Thanksgiving dinner (or brunch) in New York doesn’t have to be traditional. You can have an all-American turkey-with-all-the-trimmings version, or change it up with some international spice. Here are 23 choices that will keep you out of the kitchen and enjoying a festive meal.
The Standard Grill
Courtesy The Standard Grill
The Standard Grill invites you to dine indoors or outdoors to observe an American Thanksgiving dinner, enhanced with the restaurant’s seasonal favorites. You’ll love Chef Jean-Paul Lourdes’ traditional turkey with truffle stuffing, roasted root veggies and cranberry sauce. Non-meat eaters have of-the-season choices like roasted pumpkin ravioli with black sesame, or big-eye tuna Wellington with mushroom duxelles. Desserts stick to holiday favorites apple and cherry pies. You can walk off your dinner with a stroll along the adjacent High Line.
The Polo Bar
Courtesy The Polo Bar
It’s no surprise Ralph Lauren’s The Polo Bar stays true to tradition for Thanksgiving. After all, this is Ralph Lauren, the embodiment of Americana in dress as well as food. The restaurant will prepare classics done Polo Bar-style including Green Circle Farms free-range turkey, Calvados gravy, maple-bacon baby Brussels sprouts, sweet potato gratin, house-made cornbread, cranberry sauce and chestnut stuffing. Desserts are equally enticing with a choice of apple-quince pie, pumpkin and vanilla-bourbon ice cream sundae, and Charleston bourbon pecan pie. Side dishes can be added to the family-style meal along with wine or cocktails. Add a Polo Bar touch with dinner menu favorites including shrimp cocktail, Ralph’s corned beef bites, kale and autumn root vegetable salad, pigs in a blanket, honeynut squash soup, pumpkin cheesecake, classic cheesecake, old-fashioned five-layer chocolate cake and coconut cake.
Charlie Palmer Steak NY
Courtesy Charlie Palmer Steak NY
Charlie Palmer Steak NY keeps it strictly American with a family-style meal that includes all dishes on the prix fixe menu. Come hungry because you’ll have three starters of chicory salad, deviled eggs, and local apples with cheddar cheese, followed by roasted McEnroe Farms boneless turkey roast with turkey gravy, classic sourdough stuffing, potato purée, green bean casserole, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato gratin and cranberry sauce. Dessert is a trio of traditional seasonal favorite pies: pumpkin, apple and pecan. Plan on a serious Thanksgiving nap after this feast!
Cote
Courtesy Cote
You might not think of a Korean steakhouse as a go-to for Thanksgiving Day, But Simon Kim’s feast will make you reconsider. The prix fixe menu is purely Cote, combining four select cuts of USDA Prime and American Wagyu beef (hanger, 45-day ribeye, flatiron, and galbi) with a variety of Korean accompaniments. Instead of the usual mashed or sweet potatoes, you’ll enjoy savory egg soufflé, Korean glass noodles, spicy kimchi stew and sticky rice stuffing with Chinese sausage ad shiitake mushrooms. For dessert, no worries. You’ll have ice cream as you should on Thanksgiving. Festive cocktails will be served as well.
Soogil
Soogil © MST Creative PR
Taking it one step further, French Korean gem Soogil offers a luxurious six-course Thanksgiving feast. Drawing on both Korean ingredients and his French training, Chef Soogil Lim has created a delicious menu worthy of holiday celebrations, combining seasonal ingredients like Brussels sprouts and honeynut squash with French classics like foie gras and caviar. Main courses include a choice of boneless turkey roulade stuffed with foie and served with cranberry sauce, sweet potato beignet and turkey gravy, or grilled American wagyu galbi short ribs with 24-hour soy Bordelaise sauce, Korean sweet potato beignet and matsutake mushrooms. For dessert, Chef brings back his Korean childhood favorite, dalgona candy that is having a moment thanks to Netflix’s Squid Game.
Hortus NYC
Courtesy Hortus NYC
Designed by Executive Chef Lenny Moon, modern Asian Hortus NYC will be featuring an eclectic Thanksgiving menu, infusing Southeast Asian flavors with European techniques. The prix fixe menu begins with a Hortus Royal Platter for Two comprised of a chilled lobster tail, yellowfin tuna crudo and a shrimp cocktail, followed by a crispy duck taco topped with Sichuan cranberry sauce, lettuce and mango salsa. Diners will then choose an appetizer and entrée from the à la carte menu such as kabocha pumpkin soup or Surf and Turf, a decadent mix of filet mignon, truffle butter, grilled lobster, lobster mac and cheese, and maitake mushroom. The meal ends with chocolate cheesecake topped with black sesame mascarpone cream.
Victor’s Cafe
Courtesy Victor’s Cafe
If you’re planning to hit the parade route, Victor’s Café is an easy walk for a post-float celebration. Opening its doors when Santa makes his last foray down Central Park West, the 50-year-old Cuban restaurant offers Thanksgiving lunch, now provided by founder Victor Del Corral’s daughter and grandchildren. Located in the Theater District, Victor’s has a Latin-spiced meal in store with pavo asado, a traditional roasted turkey, spiced up with cornbread and chorizo stuffing. Add to that sweet potato mash and cranberry sauce to keep the American tradition, enhanced with Victor’s famous black beans and rice, and a dessert of flan de calabaza and you certainly won’t miss your usual pumpkin pie. And what could be more Latin than a mojito with your turkey? If you decide you need to thaw out a bit after the parade before you dine, dinner will be served until 10pm.
Miss Lily’s
Miss Lily’s © 15.IANGITTLER
For Thanksgiving, Miss Lily’s two downtown locations will offer a Jamaican spin on a traditional Thanksgiving meal with a three-course Caribbean feast. Enjoy a slow-roasted jerk turkey with rich gravy, stuffing, mac & cheese pie, and Jamaican greens along with a choice of appetizer (cod fritters or Caribbean pumpkin soup) and a choice of puddings for dessert (signature Miss Homey sweet potato or old-fashioned banana cream). You may not be on an island holiday, but you’ll certainly feel like you are!
POPULAR
POPULAR Courtesy Ian Schrager’s PUBLIC hotel
Located at Ian Schrager’s PUBLIC hotel, POPULAR introduces a special Peruvian-inspired Thanksgiving menu with Pisco cocktails. Created by Chef Diego Muñoz (Astrid y Gaston, Lima), the family-style set menu offers an Andean twist for the holiday with a crème brûlée-inspired take on a Pisco Sour, turkey cooked two ways (herb-roasted white meat and confit dark meat), stuffing made with mirepoix, and Chef’s grandma’s recipe for cranberry sauce. An exciting side, Peruvian-inflected Brussels sprouts are fried with an ají limo maple glaze and citrus zest. Dessert is one that can’t be found anywhere else in NYC: Peruvian chocolate and pecan pie with a salted crust and a side of lucuma ice cream.
Portale
Courtesy Portale
Reflective of Chef Alfred Portale’s Italian heritage, Portale will be offering a three-course prix fixe menu featuring a selection of appetizers, entrees and desserts with an Italian twist. Guests can choose from the likes of terrina with Muscovy duck, foie gras and kumquat mostarda or Chef’s acclaimed crudo di tonno to start, followed by entrees including mafaldine pasta with Maine lobster, Calabrian chili and lemon-basil butter or tacchino with roast turkey, duck confit, sour cherry stuffing, Brussels sprouts and rainbow carrots. Dessert is a decadent bourbon pecan torta.
Courtesy L’Amico
L’amico means friend in Italian and Chef Laurent Tourondel wants you to invite all of your friends and family for an Italian-influenced Thanksgiving dinner in the Kimpton Hotel Eventi. Diners can choose from a selection of appetizers such as crispy Parmesan sformato with prosciutto San Daniele and truffle vinaigrette or butternut squash soup with fontina agnolotti sage. Entrées entice with blends of varying flavors like the wood-fire roasted Heritage turkey with cranberry-orange mostards, oreganata gravy, chestnut, and pork sausage stuffing; or king salmon with Sicilian cauliflower, currants, pistachio, kabocha squash and balsamico. Sides are equally intriguing such as spaghetti squash with gorgonzola and pine nuts or Brussels sprouts with honey and guanciale. Pumpkin pie is tarted up a la dolce vita with a hazelnut crunch and amaretto whipped cream.
Socarrat Paella Bar
Courtesy Socarrat Paella Bar
For a Spanish twist to Thanksgiving, why not consider a paella instead of a turkey? Socarrat Paella Bar begins the meal with gambas al ajillo and a pear and squash salad. The star of the show is Socarrat’s Thanksgiving Paella artfully composed with confit turkey leg, roasted turkey breast, chorizo, butternut squash, piquillo peppers and mushroom sofrito. Sides are slightly more traditional including crispy Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with shaved almonds, and cranberry bread stuffing. Dessert lets you choose which country’s sweets your prefer: pick either American-traditional pumpkin cheesecake or Spain’s popular cinnamon-sugar churros with seasonally appropriate apple-caramel sauce.
Pekarna NY
Courtesy Pekarna NY
At Pekarna NY, Executive Chef Kamal Hoyte offers up an unusual Thanksgiving meal, melding traditional Slovenian with New American seasonal dishes. His four-course prix fixe menu is reminiscent of dishes found in the former Yugoslavian country, including the Pekarna salad with cranberries, hard-boiled egg, heirloom tomatoes, pickled red onion, crispy chickpeas and shaved Gruyere; turkey roulade stuffed with button mushrooms; and roasted fingerling potatoes and grilled asparagus. For dessert, the Slovenian apple wrap is a thing of beauty, a baked apple roll with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg topped with vanilla gelato.
Veranda
Courtesy Veranda
Chef George Mendes’ three-course prix fixe menu for Veranda’s first Thanksgiving starts with housemade sourdough and includes an array of traditional American dishes mixed with Portuguese surprises. Think squash soup, Pennsylvania turkey with chestnut-brioche stuffing, and pumpkin spiced cheesecake from the US, with a medley of dishes inspired by Mendes’ Portuguese heritage including shrimp “Alhinho” with sweet smoked pimenton, garlic, olive oil and pressed shrimp jus; and arroz de pato with duck confit, chorizo, black olive, orange and crispy duck skin.
Bar Benno
Bar Benno © Emily Chan
Michelin-starred Chef Jonathan Benno offers a Parisian-style Thanksgiving meal at Bar Benno in NoMad’s Evelyn Hotel. Benno’s French take on the holiday comes with a multi-course feast of roasted turkey with sage-infused gravy and holiday stuffing with house-made pain de campagne, Union Square Green Market Brussels sprouts with caramelized onion, and cranberry-orange compote. Leonelli Bakery provides the desserts, classic pumpkin pie with mascarpone swirl, or pecan pie made with Old Grandad bourbon.
The Fulton
Courtesy The Fulton
Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s first seafood restaurant, The Fulton invites diners to a Thanksgiving meal mixing French and American dishes at his waterfront eatery at the Seaport. The three-course prix fixe menu offers a petite seafood plateau, yellowfin tuna tartare and butternut squash minestrone as starters, with entrees including pepper-crusted beef sirloin or roasted organic turkey. Dessert choices eschew traditional pies, offering fig tart or apple tarte tatin instead.
Fig & Olive
Courtesy Fig & Olive
A Côte d’Azur-inspired three-course meal awaits at Fig & Olive on Thanksgiving. Classics like roasted rainbow carrots and sweet potato mix with Mediterranean and American dishes including French onion soup and Beeler’s pork belly. For the main course, meat eaters and vegetarians will enjoy a choice of free-range turkey or pumpkin risotto. Desserts blend the two continental influences with a choice of pumpkin Bundt cake or gateau au fromage.
Celestine
Celestine © Daniel Krieger
For a Mediterranean twist with views of Manhattan instead of Italy, Celestine is the place to be for Thanksgiving brunch and dinner. Traditional American ingredients like chicory and delicata squash mix with Mediterranean Castelfranco, Trevisano radicchio and Pecorino cheese. Meat eaters will enjoy turkey served as a roulade with fresh herbs and pan gravy while vegetarians can opt for wild mushroom tagliatelle. Other items on the menu span both European and American influences with pommes purées, sourdough stuffing, Parker House rolls, and a dessert choice of either apple galette with crème fraîche or pumpkin cake with spiced cream cheese frosting.
Old John’s Diner
Old John’s Diner © Meryl Pearlstein
Nothing is more American than a meal at an old-timey diner, and for Thanksgiving the newly re-opened Old John’s Diner has a meal that is pure comfort food. For a mere $45 per person, you’ll get a three-course meal that also includes a glass of wine. The menu for the day features tortellini vegetable soup; roasted turkey breast with mashed potatoes, sweet potato mash, gravy and cranberry sauce; and a choice of apple or pumpkin pie for dessert. Sometimes simplicity is the sweetest thing.
Brooklyn Diner
Brooklyn Diner © Meryl Pearlstein
Curiously not located in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Diner gives Manhattanites a taste of the other borough with another affordable, traditional feast. For $40 per person, the all-American menu features a free-range herb-roasted turkey along with pecan pie.
Parade Watching: JAMS
Courtesy 1 Hotel Central Park
Helmed by acclaimed Chef Jonathan Waxman, Jams at 1 Hotel Central Park offers a comfortable way to watch the parade while indulging in a great Thanksgiving brunch. The restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows offer privileged indoor viewing of the floats and bands as they make their way down Sixth Avenue. Jams will be hosting a full day of Thanksgiving dining experiences including brunch and post-parade dining serving up both hot and cold buffets at each. Pretty much every sort of holiday and seasonal food is included from mini butternut quiches to roasted turkey and peppercorn-crusted ham and brunchy items like French toast sticks and pastries. If you have your heart set on watching the parade in situ, this is a fabulous way to do it.
Dessert Only (Maybe): Black Tap
Black Tap © Black Tap
So turkey isn’t your thing but you want to celebrate Thanksgiving in a novel way? Then this one’s for you: Black Tap has created a new, crazy shake with all of the holiday flavors. The over-the-top Pumpkin Cheesecake CrazyShake® is a pumpkin-spiced shake with a vanilla-frosted rim with mini marshmallows topped with a pumpkin cheesecake slice, whipped cream and pumpkin spice.
Black Tap © Black Tap
But don’t worry – if you’d prefer your shake as a dessert after something turkey, Black Tap’s Thanksgiving Burger will certainly fit the bill. Almost as large as the shake, the turkey burger comes with Brie, applewood smoked bacon, corn and sage potato roll stuffing, cranberry and orange aioli.
Leftovers All Month Long: Industry Kitchen
Courtesy Industry Kitchen
Everyone knows the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. At Industry Kitchen, the team at this Seaport restaurant is reprising their creative twist on holiday flavors with their Thanksgiving Pizza. The wood-fired pizza combines the classic spread of turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing to create a dish that balances the sweet and salty flavors of Thanksgiving. The happy news? It’s available through the entire month of November.
