snacking - but not when you've ignored the dinner.)