DCGuide
12 Great DC Restaurants For Thanksgiving Dinner
photo credit: Greg Powers
DC has lots of great restaurants that serve Thanksgiving dinner (with varying degrees of traditionalism), and our guide has you covered for a number of different scenarios—like forcing your family to eat in public so they (hopefully) can’t get into screaming fights about religion, politics, or the Washington Commanders’ season.
Note: We’ll be updating this list often as more restaurants release their Thanksgiving specials, so check back.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Nina Palazzolo
The meal: Items range from $38-50.
If you’re assigned dessert this year, we got good news. Yellow, a Palestinian cafe in Georgetown that we love, is offering a roundup of their fall favorites. Preorder pumpkin goat labneh cheesecake, ras el hanout pecan pie, or a bake-at-home knafeh to impress your family. Or yourself—who says you have to share?
photo credit: Nina Palazzolo
The meal: A smoked turkey for $150-200 or a turkey and four sides for $350.
DC barbecue and Thanksgiving go hand-in-hand, or at least that’s the case at DCity Smokehouse, where you can order a whole smoked turkey. The barbecue spot is also offering a dinner package that includes sides like mashed sweet potatoes, cornbread, and their spicy jack mac and cheese.
The meal: A $250 take-home dinner that serves 3-4.
Moon Rabbit may have closed earlier this year, but the restaurant’s legacy lives on. This Thanksgiving, Kevin Tien and his team have a package that includes gochujang mac and cheese, miso mashed potatoes, and five-spice roasted turkey. Make sure to place your order by noon on Friday, November 17th.
photo credit: Nina Palazzolo
The meal: A $65 prix fixe menu.
Thanksgiving is a quintessential American holiday, but why not take a detour to France? Le Diplomate, the popular French brasserie steps away from Logan Circle, is offering a $65 prix fixe dinner that has previously included pumpkin soup, roasted turkey breast, and leg confit. Snag reservations early as spots do tend to fill up quickly. Reservations open up November 1st.
The meal: Two dinner options: a $110 three-course prix fixe menu or a $100 Thanksgiving buffet.
If you’re looking for a place to have a small, intimate dinner with your family—or solo if you need alone time from said family—the Tabard Inn is your spot. The quaint, quirky restaurant is offering a three-course meal with at least one vegetarian option per course. Which is good news for everyone looking to avoid tofurky this season.
The meal: Items range from $12-$87.
Thanksgiving can be tough if you’re vegetarian or vegan, thankfully the good folks at Sticky Fingers Diner have you covered. Pre-order a complete vegan Thanksgiving dinner or pick and choose your favorites from their menu, which you can then pick up at either their Columbia Heights or H St. locations. The menu includes fried chickpea seitan with gravy, and of course, sweet treats like sticky buns and pumpkin pie.
photo credit: Reema Desai
The meal: A $180 takeout dinner that serves six.
La Famosa in Navy Yard is offering a family-style takeout Thanksgiving where the turkey will be roasted and seasoned and side dishes will include sweet plantains, Puerto Rican rice and peas and guava and orange infused cranberry sauce.
The meal: An $85 prix fixe menu, plus a takeout option.
Swap the turkey for lamb at Maydan where Thanksgiving is served tawle (family style). This Middle Eastern restaurant cooks its food in a wood-fired hearth right at the center of the restaurant. (Which is a great conversation starter if you’re looking to roast this year’s presidential candidates alongside some roasted asparagus.) Expect an assortment of the restaurant’s classics on the menu, including their famous bread, bittersweet shanklish-stuffed dates, and a seared baharat-seasoned rack of lamb. An all vegetarian menu is also available.
The meal: Three-course menu, $68
Unlike your aunt’s experimental mac and cheese, The Smith will offend the fewest people possible. The American brasserie in Penn Quarter is serving a $68 three-course dinner. Details of the dishes are still being decided, but you can expect things like turkey served three ways (roasted, braised, or pot pie) alongside butternut squash soup, ricotta gnocchi, and pumpkin cheesecake in a jar.
POWERED BY
The meal: A $45 three-course prix fixe menu, plus a takeout option.
Founding Farmers, along with its sister restaurants Farmers Fishers Bakers and Farmers & Distillers, is a great option for those looking to eat anything but turkey. The restaurants are offering the same three-course menu where you can choose from eight main course options like ham, fried chicken, prime rib, and pan-seared whitefish. There’s also turkey if you really can’t let it go.
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The meal: A dine-in family style dinner, plus a takeout option.
You were supposed to visit your family, but you missed the flight. Or maybe work has you here for the holidays. Whatever the reason, Georgia Brown’s brings a little bit of the deep South to DC. The downtown restaurant drops you in the middle of a New Orleans jazz club complete with a grand piano. The menu will probably be similar to last year’s, which included fried turkey, mac and cheese, and cognac bread pudding.
The meal: A la carte from a Thanksgiving special menu, $50 for adults, $25 for kids 12 and younger. There's also a takeout option.
Unconventional Diner in Shaw, a go-to for group outings, is serving up a Thanksgiving dinner with all the classics: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. The old timey diner might even stir up some interesting stories from the more seasoned members of your group—a way better use of time than any conversation about who is at fault for the state of the economy.
