"Please pack it up for me" — In Korean restaurants, one phrase handles both leftovers and take-out from the start

포장해 주세요

You’re traveling in Korea, you walk into a restaurant, and the portions are so big you know you’ll never finish. Or maybe you don’t even want to sit down — you just want to grab the food and go. In moments like these, you only need to know one phrase: 포장해 주세요 (pojanghae juseyo). Today, let’s take a deep dive into this expression, which is exchanged hundreds of times a day in Korea’s restaurants and cafés.

Meaning and nuance

포장 (pojang) originally means “to wrap something up, to cover it.” Wrapping a gift up nicely is 포장, and packing food so you can take it away is also 포장. Add “~해 주세요” to it, and it becomes a polite request: “Please wrap it up / pack it up for me.”

It’s closest to the English to go or take-out, but the important thing is that the Korean word 포장 (pojang) covers both situations:

Ordering with the intention of taking it away from the start (take-out)
Packing up food you couldn’t finish at the restaurant (the American “doggy bag”)

In Korea, taking your leftovers home isn’t considered embarrassing at all. If anything, it’s naturally seen as a thrifty way of not wasting food. So don’t feel self-conscious — go ahead and confidently say 포장해 주세요 (pojanghae juseyo).

Example sentences by situation

Situation 1 — Taking your coffee to go at a café

아메리카노 한 잔 포장해 주세요. (amerikano han jan pojanghae juseyo.)

This means “I’ll get one americano to go.” When you’re going to drink it in the store instead, you can say 먹고 갈게요 (meokgo galgeyo). These days, cafés often ask you first: “드시고 가세요, 가져가세요? (For here, or to go?)”

Situation 2 — When you couldn’t finish everything at a restaurant

이거 남은 거 포장해 주세요. (igeo nameun geo pojanghae juseyo.)

This means “Could you pack up these leftovers for me?” Even soupy dishes like 찌개 (jjigae) or 탕 (tang) are usually packed into containers for you.

Situation 3 — Ordering ahead by phone

후라이드 치킨 한 마리 포장으로 주문할게요. (huraideu chikin han mari pojang-euro jumunhalgeyo.)

This is a “pickup order” — not delivery, but food you go and collect yourself. Many shops now offer a discount for pickup orders, so it’s worth asking 포장 할인 되나요? (pojang harin doenayo?) (“Is there a take-out discount?”).

Formal and casual speech, plus similar expressions

Polite formal: 포장해 주세요 (pojanghae juseyo) — the safest, most standard form for restaurants and cafés
More polite: 포장해 주시겠어요? (pojanghae jusigesseoyo?) — a softer, gentler way of asking
Casual, with a friend: 이거 포장하자 (igeo pojanghaja) — “Let’s pack this up to go”
Similar expression: 싸 주세요 (ssa juseyo) — 싸다 (ssada) is the native Korean equivalent of “to pack/wrap,” often used in phrases like “남은 거 싸 주세요 (please pack up the leftovers).”

If you follow your English habits and say “테이크아웃해 주세요,” most people will still understand you — but the natural Korean word really is 포장 (pojang).

Cultural background — the warmth of 포장 in K-dramas

If you watch Korean dramas, you’ll often see a character late at night packing up food at a 포장마차 (pojangmacha, street food stall) or a chicken shop and heading home with it. In these scenes, the packed-up food isn’t just a meal — it’s often portrayed as a bundle of “feelings” being handed to a family member the character worries about, or to someone they care for. The scene of packing up leftovers and handing them over with “이거 갖다 먹어 (here, take this and eat)” is a classic moment that captures Korea’s culture of 정 (jeong, warm-hearted affection). That’s why 포장해 주세요 is more than just a phrase for convenience — it also touches on the warm Korean sentiment of sharing food and not letting it go to waste.

Closing quiz

You’ve bought a coffee at a café and you want to take it out without sitting down in the store. Which of the following is the right thing to say?

먹고 갈게요 (meokgo galgeyo)
포장해 주세요 (pojanghae juseyo)
잘 먹겠습니다 (jal meokgesseumnida)

The answer is number 2, 포장해 주세요 (pojanghae juseyo)! Number 1 is for when you’re going to eat in the store, and number 3 is what you say before eating as a way of giving thanks. Be sure to try out this one little phrase you learned today on your next trip to Korea!