Restaurants That Celebrate The Holidays 2022 With Seasonal Meals

The familiar holiday song "Over the River and Through the Woods" brings to mind home-cooked holiday meals, but sometimes it's better to have someone else do the preparations. The most obvious benefits are not having to cook, bake, and clean, but there's more to it than that. Even if you enjoy being in the kitchen, you can still feel stressed about making the perfect meal. But perhaps best of all, ready-made holiday meals allow you to spend more quality time with family and friends.

Restaurants that celebrate with special holiday menus offer scrumptious dishes to warm up your belly and give you (and grandma) a break from the kitchen. Many local spots spruce up the menus this time of year, as well as some of the better-known chains around the country. Others, like Macaroni Grill, are open on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's, but don't show special menus on the websites.

Even if you and your family host or attend a family gathering, a separate holiday restaurant dining experience can be a real treat. Think about cooking Christmas Eve dinner, dining at a restaurant for Christmas Day, or enjoying a holiday meal out one night during Hanukkah. For those who prefer not to eat inside restaurants, there are holiday meals to go — but there will be cleanup involved. Where you choose to dine is up to you, but keep one thing in mind: Book your reservations in advance. Here are some restaurants that feature seasonal meals during the 2022 holidays.

Some Red Lobster restaurant locations may be open on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, but all are closed on Christmas and New Year's days. Instead, it celebrates the holidays with five to-go platters and feasts that can be ordered ahead of time, and guess what: each one features plenty of delicious lobster. The platters are sized for two to eight people and include everything you need. The smallest is the whole Maine lobster feast, which has two of the big red shellfish, plus four sides, biscuits, and dessert. You can get the same thing for four, six, or eight people. 

Want to include other seafood in your holiday meal? Red Lobster's Bar Harbor lobster bake includes small scallops, mussels, and shrimp, plus small lobster tails. This is also served with linguine and white sauce.

Catering trays are also available for family feasts and parties. You may want to order extra biscuits, though, since people really go nuts for those. They're so good that you might even want to bake some extra Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits at home and see how close they are to the real thing.

There's nothing like a hearty breakfast to rev up your engine during the holidays, especially if you have a long list of holiday chores to complete afterward. If you rarely treat yourself to breakfast out, now is the time to take advantage of some of the year's best holiday food specials at restaurants like IHOP. Mashed rated IHOP's original buttermilk pancakes as some of the best chain restaurant pancakes around, and the chain recently announced a new limited edition pancake-themed cereal, but this year the restaurant is highlighting French toast on its holiday menu. The thick slices are made from artisan bread and are breaded and dipped in a vanilla and cinnamon batter before being loaded with sweet toppings.

The gingersnap apple version has hints of cinnamon and vanilla in the batter and is covered with delicious things like spiced apples and crushed cookies. There are also lemon ricotta and strawberry French toast specials, and you can upgrade any of these to include eggs, hash browns, and bacon or sausage. And if that wasn't enough, IHOP's holiday menu also has a few sweet drinks on offer. You can pair the French toast with a gingersnap hot chocolate, a gingersnap milkshake, or the Red Passion Fruit Splasher.

Similar to McCormick & Schmick's, Ruth's Chris Steak House is another splurge-worthy, elegant restaurant that's open during the holidays. If you want to feed your inner carnivore, it's an excellent choice. In a survey conducted by Tasting Table, Ruth's Chris ranked as the No. 1 steak chain, with 32% of respondents choosing it as their favorite. 

The first location of this fine dining establishment opened in 1965 in New Orleans by a young single mother named Ruth Fertel. Her namesake restaurants are known for serving steaks on plates heated to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, and the menu features beautifully-prepared seafood, hearty side dishes, salads, and lobster bisque.

The Ruth's Chris 2022 holiday menu offers a starter of lobster bisque or one of two salads, a traditional Caesar, or a steakhouse salad. For an entrée, you can choose between traditional surf n' turf with a filet and lobster, or opt for steak and shrimp. The sides include mashed potatoes and creamed spinach, but the dessert is a surprise –- it's the chef's choice. The featured cocktail is a single-barrel sour made with Jack Daniel's, Grand Marnier, and topped with a bit of red wine. But if that sounds too strong, Ruth's Chris has an extensive wine selection and other enticing cocktails like a blackberry sidecar and a NOLA mule. 

The restaurant also offers a takeout holiday feast that features roast beef tenderloin. Be sure to place your order 48 hours ahead of time.

If you must have steak and seafood on the holidays but can't manage a high-end steakhouse, Outback Steakhouse can handle those cravings and will not cost you a few hundred dollars. For about $30 you order can order a 6-ounce filet mignon, a 12-ounce ribeye, or a 12-ounce prime rib steak with a potato and a side off the regular menu. 

Outback Steakhouse also highlights some new menu items just in time for the winter holidays. The featured appetizer is the Nashville hot wings — a theme that is far from Australia, but no one seems to mind. Also on hand for the holidays, the delicious smoked porterhouse steak is served tableside. Outback's Kingsland Pasta pairs steak and shrimp beautifully over pasta and is topped with an Alfredo cream sauce. The Sirloin and Tasmanian Shrimp entrée features shrimp that is directly related to the chain's beloved Bloomin' Onion appetizer, a fan-favorite that is as beloved as Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits.

Also owned by Bloomin' Brands, Bonefish Grill is an upscale restaurant that specializes in fresh seafood. Store Business Hours shows that the restaurant is closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Bonefish Grill's seasonal special entrée is Baja Scallop and Shrimp Scampi Pasta, priced at around $20. In this entrée, the bay scallops are combined with shrimp and cooked in a garlic scampi sauce. New England Today reports that bay scallops are smaller than diver and day boat scallops, but the taste can be nice and sweet. 

Bonefish's next seasonal special entrée is a cedar-plank roasted salmon that's topped with a honey bourbon glaze. A  cherry and orange zest sauce adds just the right touch of sweetness to take this dish over the top. You'll also like the cute little wooden plank on which the salmon is served. The third fresh fish special is called Rockefeller Butterfish — a fancy name for black cod. Bonefish's chefs top this delicate fish with a mix of jumbo lump crabmeat and creamy spinach. 

Any of these holiday entrees can be preceded by the crispy, spicy Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts seasonal appetizer. And if you're in a celebratory mood, the restaurant has also brought back its popular Winter White Cosmo, a guest favorite with a pretty white color and fresh cranberries on top. And for dessert, Bonefish has a seasonal chocolate lava cake, surrounded by fresh berries.