PUB giants Toby Carvery have sent a reminder to staff that they can refuse customers from taking leftovers because they say some are swiping too much grub.
The chain, whose motto is Home of the Roast, has told staff to stop giving customers complimentary cardboard boxes for their table scraps because it is encouraging customers to overload their plates.
Toby Carvery has angered customers after refusing them doggy bags for leftovers[/caption]
But some customers say they have been refused doggy bags despite not being greedy.
One customer, Nathan Perry, 22, from Chislehurst, Kent said: “I went into my local Toby Carvery and had a roast dinner and a pint of lager.
“I couldn’t finish my meal so I asked for a takeaway box and they said I wasn’t allowed.
“Staff were very apologetic but said they had had a strongly-worded email from head office saying people were troughing out on huge extra helpings.
“I was annoyed as I didn’t even go for seconds and had to leave the rest as I had nothing to take it home in.”
Last night a worker at Toby Carvery in Bromley Common, London said: “Customers are getting quite upset when we tell them they can’t have a doggy bag which is a special Toby Carvery round box.
“We have to tell them it is to stop people taking more than their fair share of food.”
Bosses say there have been occasions when customers have taken more than is acceptable and it is down to staff discretion on whether they can offer takeaway boxes.
A spokesperson added: “Our all-you-can-eat offer is designed to be enjoyed while dining in our restaurants, and for this reason, we do not offer doggy bags as standard.
“However, to help our guests reduce food waste where there is a genuine need, a container may be provided at the restaurant’s discretion.”
In 2023, one customer was disgusted when staff at a Toby Carvery wrapped up leftovers in cling film.
Every year, Brits chow down approximately 1.3billion roast dinners, with 31million customers flowing through the doors of the popular Sunday roast chain to eat 11,000 tonnes of potatoes.
In November, the owner of Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One, Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), warned it will take a £100m hit as a result of the tax changes outlined in the October budget.
The pub and restaurant group said it was facing “cost headwinds” in its current financial year, which began at the start of October, because of the increases in the national minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions (NICs) announced by Rachel Reeves, which are due to take effect from next April.
Fiv fun facts about Toby Carvery
- There are 158 Toby Carvery restaurants in the UK
- Toby Carvery serves 21million meals every year
- It also serves 39million drinks
- The restaurant chain employs 4,500 staff
- It cooks more than 500,000 turkeys and half a million beer joints every year
M&B is just one of a number of chains saying they will take a financial hit due to the two upcoming hikes.
A host of pub chains have warned the extra costs will be passed onto customers in the shape of costlier pints.
In November, chief executive of pub chain Fuller’s, Simon Emeny, said the price of beers at its hotels and boozers would likely be bumped up by 10p.
The boss of the brewing giant slammed the decision to hike NICs as “counter productive to growth” and “hurting young employment“.
In its results published last month, Shepherd Neame, which runs 300 pubs and hotels across London South-East England, said it may have to raise prices.
The brewer, which claims to be the oldest in the UK, said the combined NIC and national minimum wage hikes would cost it £2.6million.
Wetherspoons also hiked prices across a range of menu items by up to 30p last month after warning its coffers would take a hit.
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