 Andy Kellman of Allmusic called "Carry Out" the dirtiest track on the album and noted that the two artist aim for a contemporary form of The Lonely Island's "Dick in a Box" (Incredibad, 2009), on which Timberlake was featured. Brian Linder of IGN commented that the production on the song is tight, but panned the single for its food-sex metaphors, calling it "unforgivably stupid" and "such a joke that we half expected Andy Samberg to show up with his dick in a happy meal box," making reference to "Dick in a Box", which premiered on Saturday Night Live in 2006. Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine called the collaboration and "Say Something" "admirable turns" on the album, but comments that they are "forced to operate with unenviably tepid production." Cataldo concludes, writing, "The overall laziness of that facet is even more inexcusable coming from one of the most renowned producers of the last decade." Hugh Montgomery of The Observer noted it as one of the album's best track but called it "merely passable" and said it was "weighed down by his own leaden rapping and with nothing new to add to the familiar, futurist R & B formula."
