"Food to go" + other phrases
While in Vietnam, I often had food to go: I didn't have to say specifically "to go", I could simply imply it by asking for a box (một hộp).

However, testing recently my - still poor - Vietnamese skills, I went to a Vietnamese restaurant in my hometown and wanted to order food "to go".

A litteral translation would be "để đi" but I'm almost 100% sure that's not how to say it. Please help! haha

Also, if you have any other common phrases that a Vietnamese would say in a restaurant that you want to share, please let me know! (I haven't found a really good Vietnamese phrasebook concerning how to properly order in a restaurant).

Cám ơn rất nhiều ^_^

Question

"Food to go" + other phrases
While in Vietnam, I often had food to go: I didn't have to say specifically "to go", I could simply imply it by asking for a box (một hộp).

However, testing recently my - still poor - Vietnamese skills, I went to a Vietnamese restaurant in my hometown and wanted to order food "to go".

A litteral translation would be "để đi" but I'm almost 100% sure that's not how to say it. Please help! haha

Also, if you have any other common phrases that a Vietnamese would say in a restaurant that you want to share, please let me know! (I haven't found a really good Vietnamese phrasebook concerning how to properly order in a restaurant).

Cám ơn rất nhiều ^_^

Answer

As Trang said, ask for it "mang về" which literally means to take it back home.

This is used a lot, probably most often, but sometimes you might also hear "mang đi" which we could translate as "to go". A situation where you might hear this phrase is if you buy an office lunch (cơm trưa văn phòng) to takeaway as it could be assumed you're taking it back to the office, not back home.

Answer

it's to go, to take away
Ex: here or to go?
      ở đây hay mang về\đi?
      two pies to take away/ to go
      cho 2 cái mang về
I think "mang đi" or "mang về" are similar

Answer

I don't know if you'll see this Trang but I wanted to know that "mang về" part ^_^ (I assume it means "to go" or something similar)

Answer

Do you mean: you want to buy a box (it has some foods) and you will take it to another place?
You can say:         Cho tôi mua một hộp mang về ! 
                            Cho tôi mua một hộp (cơm/ thức ăn) mang về!
The seller will ask: Bạn muốn mua những gì? (it means: what kind of foods do you want to buy)
In Vietnam, we want to buy a lunch/dinner box, it includes: rice and some foods which you want to eat.
In other case, if you want to buy something and take it to your home/school or another place, you can say: "Cho tôi mua + quantity (1 or 2 or 3,..) + unit (box, sheet, pce,..) + (type of things which you want to buy) + mang về! "