Is it rude???

Who are you afraid of offending? Chances are, the hands and face that serve you the food are not the ones that prepared it; so what sh** would the server give? In fact, how awesome would it be were a manager or, even better, a store owner to approach you and ask you why you chose to bring your own? That way, you'd have a chance to voice your concerns over the calorie content of the dressing options, that range from "comparably bad" to "comparably terrible." And yes, I'm looking at you, Ken's Buttermilk Ranch. Were a server to call you out on your choice to..uh...self-dress?... that server deserves to be called to task; they could give a **** less when thier table leaves to smoke or makes all kinds of esoteric dietary requests (Steak Halal? Kosher Onion rings? Gluten-free pizza? All of which I've dealt with in the restaurant biz), I don't see why they'd care, or even notice, when one of the table asks them to do...less, as in, tell the prep cook to leave the dressign off.

Keep a small bottle in your purse!!!

I don't think it's rude at all. I know that there are many times when I have gone out to eat breakfast and wished I had slipped my own syrup in my purse to use on pancakes. Nothing worse then fake syrup once you've had the real stuff. Go for it.

Gurl, I do it all the time. I talk a little plastic ramekin full, rude or not.

I don't like soda, but I like to have a flavored drink with my meals. When I go out to eat, I take a Crystal Light packet with me and ask for a glass of ice water. I've yet to have a server say anything and I don't imagine that they care.

Lately, my family and I have gone out to dinner several times. I have been trying to cut down on the soda we drink, so I have 3 different flavors of Mio in my purse. Not only do I unashamedly USE it, but I leave the bottle out on the table during the meal. The only *comment* I have gotten was the waitress wondering if she should top off my water once I got it flavored just right For a family of 5, ordering water to drink saves an easy $10 every time we go out.

I have been known to take a small container of dressing with me when I go to restaurants. Most restaurants get their dressings in in gallon bags and do not even have nutrition information available if you ask! They cannot prove that you do not have a severe food allergy issue, so I would assume they would not mind. I like the idea of taking your own seasonings ( ie splenda/cinnamon, etc) to make sure you can season your meal the way you want.

It's fine....most places have decent options. You could always just ask for oil & vinegar. I always get dressing on the side & use the "fork dip" method (dip your fork into the dressing, then spear some lettuce!).

I either get it on the side to dip my fork in or bring my own in my little Tupperware midget. They don't know because it is in my purse and I try to be discrete. I think they can't technically tell you that you can't as the laws around food places require that open food items not be brought in.

I know at the local Mongolian grill we have they let people bring their own sauce in but it must be in a new unopened container. You can always do that if it is a store bought dressing.

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I've bought my own dinners to restaurants. I give zero ****s.

as a restaurant worker....you'd be asked to leave.

Glad I'm not the only one. People like that are who make my job torturous.

Nope not at all! I do it all the time! But I measure it out and put a little inside a container so Im not bringing the whole bottle and making it obvious