Thanksgiving Seatings At Local Restaurants - Who's Open

Five weeks till Thanksgiving. Not all that long really. Our plans have changed and we're going to be in town this year. We've pretty much decided to have dinner out.

Who's open? What's the Menu? Special seatings? Buffet?

From past experience which 'name' hotel in town has the Thanksgiving Spread Not To Be Missed.

Our best ever hotel was the Ritz Carlton in Naples Fl.

We already have reservations for the English Grille which we've been going to for a long time on Thanksgiving. They do a very nice meal with appetizers, soups, etc. being a buffet, then the entrée being from a special menu and then again desserts from a buffet. It makes the day very special, throw in the great food and beautiful setting and what could be bad.

[Robin Garr]

Good timing, Richard! I usually "stick" a post like this on top of the forum a couple of weeks before holidays, but what the heck, let's go ahead and do it now.

We already have reservations for the English Grille which we've been going to for a long time on Thanksgiving. They do a very nice meal with appetizers, soups, etc. being a buffet, then the entrée being from a special menu and then again desserts from a buffet. It makes the day very special, throw in the great food and beautiful setting and what could be bad.

That is pretty much how the Ritz Carlton was. The service was excellent and the food magnificent. The wait staff had on White Gloves. I have put English Grill on my list to pass along up the chain of SSU to see what happens.

Thanks for the idea and comments.

" There’s a movement to stop stores from opening up on Thanksgiving Day for Black Friday shopping. DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse’s CEO says his stores won’t open until 7 AM on Friday itself. “Family comes first and you should be home celebrating with them”. I agree with them, actually."

http://kluv.cbslocal.com/2014/10/22/dav ... nksgiving/

Seriously. Can't you cook for yourselves once a year? The only reason any restaurant is open on Thanksgiving is the greed of the proprietor. Believe me, no one wants to work on Thanksgiving. Restaurant employees have families too.

" There’s a movement to stop stores from opening up on Thanksgiving Day for Black Friday shopping. DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse’s CEO says his stores won’t open until 7 AM on Friday itself. “Family comes first and you should be home celebrating with them”. I agree with them, actually."

http://kluv.cbslocal.com/2014/10/22/dav ... nksgiving/

I'm glad to see that this movement is starting, hopefully it will catch on and everybody will go back to not opening until Friday morning! Now if we could just get a movement to stop place from putting up Christmas decorations until Thanksgiving week!

Seriously. Can't you cook for yourselves once a year? The only reason any restaurant is open on Thanksgiving is the greed of the proprietor. Believe me, no one wants to work on Thanksgiving. Restaurant employees have families too.

That's not the reason that a lot of people go out for Thanksgiving dinner. We can certainly cook a great spread for Thanksgiving and have in the past but it's just the two of us here in Louisville and we don't want to go through all that hassle for a nice Thanksgiving dinner for two people! Going out we get a big spread Thanksgiving dinner without the hassle of cooking and the tons of leftovers we would have if we made it just for the two of us. I'm sure many people have other reasons for going out on Thanksgiving but I bet most of them aren't because they don't want to cook.

Some restaurant employees WANT to work on holidays - the money is good. Some do not have family to celebrate with and some just are willing for the extra cash. I worked a job for 34 years that included holidays and we just worked around it.

Like Mark, most of our family has grown and moved away. We usually visit one of the kids for the big holidays these days, but cannot due to circumstances beyond our control this year. Back when the kids were home, I cooked, even on those holidays I had to work. Since I worked mostly nights, a lot of prep was done for days ahead so I could get a little sleep.

When we eat in a restaurant on a holiday we are very generous tippers and thank our servers for giving up their holiday for us. Our time for cooking the huge spread is past, please do not begrudge us our wish to have a nice meal cooked by someone else.

[Robin Garr]

Thread drift happens. No harm, no foul. But now that this has moved well away from its original intent, I'm going to "un-stick" it, and then start a new Thanksgiving open/closed topic a little closer to the holiday.

[Robin Garr]

The only reason any restaurant is open on Thanksgiving is the greed of the proprietor. Believe me, no one wants to work on Thanksgiving. Restaurant employees have families too.

In my opinion, the truly outstanding restaurants are the ones where the staff is passionate and everyone from owner to chef to busser works as a team to make the dining experience great. When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and that includes rocking it on a holiday to give the restaurant's guests an awesome experience.

I don't hear that here. Are you in the restaurant business, Gary?

Well, first of all I apologize for derailing the thread. It's just that every year when I see the inevitable "Who's open on Thanksgiving/X-mas" threads I cringe a little.

Yes, I am in the industry. And while I agree there might be a few people who don't mind working on Thanksgiving, a vast majority do.

You have to realize that we work EVERY holiday. While you are enjoying your Easter or Mother's Day, we are setting up for brunch. When you're out watching fireworks on the 4th of July or attending Halloween parties, we are standing around in an empty restaurant rethinking our life choices.

Some holidays are extremely busy and you know it's just part of the job that you're going to have to work. It just seems that on the one day dedicated to family and food, everyone should be enjoying their family and food, not cooking and serving other people's families.

I can appreciate the dedication put in by the restaurants that do stay open, I'm just wise enough not to work in those establishments. Doesn't mean I don't feel for them.

[Robin Garr]

You have to realize that we work EVERY holiday. While you are enjoying your Easter or Mother's Day, we are setting up for brunch. When you're out watching fireworks on the 4th of July or attending Halloween parties, we are standing around in an empty restaurant rethinking our life choices.

Sounds like a good column for Marsha! I think she may have already done one, though ...

Anyway, Gary, your points are well-taken, and you weren't alone in derailing the thread. The original poster actually did that.

Gary, as you said you work in a service industry and working on holidays is part of the industry, something you knew going in and others in the industry should also know that. It's not a shame that some people have to work on this or any other holiday because otherwise many of us wouldn't be able to enjoy a nice meal for the holiday due to extenuating circumstances.

Gary, as you said you work in a service industry and working on holidays is part of the industry, something you knew going in and others in the industry should also know that. It's not a shame that some people have to work on this or any other holiday because otherwise many of us wouldn't be able to enjoy a nice meal for the holiday due to extenuating circumstances.

I hear ya. I like to think I'm the center of the universe as well.

[Robin Garr]

I hear ya. I like to think I'm the center of the universe as well.

Most humans do. But I think some are more into it than others.

Since I have no real family in town ( and the very close friends that I consider family usually go out of town to visit their families) I like to go out for Thanksgiving so I am not sitting at home alone. I want turkey on Thanksgiving and I am not cooking a big bird for just myself. For the past couple of years I've gone to Captain's Quarters where they do a very nice buffet at a more than reasonable price. In fact I've found their buffet to be far better than the ones offered at hotels on Thanksgiving. (Although I've never been to the one at the English Grill.) The staff is always nice, efficient and thoughtful and I always show my gratitude monetarily. Book your table now because they usually book out.

On a side note...
Years ago when I worked at Victoria Station, most of our staff including management was from out of town. For whatever reason they opted to stay in town and work. My mother and I came into the restaurant and cooked a Thanksgiving meal for them. We must've had 12 or 15 people with no place to go for the holiday. Those are some of my fondest holiday memories. For the most part we were with our family.