Custom Takeout Paper Bags for Restaurants and Delivery

Who orders takeout paper bags

These are the bags that leave your pass with a finished order inside. Restaurants, ghost kitchens, cafés and caterers use them for pickup shelves and for delivery drivers.

The job sounds simple and is easy to get wrong. A meal container must ride level, sauce lids must stay shut, and the driver needs something quick to grab.

Kitchens that also bag sides and snacks can compare every style in our range of food and takeout bags.

What size takeout bag fits two meal containers?

Start from the container, not from a bag name. Measure the footprint of the box your kitchen uses most, then the height of a typical stacked order.

For two rectangular meal boxes side by side, 10 × 6.75 × 12 in is a frequent fit. The width takes both boxes and the gusset matches their depth.

Soup and noodle kitchens are different. Round deep cups need a taller gusset, so the bag gets deeper rather than wider.

Should a takeout bag have handles or a folded top?

Twisted paper handles suit counter pickup, where a customer walks out holding the bag. Flat paper handles sit lower and fold down when bags wait in a delivery hot box.

Handle-free bags are folded over once and sealed with a sticker, like our second photo. That seal shows the customer nobody opened the order on the way.

• Twisted handles: comfortable for walk-in pickup orders
• Flat handles: lower profile, easy to stack by the dozen
• No handles: fold the top, seal it, and brand the sticker instead

Brown or white kraft for food orders?

Natural brown kraft hides small marks from condensation and busy hands, which is why most kitchens choose it. Dark one-color logos read clearly on it.

White kraft shows bright brand colors more faithfully, but it also shows every drip. Choose it when the print matters more than how the bag looks after a long Friday shift.

Some groups use both: brown for daily delivery and white for catering drop-offs where presentation counts.

Can one takeout bag carry hot and cold food together?

It can, but it pays to plan the order. Warm containers give off steam, and a cold salad or dessert next to them goes limp fast.

Many kitchens bag hot and cold items separately and staple the two receipts together. Others use one larger bag and stand the cold item upright at one end.

If your menu mixes both every day, ask for two bag sizes on one quote. A smaller bag for cold sides fits inside the main bag or travels beside it.

How heavy should the paper be?

Takeout bags usually sit in the 90–115 gsm band, roughly 55–71 lb basis. That gives a stiff wall that keeps its shape when a full order is lifted.

Lighter paper keeps costs down on single-item orders. Heavier paper suits catering runs with several trays. Treat these figures as guidance, because your quote states the weight we plan to use.

A quick test helps. Load your heaviest regular order into your current bag and lift it by the handles. Tell us where it bends or tears, and we size the paper up from there.

Printing your logo on a takeout bag

Most kitchens print one or two colors on the front face. Full color (CMYK) works well when artwork wraps around the gussets, like the tiled side panel in our first photo.

Menus and promos change often. A short message printed on the sticker is cheaper to update than reprinting a whole run of bags.

Leave a clear space where staff can write the order name or stick the receipt. The free proof shows exactly where that blank panel will sit.

How do you pack a takeout bag so nothing spills?

Most spills happen at the counter, not on the road. A packing habit your staff repeat every time matters more than the bag itself.

1. Put the heaviest, flattest container on the bottom.
2. Stand drink cups in a separate carrier, never loose in the bag.
3. Slide cutlery and napkins down the gusset, not on top of lids.
4. Fold the top twice or bring the handles together before handing it over.
5. Add the receipt or sticker last so the driver can read the order name.

Mistakes we see on first takeout orders

These come up again and again when a kitchen orders its first printed run. Each one is easy to avoid at quote stage, and each costs money once the bags are printed.

• Ordering by bag name instead of measuring the real container
• Choosing a narrow gusset, so square bowls sit tilted
• Printing artwork right to the fold line, where it creases
• Picking tall handles for bags that drivers stack in a hot box
• Forgetting the sticker size when the bag closes with a fold

How do takeout bags arrive and store?

Takeout bags come flat in cartons, so they tuck under a counter or onto a shelf above the pass. One shake opens a bag for packing.

Printing starts once your proof is signed off and takes 4–6 business days. The tracked shipment then reaches most kitchens within 2–3 business days, with free delivery included.

Ordering takeout bags from us

Send your container sizes, a rough monthly order count and your logo. A written quote comes back with your bag price, which starts from $0.30 per unit.

Not sure how big the first run should be? Our guide to estimating bag quantities uses your weekly covers to work it out.

Want to see your logo on a bag first? Try Design Your Bag, then send the picture with your request.

Changing an existing printed bag? Send a photo of the old one with a tape measure across it. We match the size and suggest any fixes before you approve.