NYCGuide
Where To Get A Thanksgiving Dinner In NYC
photo credit: Koloman
Have you suddenly found yourself planning to stay in NYC for Thanksgiving? Did your ex RSVP to Friendsgiving before you did? Is your family coming to town, expecting you to know how to baste a turkey—and unaware that your kitchen skills involve mostly hot water and dehydrated carbs?
Things could be worse. You live in the greatest food city in the world, and a lot of great restaurants will be open on turkey day. Many others offer gourmet quality pre-cooked meals or pies. Whether you’re looking for the perfect spot for you and one other person, or trying to arrange Thanksgiving for a group of eight, check out our guide to dinners that’ll leave you full of tryptophan and gratitude.
Thanksgiving Dinners
photo credit: Daniel Krieger
Hearth is typically a place you’d go for some very good vegetables and a glass of wine, or whole grain pasta that feels healthy (at least for pasta). But this seasonal Italian spot on a corner in the East Village has the feel of a farmhouse kitchen, and on Thanksgiving, you’ll find turkey with leek sourdough stuffing, cornmeal biscuits, pumpkin panna cotta, and other extra classy takes on the traditional spread. Seatings are from 1pm-8:30pm, for $128 per person and can be reserved. There’s also an optional wine pairing for $42 per guest.
Koloman already does an amazing, dry-aged whole roast chicken that makes every dinner here feel like a special occasion, so we’re pretty sure their slow-roasted turkey with croissant stuffing is going to put every other turkey in the tristate area to shame. Come for the bird, and leave singing songs from The Sound of Music with your entire family after you have the Viennese apple strudel for dessert. The three-course meal at this Midtown restaurant costs $165 per person, and reservations can be made online.
photo credit: The Noortwyck
If you choose to plant yourself in one of the leather booths at the Noortwyck in the West Village this Thanksgiving, you can expect an a la carte menu with a few different mains, including traditional turkey with all the fixings, interspersed with small plates featuring foie gras, caviar, and truffle. But this isn’t a stuffy fine-dining situation—it’s just a nice, cool place to eat an elevated Thanksgiving meal with pies from One White Street’s former pastry chef.
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
If there’s one spot on this list that’s totally in tune with harvest season, it’s Olmstead Prospect Heights. They take their seasonal produce and locally sourced meats seriously, and everything you eat here is going to give you major inspiration for your next trip to the farmer’s market. Have some turkey, duck, pumpkin, and vegetables in the homey space covered in plants and you’ll feel like you’re dining at someone’s family farm. A three-course, prix-fixe dinner costs $145 per person (not including the wine pairing), and kids are welcome for $28 each.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Delmonico’s opened in 1837—so basically when Thanksgiving was invented, give or take a couple centuries. This suit-and-tie steakhouse in Fidi looks like it could still belong to a time when curbstone brokers traded stocks on nearby corners, and it will impress any family members flying in for the holiday. This year, they’re offering a $145, three-course meal with turkey and a classic spread, as well as steakhouse sides and their best cuts of meat. This place is the sort of over-the-top place that usually hosts retired investment bankers, but we expect a warmer vibe during the holidays.
photo credit: Emily Schindler
Leland is already the sort of place you’d go with the people on your Friendsgiving short list. On a quiet corner just off Washington Avenue in Prospect Heights, it’s a casual neighborhood spot where the servers know their regulars by first name, and it has a menu dedicated to locally sourced ingredients and natural wine. Thanksgiving will be a multi-course, family-style meal for $80 per person, with things like turkey alla porchetta, jook porridge, and cranberry mostarda.
photo credit: Daniel
For a formal, white-tablecloth Thanksgiving dinner, Daniel on the UES is your best bet. You’ll pay fine-dining prices—the three-course prix-fixe starts at $295 per person—but you’ll also eat somewhere with surprisingly lively old-school New York vibes, and food that lives up to the classic establishment’s reputation. The menu leans French, with turkey in ballotine form, and fall squash velouté served with lobster. Wine pairings are an additional $215, and if you’re really ready to start splurging for the holidays, there’s also a white truffle supplement for $140.
We don’t know that any Venetians will be sitting around a turkey saying “Thanks” this month, but we do know they do fabulous things with duck, so we fully support Ci Siamo’s Venetian-inspired Thanksgiving plans. Duck will make an appearance in this sprawling dining room near Hudson Yards, as will prosciutto-wrapped turkey, and some of Ci Siamo’s signature dishes. The three-course menu costs $148 per person.
Bad Roman is one of the more unhinged new restaurants to open this year. Between the creamsicle color scheme, animal statues, and a full-on fountain, this Italian spot feels like it should be in Vegas, but it’s actually tucked into one corner of the Deutsche Bank Center (formerly the Time Warner Center). Expect an Italian-ish spread, featuring roasted turkey, sweet sausage and mushroom, and maple-glazed stuffing. It’ll run you $56 per person.
We can’t remember the last time we saw tofurkey on a Thanksgiving table, and we’re very ok with that. For an elegant, plant-based feast, visit Jean-Georges vegetarian restaurant in Flatiron. On Thanksgiving day, they’ll be offering their a la carte menus (lunch + dinner), and a family-style prix-fixe menu for $148 per person that features green thumb twists on classics like roasted cabbage, sherry mushroom gravy, and pumpkin sundaes.
A subterranean room designed to look like a really nice boat, Lure is one of the best people-watching restaurants in New York City. The Soho spot will be open from 12-8pm on Thanksgiving day, serving a special set menu for $105 per person. Get turkey, filet mignon, or go wild with skate wing Grenobloise and fried brussels sprouts. They will also have kid’s plates for $42 that include roasted turkey, mashed sweet potato and cranberry sauce.
photo credit: Teddy Wolff
POWERED BY
The Smith is perhaps the most useful restaurant on this list, especially if you have picky eaters in your family. It’s also about half the price of many Thanksgiving deals. For $78 a person, all four locations of the chain will be serving a three-course, prix fixe that should satisfy all involved. For those who want turkey, there are three different options. Turkey not your thing? There’s also rigatoni, salmon, and short-rib. It comes with all the fixings, and more snacks and raw bar items are available à la carte.
Thanksgiving Take-Home Kits & Pies
photo credit: Kate Previte
Let Edy’s Grocer sort out the food at your cute Brooklyn Friendsgiving this year. Greenpoint’s favorite Lebanese market is making a Middle Eastern feast, with dishes like maple pumpkin dip, fig jam “stuffins,” zesty turkey, and tahini apple pie. You can get the individual dishes a la carte, or take home a complete Thanksgiving feast for $350. It should feed 6-8 people. The last day to put in your pre-order is 11/17.
photo credit: Walson Luu
POWERED BY
This Harlem tasting menu spot isn’t doing Thanksgiving dinner in-house, but their crew have put together a take-home kit that you can try to pass off as your own. That is, if anyone will buy that you dreamed up their black walnut brined turkey, foraged cranberry terrine, and black garlic gravy all on your own. Reverence is known for its California-inspired cuisine, emphasis on fermentation, and Sunday chicken dinners, and you’ll see those influences on their holiday menu too. Each meal kit should feed two to four people, and includes five sides, salad, dessert, and a half-cooked turkey to finish at home.
photo credit: Agi's Counter
Are you on dessert duty this year? Yeah, you could bring over the same old pumpkin and pecan pies, or you could show off with one of Agi’s special cheesecakes. The day-time cafe does incredibly luxurious takes on food inspired by the owner’s Hungarian-Austrian grandmother, and they’re particularly good at dessert. You can pre-order two full cheesecakes, for $65 each: a classic cheesecake with blueberry coriander compote, or the olive oil and pumpkin caraway cheesecake. Pick up is at the counter on Monday 11/20 or Tuesday 11/21.
photo credit: Kate Previte
Hosting Thanksgiving is all fun and games until you realize you don’t actually have room for a big-ass bird in your little New York oven. Grab some turkey pot pies and apple cider gravy from The Bakery at Greywind instead. They’re doing 9-inch pies for $78 a pop, and they should feed 6-8 people each. These are only available for pick-up on 11/22 and 11/23 in Hudson Yards via pre-order. Email hello@greywind.nyc to get yours.
photo credit: @kenscamera
Kora makes some of the best doughnuts in the city, but for Thanksgiving you can pre-order their beautiful, Filipino-inspired pies ($48) and cookies for pick-up in Long Island City. Instead of pumpkin and apple pie, bring a kalabasa spice pie or a sampalok apple to your dinner. Pick-ups are available for November 21-23.