# Carry out, take out, take away, takeaway restaurants



## Manuel_M

Could someone please be so kind as to explain the difference between *carry out restaurants* and *take out restaurants*?


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## mzsweeett

Manuel_M said:
			
		

> Could someone please be so kind as to explain the difference between *carry out restaurants* and *take out restaurants*?


There is no difference really.  Just a matter of how you prefer to say it.  
_*Carry out*_ = you make the order by phone or in person and you carry it out to your home or where ever.l.

_*Take out*_ = you make the order by phone or in person and you take it home or where ever.

HIH

Sweet T.


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## mjscott

I agree with SweetT with regard to restaurants and ordering food.


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## lsp

Manuel_M said:
			
		

> Could someone please be so kind as to explain the difference between *carry out restaurants* and *take out restaurants*?


Maybe it's regional? Although I would instantly understand carry-out, I wouldn't say it, and I don't think I've heard it.


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## Manuel_M

You've all been very helpful. Many thanks


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## Amityville

Wherever I've been in England, they say 'takeaway'. Wherever I've been in Scotland they say 'carry-out'.  But it's the same thing, yes.


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## timpeac

Amityville said:
			
		

> Wherever I've been in England, they say 'takeaway'. Wherever I've been in Scotland they say 'carry-out'. But it's the same thing, yes.


 
Yes, that's what I was thinking - "carryout" Scottish, "takeaway" English. Which English speakers say "take out" is that the US version?


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## jacinta

Take-out is very American.  Some upscale restaurants offer "carry-out", not to lower their standards to Burger King.


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## DesertCat

I find this interesting because I'm more used to hearing "order it to go"


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## Eddie

_To go_ is just another way of saying _take-out_ in the States.


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## panjandrum

We, of course, are more subtle than the rest of the world.
We have carry outs and we have take aways (we don't seem to have take outs).

A takeaway is, as others have explained, a meal that you will take away from the premises where you buy it.  You might have phoned first, you might even have had it delivered, but that is a takeaway.

Many of us would enjoy a carryout along with the takeaway.  The carryout is to alcohol what the takeaway is to food.  So you collect your carryout from an off-licence, a supermarket or a wine shop (places that I believe are known to colonials as  "liquor stores").
In my part of the world it is possible to phone a taxi company, give them your order, and they will collect your takeaway and your carryout and deliver both to your door.


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## Jefito

Manuel_M said:
			
		

> You've all been very helpful. Many thanks


 
Also, "carry outs" refer to the early 50's and 60's when people could order from their cars and a tray was brought out to you. The tray was "carried out" and would hook on to your car door with the window rolled down. I remember them, they were fun!


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## foxfirebrand

Hmmm-- I never heard those carside-service eateries called anything but drive-ins.  

< Comments on carhops have been moved to: car-hop [carhop] AmE - BrE? 
Cagey moderator. >


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## Hotmale

Hello 

Is it correct to say: "I'd like a takeaway (take away) pizza"?

Can takeaway function as an adjective?

Thank you


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## mancunienne girl

Yes, and also, these days as a noun.E.g. "Let's get a takeaway on Friday night!"


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## Hotmale

Thanks 
I knew that takeaway (a takeaway) is a noun but I wanted it to modify another noun, so I wondered if a takeaway pizza is correct.


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## Robañero

"Take away" is mainly a British expression.  In America we say "take out" more commonly, though either would be understood.  

"_Let's get a take-out pizza",  "Let's get take-out Chinese tonight"

_Alternatively used with the word "some" when used as a noun by itself.  "_Let's get some take-out Friday night"_


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## Hotmale

Thanks, Robanero


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## Matching Mole

Take-away (or takeaway) is an adjective as well as a noun, meaning [something] "that may be taken away", and it is actually an adjective here.

Nouns often modify other nouns, though, e.g. "make-up bag".


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## Parla

Hotmale said:


> Is it correct to say: "I'd like a takeaway (take away) pizza"?
> 
> Can takeaway function as an adjective?



Not in the US; indeed, we don't use "take-away" at all.

We'd say: 

*I'd like a take-out pizza.

I'd like a pizza to go.


*


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## Packard

I would assume that "takeaway" was a sports term used to describe one team taking the ball away from the other.

I've never heard "takeaway" used as a synonym for "takeout".


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## Fabulist

Yes, "takeaway" can function as an adjective, but if I heard a foreigner use "takeaway" for food purchased at a restaurant but not eaten there I would understand but be amused, and probably try to inform them politely that the American term is "take-out."

Besides the sports term, there's a vogue business-jargon use of "take away" in reference to what participants in a meeting or auditors of a presentation learned that would be useful in the future, so I suppose that   instead of "What did you take away from the meeting," one could say "What was your takeaway from the meeting?"

So I don't think most Americans would associate food with "takeaway" unless the context indicated clearly that "takeout" was meant.


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## George French

Packard said:


> I would assume that "takeaway" was a sports term used to describe one team taking the ball away from the other.
> 
> I've never heard "takeaway" used as a synonym for "takeout".


 
It is _not really a synonym_ , it is simply that one language _is divided  by the Atlantic Ocean_..... You and us often just use different words. If someone said "What about a takeout tonight?" in place of takeaway it would take me more than a few seconds to understand that I need to translate takout to takeaway.

If the accent was obviously U.S. I might twig it immediately, but if an East Ender said this to me in the local parlance, I would not.

GF..


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## panjandrum

For those who wish to reflect on the different terms used in different places, please see these other threads.
How can  I use "takeaway" correctly in a sentence?
*carry out/take out restaurants
*For those who use takeaway with this meaning, it can certainly be an adjective - takeaway pizza, takeaway indian, takeaway chinese, etc, etc.


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## mancunienne girl

It's funny how much the language actually does differ across the pond..... If I heard someone talk about a "take-out", my immediate reaction was that they'd be talking about a football (American) tackle or similar!


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## Hotmale

Thank you for all your answers 
What about ordering a pizza from home? Is it still a takeaway pizza?


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## Matching Mole

Yes, in the UK we talk about ordering a takeaway, even if it is to be delivered rather than being taken away by the customer.


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## Robañero

Not in America.  No one would say "take-out" when they meant "delivery",  In fact, the two services are distinguished that way on most menus:

_"Available for delivery or take-out (or to-go)_"

Mostly we would simply say "Wanna order a pizza?", the delivery part would be understood by that phrase.  If one were to say "Wanna get some take-out Chinese?", that would imply naturally that someone was going to pick it up.  

What would be the point of calling it "Takeaway" if it then was still left to be determined whether someone had to take it away or it was going to be delivered?


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## jackchow

Hello,
   In_ "Chinese takeaways are also very popular in England.",_ what does the word _takeaways _mean, the foods or the restaurants? 
Thanks.


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## Copyright

I envision the *restaurant *rather than the food because _takeaways _is plural.


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## entangledbank

To me it's complete ambiguous. Takeaways could well be the meals. I think AmE uses collectives where BrE doesn't so much: 'Let's have Chinese' sounds AmE. Possibly the same is true of 'we got takeaway'. To me this sounds somewhat AmE in that way, and I'd be _(perhaps)_ more likely to say 'takeaways'.


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## Egmont

"Takeaway" is BE. In AE, it's "take-out" or, in some contexts, "to go."

I would also take this to refer to the restaurants. Still, if one is popular, so is the other, so I'm not sure it matters!


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## pob14

We don't say "takeaway" at all in AmE; we say *takeout*, *to-go*, *carry out*, or for a specific type, "*drivethrough*." I don't think it is common to refer to the restaurant itself in this way, as opposed to the meal. There aren't that many places that are takeout only, but we would refer to one by saying "the Chinese takeout _place_ on the corner," not "the Chinese takeout on the corner."

So for the US, the OP's sentence would be "_"Chinese takeout restaurants are also very popular in England,"_ if it were to mean the restaurants themselves.

"Let's have Chinese" is definitely common in AmE, though.

Edit: Apparently it IS common where Egmont is from.  Another regionalism, perhaps?


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## whycs

My Chinese-English dictionary defines takeaways as restaurants. Food cann't have plural form, am I right? If it means food, It would be "Chinese carry out is very popular in England".


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## Fabulist

I am sure I have seen at least one extensive thread here before on the different terms used in British and American English for food that one purchases at a retail establishment but consumes off its premises.


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## Loob

entangledbank said:


> To me it's complete ambiguous.


It's ambiguous to me too.

I would use "takeaway" (plural "takeaways") both for a takeaway meal and for the restaurant that provides it.


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## entangledbank

Okay, with AmE 'takeout', is it only used in the mass form?

Takeout is very popular here.
We got some Chinese takeout.

Or is it also commonly used as a count noun, meaning a meal?

Takeouts are very popular here.
We got some Chinese takeouts.


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## Fabulist

"Takeout" is countable if it means a "takeout _establishment,_" but not if it is referring to the food itself.

"There are a lot of Chinese takeouts in this neighborhood, but only one Thai takeout."

"Let's have Korean takeout for dinner."  You can't even use "takeout" in the plural if you have two or more different styles or nationalities of prepared food purchased at a retail establishment but eaten off its premises:  "For supper we had Chinese and Korean takeout" or "... Chinese takeout and Korean takeout."


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## timpeac

Loob said:


> It's ambiguous to me too.
> 
> I would use "takeaway" (plural "takeaways") both for a takeaway meal and for the restaurant that provides it.


To me too. You can say both "there are three takeaways on this street" and "I eat three takeaways a week".


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## Gavril

I'm from the West Coast and I've only heard _carryout_ from people on the East Coast. Can _carryout_ refer to both the place where you get the food, and the food itself? In my limited experience, I only recall it being used for the location.

As far as _takeout_, for me, it's just the food, not the place where you order it. This thread suggests that the use of _takeout_ (and _carryout_?) to refer to the restaurant is more of an eastern tendency.


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## Egmont

pob14 said:


> We don't say "takeaway" at all in AmE ...
> 
> Edit: Apparently it IS common where Egmont is from.  Another regionalism, perhaps?


That's not what I wrote. I wrote (post 32 in this thread) that _takeaway_ is used in British English.


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## Robañero

I've been all over the country and I've never noticed a regional preference, but I could be wrong about the west coast.  To me they are all interchangeable and seems to be a personal preference. takeout food, takeout restaurant, carryout food, carryout restaurant...its all the same.  Takeaway smacks of British and I've never seen it here is all.


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## zhonglin

Parla said:


> Not in the US; indeed, we don't use "take-away" at all.
> 
> We'd say:
> 
> *I'd like a take-out pizza.
> 
> I'd like a pizza to go.
> 
> 
> *



Can we also say "*Let's buy some take-out burger and take-out fries*", how about *"let's get take-outs from Mcdonalds?

*Please advise, thank you.


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## Robañero

zhonglin said:


> Can we also say "*Let's buy some take-out burger and take-out fries*", how about *"let's get take-outs from Mcdonalds?
> 
> *Please advise, thank you.



It doesn't really apply to fast food places because they all have drive through pick up windows. You would say lets "hit the drive-through" or "let's get some McDonald's." If you purchase on the inside they will ask you " for here or to go?" No one in America would ever say "lets get take-out from McDonalds." 

If your friend asked you " should we eat here?" Your response would be " no lets get it to go"

Hope that helps


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## zhonglin

Robañero said:


> It doesn't really apply to fast food places because they all have drive through pick up windows. You would say lets "hit the drive-through" or "let's get some McDonald's." If you purchase on the inside they will ask you " for here or to go?" No one in America would ever say "lets get take-out from McDonalds."
> 
> If your friend asked you " should we eat here?" Your response would be " no lets get it to go"
> 
> Hope that helps



Yes, that helps thank you. 

if "*I'd like a take-out pizza" *is correct, can you please confirm if it's also correct to say "please buy me a take-out burger from Mcdonalds"? (when you're at home and you're calling your parents to buy you some burger)


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## Copyright

If you say "Please buy me a Big Mac" and you aren't there, I imagine your parents are smart enough to being it to you. No need for "take-out."


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## Sun14

timpeac said:


> To me too. You can say both "there are three takeaways on this street" and "I eat three takeaways a week".



I am confused, because in #38, Fabulist said takeout is uncountable when referring to food.


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## Copyright

Sun14 said:


> I am confused, because in #38, Fabulist said takeout is uncountable when referring to food.



I would say that you can use "take-outs" or "takeaways" to refer to food.


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## Sun14

Copyright said:


> I would say that you can use "take-outs" or "takeaways" to refer to food.



Does this mean there is no plural form? The form is "take-outs" or "takeaways" used all the time.


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## Copyright

Sun14 said:


> Does this mean there is no plural form? The form is "take-outs" or "takeaways" used all the time.


That is the plural form. Drop the "s" for singular.


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## Sun14

Copyright said:


> That is the plural form. Drop the "s" for singular.



I see. Thank you very much.


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## Gavril

Personally, I do not use "take-out" as a countable noun, and I don't normally hear it used this way (I live in the western US). I would suggest that you not use _take-out _as a count-noun unless you are fairly sure that the person you're speaking to understands this meaning of the term. Instead of saying, for example,_ I order three take-outs a week_, you could say, _I order take-out three times a week._


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## Sun14

Gavril said:


> Personally, I do not use "take-out" as a countable noun, and I don't normally hear it used this way (I live in the western US). I would suggest that you not use _take-out _as a count-noun unless you are fairly sure that the person you're speaking to understands this meaning of the term. Instead of saying, for example,_ I order three take-outs a week_, you could say, _I order take-out three times a week._



Thanks a lot. I will consider it.


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## timpeac

Sun14 said:


> I am confused, because in #38, Fabulist said takeout is uncountable when referring to food.


By the sound of it "take-out" (American English) is often uncountable. "Take-away" (British English) is countable. "I had three take-aways last week". "I like take-away" is not a possible British English sentence but "I like take-aways" is.


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## Sun14

timpeac said:


> By the sound of it "take-out" (American English) is often uncountable. "Take-away" (British English) is countable. "I had three take-aways last week". "I like take-away" is not a possible British English sentence but "I like take-aways" is.



Thank you very much.


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## nnyy

< This question has been added to a previous thread.  Cagey, moderator >

take-away food
take-out food
What is the difference between the two?
Which one is more common in the US?

Thank you in advance!


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## Franco-filly

I don't know how you intend to use this in a sentence, but I would use "a take-away" (meaning a meal) or "food to take away." I wouldn't use "take-out" nor would I say "take-away food."  I think "take-out" is more common in the U.S.


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## nnyy

Franco-filly said:


> I don't know how you intend to use this in a sentence, but I would use "a take-away" (meaning a meal) or "food to take away." I wouldn't use "take-out" nor would I say "take-away food."  I think "take-out" is more common in the U.S.


Thanks for the prompt reply!
I found the phrase in "take-away menu".
"take-out menu" is not appropriate in the context?


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## You little ripper!

nnyy said:


> "take-out menu"




Take-out - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

_*take-out* or *takeout* (in North American and Philippine English); also *carry-out* (in U.S. and Scotland);[1] *take-away* (in the United Kingdom other than Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Ireland),[1] *parcel* (in Indian English and Pakistani English),[2] refers to prepared meals or other food items, purchased at a restaurant, that the purchaser intends to eat elsewhere._


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## dojibear

In the US, I have always heard "take-out food".  If "carry-out" is used, it is less common. 

The drive-thru window (buy food without leaving your car) is called the "drive-thru window" or the "take-out window".

But in a restaurant (including fast food) we say we would like our order (our food) "to go". We don't say we want to "take it out".


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## Sparky Malarky

dojibear said:


> In the US, I have always heard "take-out food".  If "carry-out" is used, it is less common.



I used to hear "carry out" quite often.  It may be regional.


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## zhonglin

Parla said:


> Not in the US; indeed, we don't use "take-away" at all.
> 
> We'd say:
> 
> *I'd like a take-out pizza.
> 
> I'd like a pizza to go.
> 
> *



Can I also say "i'd like a pizza for *take-out" and "i'd like a pizza for carry-out" *


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## dojibear

zhonglin said:


> Can I also say "i'd like a pizza for *take-out" and "i'd like a pizza for carry-out" *



You could say "for take-out", but it is more common to use "to":

I'd like a pizza to take out.
I'd like a pizza to go.

That is all that "take-out" means: that you want to "take it out" (of the restaurant).


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## zhonglin

dojibear said:


> You could say "for take-out", but it is more common to use "to":
> 
> I'd like a pizza to take out.
> I'd like a pizza to go.
> 
> That is all that "take-out" means: that you want to "take it out" (of the restaurant).



how about:

*let's order some mcdonalds for take out?*


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## dojibear

"Let's order some McDonalds take-out" is more common (with take-out used as a noun). But your "for" version is probably said too.


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## mancunienne girl

I think that basically you just need to use the correct term (take-away, noun and adjective in BE and take-out/carry-out in AE) according to where you travel. However, I find it hard to believe that Brits would not understand the AE version and Americans would not understand the BE version. Having just got back from the States people noticed my accent, but hey, we are talking the same language here. There are more differences regionally in GB than there are differences in words across the Atlantic!


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## Lenny boy

The term "Take away" is used in Australian and NZ English


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