Updated October 23, 2016. Come back for more restaurants and info.
Thanksgiving is the greatest feasting day on the calendar. It includes everybody in America–even those who don’t want to be included. For most people the menu is traditional and homestyle, using ingredients that are neither expensive nor unusual. Still, we all expect Thanksgiving to be a grand feast. The everyday is not good enough.
If you’re cooking at home, you have generations of experience behind you and millions of recipes to refer to. Still, every year, every cook tries to make the dinner better. Fortunately, there’s not just one way to prepare a turkey or a ham or all the side dishes that make Thanksgiving so rich and plentiful. That makes the holiday better still.
But the biggest change in Thanksgiving feasting in my lifetime is the growth in the number of people who dine out on that day. Not all that long ago, only the lonely and travelers were found in restaurants on Thanksgiving. No more. Restaurants are full of Thanksgiving diners now, most in large family groups. The holiday has become one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants that choose to open. Unfortunately, the number of restaurants open on Turkey Day is not enough to handle the demand. You should make reservations as soon as you decide to dine out on Thanksgiving. And get ready for prices that will probably be a bit more expensive than the ones you’re accustomed to.
Below is our annual list of Thanksgiving restaurants. It is still in flux. You’d be surprised how long some restaurant wait before making their Thanksgiving plans. Or how late they’ll change them. I’ll update the list daily to keep up with interesting last-minute openings. Many restaurants book up the 1-3 p.m. seatings very quickly. So be ready to take another time.
As is our standard practice, NOMenu’s Thanksgiving selections are differentiated by ratings. So as not to confuse the Thanksgiving ratings with our overall fleur-de-lis and star ratings, these are on a scale of one to three turkeys. (Sorry. I couldn’t resist.) All are recommended.
Disclaimer: With forty or fifty people coming to my house every year for the past twenty, it is a long time since I last dined in a restaurant on Thanksgiving. I base the selection and the turkeys on the restaurant’s performance the rest of the year, what I heard from diners last year, and the appeal of its holiday menu.
Note To Restaurateurs Open On Thanksgiving: We’ll be happy to add you to the list at no charge. Please send your Thanksgiving plans in detail as soon as you can to news@nomenu.com.
Annadele Plantation. Covington: 71518 Chestnut St. 985-809-7669. Three courses from a special menu, $48, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Arnaud’s. French Quarter: 813 Bienville. 504-523-5433. A special four-course menu for $55, with a mix of traditional Thanksgiving dishes and Arnaud’s specialties.
Bayona. French Quarter: 430 Dauphine. 504-525-4455. A fifty-fifty mix of traditional Thanksgiving eats with Susan Spicer’s imaginative menu.
Borgne. CBD: 601 Loyola Ave (Hyatt Regency Hotel). 504-613-3860. A special four-course menu, plus a limited regular menu with more seafood than typical.
Bourbon House. French Quarter: 144 Bourbon. 504-522-0111. Regular menu and Thanksgiving specials, entrees $26-32.
Broussard’s. French Quarter: 819 Conti. 504-581-3866. An especially beautiful setting, with the courtyard open. Special menu, price to be announced (around $50).
Cafe Adelaide. CBD: 300 Poydras St. 504-595-3305. Special menu, 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. A large a la carte menu at regular prices (entree in the mid-$20s) is abetted by a special three-course, $38 menu whose centerpiece is turducken–a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey, with stuffings. It’s a dish more talked about than cooked, but if you want to try it, here it is.
Café B. Metairie 1: Old Metairie: 2700 Metairie Road. 504-934-4700. Special menu, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Three courses, $35-$50.
Cafe Giovanni. French Quarter: 117 Decatur. 504-529-2154. Special menu, three courses, $49, noon-4 p.m. The usual fine singers will perform.
Chophouse. CBD: 322 Magazine St. 504-522-7902. This high-end steakhouse is promoting its steaks as an alternative to the standard turkey dinner. If that appeals to you, there they are. Handsome place.
Commander’s Palace. Uptown 1: Garden District & Environs: 1403 Washington Ave. 504-899-8221. Special menu. Very likely already to be sold out.
Criollo. French Quarter: 214 Royal. 504-523-3341. The new restaurant in the Monteleone Hotel serves its fourth Thanksgiving dinner in a handsome restaurant with an imaginative, current New Orleans-style menu.
Crystal Room. CBD: Le Pavillon Hotel, 901 Poydras. 504-581-3111. Buffet, a bit less expensive than in the other hotels, and for that reason fills up early. Food is good as buffets go.
Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse. French Quarter: 716 Iberville. 504-522-2467. Regular dinner menu and Thanksgiving specials, 3-9 p.m.
Domenica. CBD: 123 Baronne (Roosevelt Hotel). 504-648-6020. Special Thanksgiving menu, $55.
Five Happiness. Mid-City: 3605 S Carrollton. 504-482-3935. Five Happiness does most of its business in the evening, when it draws many young adults who don’t like the idea of the standard turkey dinner, and get hungry for something more interesting (Chinese food) at dinnertime.
Heritage Grill. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 111 Veterans Blvd. 504-934-4900. Buffet 11 a.m.-5 p.m. $45 adults, child’s menu available. This is a sleeper, a Ralph Brennan restaurant with very good food and one of the only buffets in Metairie. Endless Champagne, $12.
Irish House. Uptown 1: Garden District & Environs: 1432 St Charles Ave. 504-595-6755. Special three-course menu with many choices. Price not given; probably around $50. Open all day
Latil’s Landing. River Parishes: In Houmas House Plantation. 225-473-9380. This is the grand restaurant in Houmas House Plantation, on the River Road, halfway from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Buffet, noon-4 p.m. $55, $25 forchildren.
Lebanon’s Cafe. Uptown 4: Riverbend, Carrollton & Broadmoor: 1500 S Carrollton Ave. 504-862-6200. The standard Lebanese restaurant is here for those looking for an alternative to turkey. Open all day.
Lüke. CBD: 333 St Charles Ave. 504-378-2840. John Besh’s most popular restaurant. Special menu all day.
Maple Street Cafe. Uptown 4: Riverbend, Carrollton & Broadmoor: 7623 Maple. 504-314-9003. Special menu of three courses (including the traditional dishes) $39, $18 children under 12. Noon-7 p.m.
Mr. B’s Bistro. French Quarter: 201 Royal. 504-523-2078. Special menu, featuring free-range turkeys and the full a la carte menu. Thanksgiving day three-course prix-fixe, $37-$53. Chrildren’s menu $13. Noon-8 p.m.
Muriel’s. French Quarter: 801 Chartres. 504-568-1885. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Special menu, three courses, $45.
N’Tini’s. Mandeville: 2891 US 190. 985-626-5566. Special Turkey Day menu, prix-fixe $409. Children 6-12 $20.
Palace Cafe. French Quarter: 605 Canal. 504-523-1661. Special menu, a la carte, entrees $22-35. 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
Ralph’s On The Park. City Park Area: 900 City Park Ave. 504-488-1000. Very substantial special menu, three courses $54. The vista of city Park across the street is perfect.
Red Fish Grill. French Quarter: 115 Bourbon. 504-598-1200. Buffet 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m., $59, kids $19, under 6 free. It’s not an enormous hotel-style buffet, but the food is fresh and distinctly Creole. Lots going on for the kids.
Restaurant August. CBD: 301 Tchoupitoulas. 504-299-9777. The most ambitious Thanksgiving menu to be found. The early menu (11 a.m. until 2 p.m. five courses for $60) is for family. From 5 p.m. until 10 p.m., a different five courses is $97. Wine pairings are available for $40 midday, and $50 in the evening. There will probably be revisions of this menu.
Restaurant des Familles. Marrero To Lafitte: 7163 Barataria Blvd. 504-689-7834. Way out on the bayou twenty minutes from downtown, and quite an environment. Special menu to be announced.
Roux On Orleans. French Quarter: 717 Orleans (Bourbon Orleans Hotel). 504-571-4604. The restaurant of the Bourbon Orleans, a block in back of St. Louis Cathedral. Seated dinner $44 tax and tip included (!). 5:30-10 p.m.
Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 3633 Veterans Blvd. 504-888-3600. Thanksgiving special dinner for ($40 price subject to change) . Regular menu available. Noon-8 p.m.
Ruth’s Chris Steak House. CBD: 525 Fulton St. 504-587-7099. Thanksgiving special dinner for ($40 price subject to change) . Regular menu available. Noon-8 p.m.
Trenasse. CBD: 444 St Charles Ave. 504-680-7000. Not yet posted. Last year brought a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for $28. The regular dinner menu, at the usual prices, is also available.
Tujague’s. French Quarter: 823 Decatur. 504-525-8676. Usual table d’hote dinner, with fresh turkey and other Thanksgiving dishes, about $40 (this price will probably go up). 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Vacherie. French Quarter: 827 1/2 Toulouse St. 504-207-4532. This boutique hotel in the French Quarter has continually expanded the reach and goodness of its restaurant, particularly on holidays. Thanksgiving this year brings a buffet (this is subject to change) from noon until 4 p.m. The price is $39 adults, $18 children.
Windsor Court Grill Room. CBD: 300 Gravier. 504-522-1994. Special menu, four courses, $95. It’s offered all day long: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.