Cooking a 20 lb.
turkey with all the fixings is no easy task — so why even do it?
From comfort food diners to all-you-can-eat buffets, we rank the chain restaurants serving
up the yummiest Thanksgiving dinners.
You can thank us later.
Denny's is one of those chains that is perfect for late-night sustenance or budget-friendly
all-you-can-eat pancakes.
Its Thanksgiving offerings may be kind on your wallet, but it tastes just like it costs.
Denny's offers a turkey dinner with savory stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce.
The feast is pretty massive, as it also comes with a dinner roll and two sides.
While the generous meal deal might sound tempting, those who have experience celebrating the
holiday by eating at Denny's don't suggest that others try out the experience for themselves.
One Trip Advisor review describes the meal as unappetizing, with unsatisfying portions
and dry turkey.
Also, more than one review mentions that rather than a traditional dinner roll, their meal
came with garlic bread.
Golden Corral is the place to go to when you have an insatiable hunger, and it's even open
on Thanksgiving.
In honor of the holiday, the buffet-centered restaurant chain sells a holiday sliced turkey
meal that comes with gravy, cranberry sauce, yeast rolls, cookies, and two sides of the
customer's choice.
The single-serve meal is listed for just $9.99 at Golden Corral, with family portions also
available.
The price is unbeatable, but it's another meal that just isn't a totally satisfying
Thanksgiving feast.
"Thanksgiving at Golden Corral.
It's turkey and all the trimmings."
One Trip Advisor review states the endless problems with the Thanksgiving options at
the buffet.
The review claims that the particular turkey that they were served wasn't cooked fully,
the sweet potatoes were runny, and the flavors of the pumpkin pie were totally off.
It's important to point out that other Trip Advisor reviews boast the opposite experience,
claiming they fully enjoyed the Thanksgiving offerings at the buffet.
However, the overwhelming majority of negative reviews seems to indicate it's one of the
chains to steer clear of on such a special day.
Those of us who aren't skilled bakers might be familiar with Marie Callender's for its
consistently good pies worthy to bring to any potluck or Friendsgiving celebration.
The chain of restaurants and bakeries also offers a three-course single-serving meal
on Thanksgiving for less than $30 that is tempting for its price and the fact that you
won't have any dishes to clean up.
The meal starts with a choice of a soup or salad, either a turkey or ham dinner with
sides, and a slice of pie.
While the food itself isn't bad, those who have tried out the Thanksgiving feast don't
believe it to be worth the money.
One Trip Advisor user wrote in a review:
"Everything was good, though honestly it seemed to be almost exactly like the Marie Callender's
frozen food that you can buy at the store."
That customer added that they probably would've been happier buying the frozen turkey dinners
and microwaving them at home, making it sound like a less-than-festive experience.
Sizzler is one of those places like Golden Corral where you can seemingly eat everything
you could ever possibly want, and in excessive quantities.
The chain offers traditional Thanksgiving dishes, which include rotating items like
sweet potato casserole or pumpkin spice cheesecake.
They also offer heat-and-eat options to take home for the whole family, but those who have
dined in for their Thanksgiving celebration say it's definitely not the best place to
get holiday takeout.
One Yelp reviewer was seriously underwhelmed with their holiday meal, writing,
"The only thing we found redeeming were the rolls.
The ham, turkey, Mac n cheese, yams and veggies were all just sitting in vats of water/liquid.
It was gross.
The mashed potatoes were gross.
I'm not even sure they were instant and they still somehow were awful."
A Trip Advisor reviewer agreed that most of the food tasted like it was left sitting for
too long and the meat options were tough.
However, a different review on Trip Advisor claims it's a good value for the money, even
if you only get the bare bones items like turkey and pie.
Nearly the entire marketing ploy of Cracker Barrel is its menu full of comfort food.
"The spirit of care is always in the air.
Cracker Barrel: Take care now."
It is easy to assume that they have the market cornered when it comes to turkey smothered
in gravy, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese.
The chain even has a turkey lunch special every week that comes with dressing, sweet
potato casserole, cranberry sauce, and either a buttermilk biscuit or a corn muffin for
about $10.
It's also available to enjoy on the turkey-centered holiday, but some Cracker Barrel enthusiasts
claim that's actually the worst day of the year to order the dish.
One Reddit user claims the chain was so busy it ran out of turkey, and the ham alternative
wasn't satisfying.
The sides didn't make up for it either.
Others who got to enjoy the meal on a better day at their local Cracker Barrel were major
fans of the meal.
One Trip Advisor review reads:
"I am not one to eat stuffing but theirs was so good.
The entire meal was perfect.
Turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, candy yams, mashed potatoes.
A [truly] great dinner and service."
The inconsistencies on Thanksgiving are the main reason Cracker Barrel isn't higher on
the list, but it's worth going on any given Thursday to try out the same plate regardless.
Boston Market is typically one of the first chains that comes to mind that you'd expect
to serve a quality Thanksgiving meal.
Every year for the holiday, the chain offers honey-glazed hams, roasted turkeys, and all
of the fixings to go with it.
Of course, you can opt for a traditional Boston Market rotisserie chicken if that's your preferred
bird to eat.
The general consensus among those who have purchased from the chain for Thanksgiving
is that it's a solid pick, mainly for the sides rather than the uneventful meat options.
One Reddit user wrote in a review that the creamed spinach, cornbread, mashed potatoes,
and stuffing are some of the best sides offered at the holidays.
The review goes on to say:
"I usually bring some for thanksgiving at my parents house to take the load off my mom
a bit and everyone always loves them."
Considering Boston Market is a popular Thanksgiving pick, one downfall might be that your location
of choice might easily run out of the favorite dishes pretty quickly.
Ruth Chris Steak House is one of the more upscale chain restaurants out there, so price
is a factor, but fans say it's worth it.
For Thanksgiving, they opt to make turkey the star of the show instead of beef on its
massive menu.
Oven-roasted turkey, sausage and herb stuffing, cranberry relish, garlic mashed potatoes,
pumpkin cheesecake — it just keeps going.
It's pretty much guaranteed that anything coming out of the kitchen at a Ruth's is going
to be delicious.
One Yelp reviewer was in awe at everything on their plate, writing,
"Roast turkey cooked to absolute perfection like no turkey we'd ever tasted before, a
buttery brown gravy that blew our minds, perfectly tart and sweet cranberry relish, AMAZING herb
stuffing with a bit of apple in it [...] All just tasted exquisite, perfectly cooked and
so full of flavor."
Bob Evans is another one of those reliable chains that you can enjoy a Thanksgiving meal
at any time of the year, including on the actual holiday.
It's another super budget-friendly option that comes with a ton of food.
For less than $20, Bob Evans serves up roasted turkey, dressing, cranberry relish, mashed
potatoes, gravy, green beans with ham, buttered corn, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pie.
There's truly little else you could want from a Thanksgiving meal, and it takes an astonishingly
small amount of cash or effort to enjoy it.
One user wrote in a Reddit review of Bob Evans Thanksgiving feast:
"Couple years ago, wife and I went to Bob Evans and it was great[.] [E]veryone was in
a good mood, food was good, and no dishes to clean."
Another satisfied Bob Evans customer added in a Trip Advisor review that the portions
of the turkey dinner are so large, two people could probably even split one plate.
The only reason Bob Evans isn't the highest on the list is because while the food is good,
it definitely wouldn't beat the homemade meal.
Rather, it serves as a suitable substitute if you're looking to go out to eat on that
special Thursday.
Buca Di Beppo is usually the kind of place you go to for family-sized portions of spaghetti,
garlic bread, and other Italian-American classic dishes.
It is one of the more underrated chain restaurants to enjoy a stellar Thanksgiving meal, even
though it's not something they serve on a regular basis outside of November.
They serve sharable portions of the basics like white meat turkey, roasted garlic mashed
potatoes, gravy, spicy Italian sausage stuffing, and cranberry sauce.
The added bonus is that they also still serve up their traditional Italian-inspired dishes
like penne alla vodka, chicken carbonara, and meatballs to mix in with the Thanksgiving
dishes.
"The French say bon appetit, what do the Italians say before a big thanksgiving meal?"
"Dig in."
Buca lends itself naturally to a family-style dining experience, so it makes sense that
the chain can seamlessly turn out a tasty Thanksgiving meal.
One Reddit user wrote in a review:
"It's a very intimate family meal type dining experience, perfect for this occasion."
Additionally, as pointed out in a Trip Advisor review, it's a very affordable way to feed
a lot of people on a budget, and you'll still probably end up taking home leftovers.
The review reads:
"This made being away from the rest of my family on Thanksgiving not so bad after all."
Those lucky enough to live near a Metro Diner location know it's a chain restaurant experience
like no other, and that's not even solely because of their mesmerizing loaded waffles.
The chain serves up a roasted turkey plate as a regular menu item, complete with brown
gravy, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, and cranberry sauce for less
than $15 a plate.
In true Metro fashion, they also serve some festive breakfast options for Thanksgiving,
like a waffle pressed from stuffing loaded with mashed potatoes, turkey, and gravy.
The seasonal loaded waffle has been a fan-favorite for a long time, so there's a reason that
the chain brings it back year after year.
Whether you're someone more likely to order the safe turkey dinner plate or the more adventurous
Thanksgiving waffle, Metro Diner just knows how to make a comforting festive feast.
One Yelp review reads:
"They really enjoyed all the food including: turkey (not dry at all), Mac and cheese, mashed
potato, green bean casserole and the pumpkin bread pudding.
Tasted very fresh (versus grocery store thanksgiving dinners) and could [definitely] tell they
made the dish from scratch."
Not only is every part of Metro Diner's dinner as delicious as it should be, but you also
can't beat the reasonably priced meals that feed the whole family.
Fogo de Chão is a high-end Brazilian steakhouse that knows a thing or two about perfectly
executed grilled meats, and their take on a Thanksgiving dinner is no different.
For the holiday, they serve the classics like roasted turkey au jus, sausage and apple dressing,
sweet potato casserole, and cranberry relish.
Fogo de Chão's quality is what undeniably earns it the top spot, but it is a high-end
chain whose prices reflect that quality.
One Trip Advisor user wrote in a review:
"Have been to Fogo de Chao many times before[.]
[This] was my second time having Thanksgiving dinner there.
The turkey is moist and not dried out but the gravy is the real star.
As for the rest of the meal[,] the usual choice of meats [—] all of them were moist and
not over cooked."
Fogo de Chão also has the added appeal of a dazzling dining experience that also makes
it feel like you're celebrating a special occasion whenever you dine there, including
during the Thanksgiving holiday.