11 Restaurant Chains You Can Order A Turkey From This Year
The holidays are right around the corner, and that means some of the biggest meals of the year are almost here. And while we definitely enjoy cooking for loved ones, there's still something undeniably pleasant about not having to sweat over the stove for hours on end. If you want to give yourself a much-needed break from the kitchen this year, the good news is that you have plenty of options. Every year, there are always restaurants that you can count on to hook you up with some baked turkey and all the fixings.
A lot of work goes into a huge holiday meal. Aside from the sheer amount of food that needs to be purchased and prepared, the timing alone always proves to be complicated. Ensuring that everything is fresh, hot, and ready at the same exact time can be a challenge. Guaranteeing tender, juicy slices of turkey is a feat unto itself. So why not leave all of the trouble up to some professionals? That way, you can just kick back and focus on celebrating. Sounds like a win in our book. Here are restaurant chains you can order turkey from.
1. Cracker Barrel
Cracker Barrel is known for its homestyle cooking, which makes it a great choice for a hearty meal. The restaurant offers a set menu or customized a la carte options. Cracker Barrel's meals are designed to provide a complete Thanksgiving dinner that can be heated up in about two hours.
The company's Heat and Serve Family Dinner can feed between four to six people. This meal comes with an oven-roasted turkey, cornbread stuffing, turkey gravy, cranberry relish, sweet potato casserole, sweet yeast rolls, and a choice of one side. Cracker Barrel's Heat and Serve Feast is a bit bigger and feeds up to 10 people. The main difference with this deal is that it comes with two oven-roasted turkeys and extra sides along with pumpkin pie and pecan pie (in addition to all the other fixings). The restaurant also sells dinners that are hot and ready to serve that don't require any preparation. For dessert, there's a handful of pies to pick from, including cinnamon roll pie, apple streusel pie, and chocolate pecan pie.
2. Honey Baked Ham Company
Although Honey Baked Ham Company is obviously well-known for its ham, the company also sells turkey. For those unaware, the chain offers its turkey in stores, but some of its locations also have restaurants inside. Honey Baked Ham Co. sells whole turkeys in three flavors — smoked, roasted, and Cajun — that come fully cooked and are easy to prepare. The company also sells slow-smoked turkey breast made with 100% white meat that clocks in at just under 3 pounds. The glaze on this turkey creates a sweetened crust that complements its tenderness.
The lunch menu at Honey Baked Ham's restaurants also offers a few different turkey sandwich options. The turkey can be smoked or roasted and includes toppings such as Swiss cheese, bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Condiments options include mayo, hickory honey mustard, and ranch. There are garlic herb turkey sliders and a catering menu with buffets and sandwich trays. Whether you're looking for a traditional whole turkey, 100% white meat turkey breast, or just a platter of scrumptious turkey sandwiches, Honey Baked Ham Co. is definitely a great option to have on the table for Thanksgiving.
3. Ruth's Chris Steak House
As its name suggests, Ruth's Chris Steak House is famous for its cuts of beef. But don't let the company's reputation for masterfully grilling steak stop you from exploring more of the restaurant's menu. Ruth's Chris has kept up the tradition of serving holiday meals in the past, so we have no reason to believe that's about to change. The restaurant knocks Thanksgiving dinner out of the park with a dine-in prix fixe menu that includes all of the classic dishes you'd expect.
Roasted turkey served with homemade gravy, cranberry relish, and cornbread herb stuffing are just a few of the dishes that have come out of Ruth's Chris' kitchens. When it comes to sides that the restaurant tends to offer, there are garlic mashed potatoes, green beans and roasted garlic, and sweet potato casserole topped with a pecan crumble. Of course, there's a possibility that the menu might be updated to include some new items, but there's a good chance that these tried and true dishes will be available. Just to be safe, call the location nearest you ahead of time to make sure the restaurant is planning on preparing a Thanksgiving dinner.
4. Popeyes
Famous for its poultry, the general consensus is that Popeyes is another wise choice when it comes to ordering turkey. The restaurant offers a Cajun-spiced turkey that's available for pick-up. The turkey is pre-cooked and comes frozen, so it just needs to be thawed and then warmed up in the oven. Before putting it in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, Popeyes advises customers to remove the packaging and place the turkey in a roasting pan covered with aluminum foil. Once the turkey reaches at least 150 degrees Fahrenheit (which should take about two hours total), the turkey should be left to rest for about 20 minutes before carving.
Aside from the turkey, Popeyes has some delicious sides that you can order separately. Hook yourself up with some extra mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and fluffy biscuits to go along with your Cajun turkey. If you're not going to bother with cooking a turkey, you might as well just order some sides too so that you can fully enjoy not having to prepare any food. And rest assured, you can trust Popeyes to whip up a meal to remember.
5. Metro Diner
Metro Diner is a chain that's known for its classic diner-style food. The company also tends to make dinners for the holidays, and diners have reported that the meals are exceptionally delicious. The restaurant has a couple of options on the table that are worth every penny.
Last year, Metro Diner's Holiday Feast came with baked ham or turkey, plus mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans or roasted corn, cornbread stuffing or macaroni and cheese, cranberry sauce, and Hawaiian dinner rolls. The new menu hasn't been released yet, but it will likely look very similar. The deal also came with apple cinnamon bread pudding. What we appreciate about this feast is how the restaurant offers more choices to pick from between different sides. This meal deal is sold cold to be warmed up at home.
If you want a hot meal that's ready to eat right away, Metro Diner's got you covered there, too. The restaurant is known to roll out some amazing seasonal treats, like turkey and mashed potatoes served on a waffle made with stuffing that's drizzled with gravy. If that doesn't make your stomach growl, we're not sure what will.
6. Buca di Beppo
Buca di Beppo may not be the first place that comes to mind for a feast of turkey, since the restaurant is famous for its Italian food. But the truth is that the company's knack for big portions and family-style dining translates into a memorable meal. Buca di Beppo makes its Traditional Thanksgiving Feast available for dine-in or take-out for maximum flexibility.
Over the years, the menu has included everything from sliced white meat turkey and homestyle gravy to spicy Italian sausage stuffing and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. The company provides reheating instructions if you're picking it to reheat at home. Buca di Beppo offers a variety of sizes for all of its dinner options, so it's easy to order for all group sizes. Buca di Beppo also provides catering options. If you do decide to dine-in, you can call ahead to arrange reservations. The best part is that if you end up wanting a little Italian food to go with your turkey, you're in the right place.
7. Bob Evans
Bob Evans makes special seasonal meals for a lot of major holidays all year long. The restaurant's Thanksgiving platter comes with succulent slices of baked turkey smothered in creamy gravy, rolls, pie, and side options like mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn. The company offers a Farmhouse Feast and a Premium Farmhouse Feast. The Premium Farmhouse Feast can feed more people and also comes with macaroni and cheese.
The beauty of Bob Evans is that the restaurant's regular menu features a turkey dinner all year long, so if you happen to be in the mood for a Thanksgiving-style meal outside of November, this is the place to be. The restaurant's Slow-Roasted Turkey and Dressing Dinner comes with herb-seasoned turkey, bread and celery stuffing, homestyle gravy, cranberry relish, a choice of two sides, and some dinner rolls. The bottom line: Bob Evans is a solid pick when you're on the prowl for some turkey and you don't feel like baking some yourself.
8. Brio Italian Grille
Brio Italian Grille has over 30 locations across the United States. The restaurant specializes in upscale Italian food that's still reasonably priced. Brio is often open on most major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, which makes it a good choice when you're looking to dine in somewhere on those special days.
Brio makes its Thanksgiving Dinner Feast available for dine-in or take-out. The meal comes with roasted white meat turkey, herbed pan gravy, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables, spicy Italian sausage stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and freshly baked sourdough bread. The restaurant also offers catering options in various sizes that can feed up to 10 or 20 people. Brio is a good option if you have the resources to shell out a little extra dough on a turkey dinner that's a bit more elevated than a lot of the other options on this list. The food is about as close as you can get to a home-cooked meal without having to do any of the work yourself.
9. Boston Market
Boston Market is a place that always has roasted turkey available on the menu. The restaurant's turkey options include a turkey sandwich that's carved to order, a slow-roasted turkey breast plate with sides, rotisserie turkey pot pie, and a Market Bowl that comes with turkey, two sides, and topping like gravy or barbecue sauce. Boston Market also whips up family meal bundles and turkey is one of the options on the menu.
Aside from its normal menu, Boston Market has also been known to roll out some Thanksgiving specials. The company provides hot meals that are ready to serve and come with a whole roasted turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, vegetable stuffing, spinach artichoke dip, cranberry walnut relish, dinner rolls, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. This deal is typically available for pick-up during the week of Thanksgiving. Boston Market will also be open for dine-in customers.
10. Sizzler
These days, Sizzler is mostly located near the United States West Coast. The restaurant is known for its cuts of beef, such as its New York strip, rib eye, and tri-tip sirloin. Considering the company's penchant for grilling red meat, you might be surprised to learn that Sizzler also happens to offer a Thanksgiving dinner.
Last year, the restaurant featured heat-and-eat dinners that came with roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, maple sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. The good thing about Sizzler is that it can customize its turkey dinner deal all the way down to a single portion, which is handy for any single diners looking for a prepared meal. Sizzler's flexibility in its Thanksgiving dinner sizes is much appreciated, since a lot of other restaurants only prepare meals designed for larger groups. Sizzler might not be the fanciest option on deck, but it's still filling hungry bellies on the holidays for relatively affordable prices, and that's always a commendable deed.
11. Denny's
Denny's has prepared turkey dinners for the holidays in the past, so it's very possible that it will do so again. When dining in, Denny's serves slices of its gravy-drenched turkey over a bed of stuffing, along with classic sides like mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. The company has also provided a Turkey and Dressing Dinner Pack to warm at home that's portioned for four people.
The dinner pack comes with carved turkey breast, stuffing, red-skinned mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, and a side of either corn or broccoli. The restaurant also usually has some good pie options like pecan pie and pumpkin pie. Denny's often touts itself as America's Diner, so it makes perfect sense for the company to come to the rescue when you don't want to cook on one of the biggest holidays of the year. To be honest, there are better options on this list, but if you find yourself in a jam for some unexpected reason during the holidays, Denny's will bail you out with a hot meal. Say what you will about Denny's, but you can count on it around the clock, and sometimes that's just what you need.