Restaurants for Your Thanksgiving Feast

Some people revel in Thanksgiving’s approach: Breaking out heirloom recipes! Preparing decadent feasts! Gathering everyone around the homestead!

Other people, however, fear the prospect of cooking up a sizeable feast, turning their home into destination turkey, and (let’s be real) all those dishes. If you want a relaxing, carefree Thanksgiving, minus all the work, these Southern restaurants are cooking up bountiful spreads for Turkey Day.

Each of these restaurants’ events is for a flat fee, so be sure to tip the wait staff for taking care of you during this holiday! Note that each restaurant requires advance reservations for Thanksgiving Day, and we cannot guarantee each will have seatings still available. 

TAKE THANKSGIVING OUT OF THE HOUSE

Charleston, Warehouse

This late-night lounge on Spring Street recently went into a permanent chef residency partnership with chef Zachary Woody and Brandon Andrists. The duo brings experience from cities across the nation, most notably at Alinea in Chicago. Their new approach revitalizes Warehouse’s menu with highly seasonal ingredients for small plates. This style shapes their Thanksgiving dinner, which reimagines everyone’s favorite sides in the form of modern composed plates. This ten-course tasting menu includes an oyster starter celery root bavarois, meyer lemon, pork crumble, and celery snow and progresses into turkey with chestnut maitake stuffing, cranberry compote, and turkey gravy.

Houston, Turner’s

For a Thanksgiving spread fit for royalty, Turner’s goes to all lengths to create a lavish holiday feast. Guests are greeted with flutes of Champagne upon arrival, and the meal unfolds with an endless river of appetizers, hors d’oeuvres, mains, sides, and after-dinner cheese course (don’t worry, there’s pie, too) all served by white-gloved wait staff.

Atlanta, Atlas

Give thanks in style at Atlas at the St. Regis in Atlanta. Surrounded by modern art, guests enjoy a prix fixe three-course menu complete with foie gras terrine, pumpkin risotto, apple tarte tatin, and other sumptuous delicacies. For the traditionalists, roasted turkey and pumpkin pie will be available, too.

Washington DC, Fairmont

The Colonnade, an established locale for holiday dining for both Washingtonians and visitors, sets the scene for this elegant Thanksgiving affair. The menu offers exceptional takes on traditional Thanksgiving fare, with carved turkey and sage stuffing. It’s rounded out by stations of cheese and charcuterie, raw bar, children’s buffet, and dessert buffet (don’t miss the red velvet Kirsch mini cupcakes).

Nashville, Church and Union

The newly opened restaurant from two-time Top Chef alum chef Jamie Lynch and chef Adam Hodgson hosts its first Thanksgiving with a prix fixe menu that inspires the traditional Thanksgiving dishes with Southern soul. Expect barbecue shrimp and grits, butternut squash en croute with burrata, and a turkey plate, and sweet potato cheesecake.

Asheville, Omni Grove Park Inn

Give thanks in the company of mountain views at the historic Grove Park Inn. The Thanksgiving Dinner served alongside panoramic mountain sights in the Blue Ridge room is open to the public (reservations required) with seatings from noon to 8 pm. The culinary displays of artisanal cheeses and charcuterie, lox, chilled seafood, and ice cream sundaes are enough to fill diners alone, but pace yourself for the beautifully composed dishes, which include roasted acorn squash salad, confit turkey pot pie, and sausage stuffing.

New Orleans, Seaworthy

Not going to be around family this Thanksgiving? Round up the crew and enjoy a low-key Friendsgiving at Seaworthy in New Orleans. This four-course dinner takes a departure from the standard Thanksgiving fare, instead favoring a meal with a Big Easy spin. With dishes from crawfish mac and cheese and white wine steamed mussels to gumbo and sweet potato cheesecake, you’ll be surrounded by good company during the holiday.

Williamsburg, Virginia, Williamsburg Lodge

Get into the American spirit this Thanksgiving with a period affair in the heart of colonial Williamsburg. The menu at the Williamsburg Lodge contains familiar characters like carved turkey and green bean casserole, as well as additions ranging from an antipasti station to fennel and apple stuffed pork belly porchetta. Seatings go from 11 am to 4 pm, and you can take the annual post-dinner walk through the festively decked colonial village.

Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier Resort  

Thanksgiving isn’t confined to just a meal at the Greenbrier Resort. The entire weekend dresses the ski resort in holiday extravagance that starts with a Turkey Tail Fun Run on Thursday morning followed by a Thanksgiving day brunch and continues into a choose-your-own-adventure with options for wine tastings, tablescape workshops, scavenger hunts, and a tree lighting ceremony.

Miami, Toro Toro  

Toro Toro channels elements of nations throughout Latin America into its dishes, and their Thanksgiving menu is no exception. Complete with arepas, guajillo roasted turkey, pecan pie spiked with cayenne and cumin, this prix fixe meal interprets the traditional Thanksgiving foods through a Latin lens. Seatings go from noon to 9 pm.