For some folks, Thanksgiving means you start preparing side dishes a week in advance and ask family to keep them in their refrigerators. To others, the most important thing to make for Thanksgiving is reservations. In Orlando, we have more options for dining out–from traditional turkey and stuffing to calamari salad and risotto fritters. Here’s a list of Central Florida options for dining out (or carrying out) for Thanksgiving week. We’re focusing on restaurants with special menus or prix fixe offers. If they take reservations, you should make a reservation — now! Or check out our recipe archives for at-home inspiration.
Hotels & Resorts for Thanksgiving Dining
Many of the restaurants at Grande Lakes two hotels, The Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott, are open for Thanksgiving and adding holiday menu items for the day. At the JW Marriott, Citron’s Thanksgiving, 3 – 8 p.m., will feature live music and a buffet including charcuterie and cheese, salad bar, chilled seafood, sushi, carving station (turkey, prime rib, house-cured ham), the traditional sides, chef station (gnudi, porchettas, seared scallops), desserts, and kids station. The meal is $135 for adults before tax and tip and $45 for children 6-12.
Primo is planning a farm-to-table three-course Thanksgiving dinner, 5:30 – 10 p.m., with choice of butternut squash soup or smoked duck ham, balsamic braised short ribs or turkey saltimbocca, and pumpkin crème caramel.
At the Ritz-Carlton, Highball & Harvest is cooking a southern-style buffet, 2 – 8 p.m., at $155 for adults and $55 for children 12 and under (plus tax and tip). The menu includes charcuterie and local cheeses, salads, carving station with whole roast turkey and prime rib, traditional Thanksgiving sides, chilled seafood bar, entrees (smoked pork loin, lobster and crawfish cassoulet), chef station with charred octopus skewer and barley risotto, desserts, and challah French toast bread pudding station. Adults are $155 and children are $55 (plus tax and tip).
The Michelin Guide one-starred Knife & Spoon will have a traditional family Thanksgiving with à la carte menu, 5:30 – 10 p.m.
If you’d like the Ritz-Carlton chefs to do the cooking for you, they’ll make a full Thanksgiving dinner for pick-up, but you must get the order in by Tuesday, Nov. 21. A meal for up to six, you get a 14-16 pound whole roasted turkey and elevated farm-to-table sides. The whole package is $400 and you can pick it up at the Ritz-Carlton on Thanksgiving Day.
Michelin-recommended Four Flamingos is serving a family-style Thanksgiving meal, noon – 5 p.m., for $86 per person and $43 for kids 12 and under before tax and tip. The three-course, family-style meal includes spiny lobster bisque, squash salad, jerk turkey breast with turkey leg confit, pork belly with green beans, oyster and brioche stuffing, boniato mash with allspice gravy, cranberry ginger chutney, crispy Brussels sprouts agrodolce, and choice of bourbon brown butter pecan pie with crème anglaise or pumpkin spice tiramisu. A reduced “a la carte menu” will also be available.
Looking out over Lake Windsong, Lakehouse will be cooking up all the Thanksgiving classics and more for a buffet, 2 – 9 p.m., on Thursday. That includes a salad bar, seafood and sushi bar, charcuterie and cheese table, butcher block station (rosemary-brined turkey, beef striploin, cedar-roasted maple salmon, marmalade-glazed ham), stuffing and all the sides, soup and pasta, mini arepas station, dessert station, and Thanksgiving pie bar. The meal is $82 for adults (plus tax and service charge) and $40 for children 12 and under.
Ravello will host a Thanksgiving buffet, 1 – 8 p.m., with a menu including seafood and sushi, antipasto and tapas (mozzarella and marjoram roasted pumpkin salad, sautéed rock shrimp with paprika and cannellini), salads, carving stations (turkey, ribeye, red snapper), sea scallop risotto, hot entrees, dessert buffet, and kids’ buffet. Cost is $150 per adult or $55 per child ages 2-12.
The Latin-themed restaurant Plancha is preparing a Thanksgiving buffet, 12 – 7 p.m. Options include both salad bar and composed salads (cranberry balsamic, pear and pistachio), cheese and charcuterie station, seafood station, carving stations (achiote and sazon-marinated turkey, coffee rubbed pork rack, herb-rubbed New York strip, Rosemary lamb), tradition and Latin sides (sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, chorizo & Cuban bread stuffing), mac and cheese bar, kids’ buffet, and dessert buffet. The meal is $130 per adult or $48 for children ages 2-12.
Capa, the Michelin-starred rooftop steakhouse and bar, will be open 4:30 – 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving with both its regular dinner menu along and Thanksgiving specials.
The International Drive hotel is serving up a big Thanksgiving buffet meal from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with house wine and champagne included. Chefs are doing turkey two ways – sliced thighs with roasted shallot gravy and a carving station with pumpkin seed pesto-crusted turkey breast and soubise sauce (onion cream). You’ve also got a salad station, seafood station, pasta station, more hot entrees (halibut, pork loin, Filipino beef salpicao), and both dessert and ice cream bars. The meal is $55.95 for adults and $23.95 for children ages three to 11. Those prices are before tax and 26-percent service charge.
Just down the road from Rosen Plaza, Rosen Center is also planning a Thanksgiving buffet from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Entrees include sliced turkey roast with apple cider pan gravy as well as greenshell mussels from New Zealand, Thai coconut calamari salad, and chicken flautas. Then there’s the breakfast station, seafood stations, sushi station, pasta station and bottomless champagne or mimosas. The buffet is $64.95 for adults and $27.95 for children four to 12. All prices are before 22-percent service charge and taxes.
Near the Orange County Convention Center and the airport, Café Osceola at Rosen Shingle Creek is offering a Thanksgiving brunch with unlimited champagne and mimosas, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Options include soups and salads, seafood station, dim sum, sushi, ramen station, paella station, pasta station, carving station (free-range turkey, prime rib), all the traditional side dishes, breakfast station with made-to-order omelets, desserts, and chocolate fountain. That’s $89.95 for adults and $37.95 for children 4 – 11 (before tax and tip and 26-percent surcharge). The resort’s A Land Remembered is also doing a Thanksgiving prix fixe dinner, 5:30 – 10 p.m. The meal is split pea soup with spicy pecans or butternut squash salad, herb-roasted turkey porchetta (with stuffing, mashed potatoes, long beans, sweet potato puree, hibiscus and cranberry sauce and giblet gravy), and pumpkin cheesecake trifle. Cost is $79.95 for adults and $34.95 for children. A limited a la carte menu is also available.
Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld
Tradewinds is usually a breakfast and lunch spot, but will have a Thanksgiving Thursday buffet, noon – 4:30 p.m. Adults are $70 and children 12 and under are $23. On top of carving stations with turkey, smoked prime rib and honey bourbon glazed ham, you’ve got salad bar, shrimp cocktail, charcuterie and cheese, all the traditional Thanksgiving sides, and a dessert bar including sweet potato pie and chocolate pumpkin cheesecake.
Melia Orlando Hotel Celebration
The Wilson Cocktails & Seafood is serving up a family-style Thanksgiving three-course menu that’s $55 for adults and $25 for children 12 and under. After starting with rolls and cranberry whipped feta dip, appetizer options include Mediterranean chopped salad, caprese salad, or mortadella. Second course is cider-brined turkey with stuffing, whipped potatoes, green bean casserole, baked mac and cheese, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Dessert is pumpkin or pecan pie with spiced rum whipped cream.
Two restaurants inside the World Center Dr. resort will be doing Thanksgiving meals. Tropicale will have a $75 brunch buffet, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., with carving stations for turkey with all the sides, beef strip loin, pork loin, and salmon en croute. You’ve also got eggs/omelets, crepes, sushi, salads, desserts and more. Kids eat for $25. The Venetian Chop House takes over for Thanksgiving dinner, 3 – 8 p.m., with a prix fixe menu of amuse-bouche, pumpkin bisque, seasonal salad, intermezzo, citrus-brined turkey breast or bacon-wrapped filet mignon, vegetables, and dessert. That’s $120 for adults with an optional $40 wine pairing and $60 for children.
Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek
Buffet restaurant Tesoro Cove is serving up a Thanksgiving meal of maple-brined roast turkey and double-smoke pit ham, 2 – 7 p.m. The buffet also includes salad bar, chilled seafood, the traditional side dishes, desserts, and more. The meal is $60 for adults and $28 for children ages 6-12.
Aurora at the Celeste near the University of Central Florida. Aurora is doing a Thanksgiving brunch buffet, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., with breakfast favorites, carving stations, fall-inspired pastas, sushi, desserts and bottomless mimosas. The brunch is $89 for adults and $30 for kids 12 and under.
UnReserved Food Bazaar is cooking up a Thanksgiving Feast buffet, 12:30 – 9 p.m., on Thanksgiving Thursday. Stations include a raw bar with crab legs, oysters, and Florida stone crabs; sushi; cheese and charcuterie; salads; pasta; garden herb-marinated quail; whole roast turkeys; rosemary-crusted prime rib; Kurobuta pork porchetta; traditional sides; pastries; and an “action station” with pumpkin ricotta doughnuts and apple cider gelato. The cost is $145 for adults (plus tax and service charge) and $45 for ages 4-12.
DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando SeaWorld
Laguna The casual restaurant inside the will serve a family buffet on Thanksgiving Day, 12 8 p.m. The menu includes soups, salad bar, carving station with roast turkey and pork crown with apple brandy sauce, ham and salmon, pastas, traditional Thanksgiving sides, and desserts. That’s $35 for adults and $17.50 for kids 6-12.
How about a Thanksgiving buffet with free champagne or mimosas and live music? The Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona Beach is doing just that, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., in its Avalon Ballroom or out on the oceanfront terrace. The menu includes salads, fruit and cheese, herb-roasted turkey breast and turkey leg confit carving station, salmon, short rib, whipped potatoes, stuffing, honey-roasted root vegetables, roasted Brussels sprouts and desserts. Rusty Wilmot is the live music. Adults pay $60 (including the champagne and non-alcoholic beverages). Seniors save $5 and children 5-12 are $35. Those prices include tax and tip.
Known for steak, seafood and wine – The Capital Grille at Pointe Orlando is open on Thanksgiving and adding a traditional meal of turkey with brioche stuffing, mashed potatoes, French green beans, and cranberry-pear chutney with mashed potatoes for the table. That’s $50 for adults and $20 for children. The full dinner menu will also be available. If you’ve got the turkey at home but not the side dishes, you can advance order a $135 bundle for four of brioche stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with hot honey, green beans, cranberry-pear chutney and seeded rolls.
The Oceanaire is keeping it traditional for Thanksgiving, although you can still get the crab cakes or swordfish if you prefer. The Thanksgiving special includes herb-roasted turkey breast, gravy, cranberry sage stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry chutney, creamed corn, and green beans almondine. That’s $50 per person.
Most days, hungry people come to Rodizio Grill at Pointe Orlando for the dozen or so Brazilian-style grilled meats carved tableside. Starting at noon on Thanksgiving, they’ll have all that plus turkey, stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes and more. That’s $59.99 per person (salad bar only for $49.99) and when the meal is over, each family gets a coupon for one free dinner with the purchase of one dinner in 2024.
I-Drive
Café Tu Tu Tango on International Drive is doing a Thanksgiving bottomless brunch with carving station for $39.22 before tax and tip. Served from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., the brunch includes herb butter rubbed and banana leaf wrapped turkey breast, Caribbean jerk-spiced pork loin, cornbread stuffing, smashed creamy baby red potatoes, and pumpkin pie. The regular dinner menu will also be available 4 – 10 p.m.
Mia’s Italian Kitchen is open for Thanksgiving lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., with the regular menu plus a $49 (plus tax and tip) three-course prix fixe meal for adults and a $29 option for kids. Options for grown-ups include cranberry or smoked pecorino dip or frito misto (fried calamari and rock shrimp), turkey breast porchetta or smoked prime rib, and pumpkin pie cannoli or limoncello panna cotta. The kid menu includes Mia’s minestrone or tomato and mozzarella skewers, roast turkey or pasta, and house-made apple ricotta doughnuts.
Known for its dinner and show combo that evokes the Tropicana in Havana, Mango’s Tropical Café will add Thanksgiving onto its Thursday night mix. The 8 p.m. show ($75) will include a Thanksgiving meal of salad, carved turkey cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans amandine, cranberry chutney and pumpkin or pecan pie.
Disney Springs
Starting at 11:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, the Disney Springs restaurant Wine Bar George with 200 wines by the glass, bottle, or ounce will be serving a traditional turkey plate for $39 (or $16 for children nine and under) alongside select items from the regular menu. If turkey isn’t your thing, maybe the birria braised short rib or pumpkin fritters?
Paddlefish, the Disney Springs restaurant that looks like a riverboat, has a Thanksgiving menu at $29 for adults and $12 for children. That’s roasted turkey breast, andouille cornbread stuffing, whipped potatoes, pan gravy, green beans and cranberry relish and pan gravy. If you’d rather have crab cakes or shrimp pasta, the regular menu is available too.
Terralina Crafted Italian has a Thanksgiving meal of rosemary-roasted turkey, bacon and Granny Smith apple dressing, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, sage and thyme gravy, and homemade cranberry relish at $29 per adult and $16 per child. The holiday cocktail is a Thirsty Turkey ($14) with Wild Turkey bourbon, ginger beer, and cranberry juice.
Raglan Road is adding a Thanksgiving meal to the menu for the day, 11 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. For $39.99, you get butter and herb roast turkey, roast garlic mashed potatoes, duck fat roasties (roasted potatoes), honey-glazed carrots, bacon-braised Brussels sprouts, sausage walnut stuffing, and red wine jus with cranberry sauce (that’s the pic up top). The children’s version is $19.99. The regular menu is also available. Live Irish music and dancing start at 4:30 p.m. inside and 6 p.m. on the patio.
STK Steakhouse is doing both dine-in and take-out Thanksgiving specials. The dine-in deal is $64 for adults and $29 for children 12 and under with shallot and thyme confit turkey thighs, cornbread and sage stuffing, gravy, sauteed green beans with crispy shallots, maple baked sweet potato, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and cranberry orange chutney. Spiced pumpkin pie is $12 a slice. The STK takeout offer includes everything in the dine-in deal plus pie at $64 per person or $124 for two. Both Thanksgiving specials are available on Thanksgiving Thursday and through Sunday night.
Maria and Enzo’s and Enzo’s Hideaway are putting an Italian twist on Thanksgiving, 11:30 a.m. – 11 p.m. Menu specials just for Thanksgiving Thursday are arancini di zucca (pumpkin risotto fritters with fresh mozzarella and pumpkin seed pesto), porchetta di tacchino (herbed turkey, crispy pancetta, Brussels sprouts, polenta “dressing”, butternut squash, and cranberry agro dolce) and crostata di mele (warm apple pie with olive oil caramel and vanilla gelato). Reservations are strongly recommended.
City Works is adding a couple Thanksgiving dinners to the menu for the day. You can do hand-carved turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon lardons, and corn casserole for $35 or prime rib with mashed potatoes, grilled lemon asparagus, horseradish cream, and au jus for $50. The kids’ turkey meal (10 and under) is $20. Reservations start at 10 a.m.
For two days only, Thanksgiving Thursday and Black Friday, Everglazed Donuts & Cold Brew is frying an over-the-top Thanksgiving treat – a glazed doughnut topped with cinnamon sugar-dusted sweet potato fries, candied pecans, bacon, and a marshmallow cream drizzle.
Serving both Spanish tapas and full meals at Disney Springs, Jaleo is adding some special menu items just for Thanksgiving Thursday includingcCroquetas of turkey, stuffing and bechamel; paella with Iberico pork ribs, mini butifarra sausage, lagrima sofrito, mushrooms, and artichokes; datiles con tocino (bacon-wrapped dates with apple mustard aioli); salpicón de mariscos (shredded shrimp, octopus and lobster); and Basque-style cheesecake with pumpkin.
Neighbornood Faves
, the SoDo spot for vegans, vegetarians, and the “plant curious” has a $130 plant-based “Holiday Fixins” package for pick-up on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day. Enough to feed 6-8, you get Brussels sprout casserole, mashed potatoes, HP cornbread stuffing, herb-roasted root veggies, fried onion topping, white gravy, and fresh citrus cranberry sauce. Desserts are also available including apple cobbler, tiramisu, chocolate silk pie, and several varieties of cheesecake that are all vegan and gluten-free. Hungry Pants is closed on Thanksgiving Day.
Smoke & Donuts will be closed for its first Thanksgiving in the Milk District, but you can order various Thanksgiving dishes by Nov. 18 for pick up Nov. 22. In addition to the regular menu, S&D is roasting 4–5-pound turkey breasts and smoking tequila-cured salmon. You can also order packages of five side dishes as well as doughnut bread pudding and chocolate pecan pie with cherries and candied chiles.
The Celebration location of Columbia Restaurant will be serving a Thanksgiving meal with turkey and a family recipe for stuffing made with Italian sausage, ground beef, chopped chicken liver, apples, raisins and water chestnuts. You also get a cup of soup, Caesar salad, whipped potatoes, green beans with carrots, sweet potato casserole, homemade cranberry sauce and giblet gravy. All that for $29 per adult. We suggest upgrading the Caesar to Columbia’s legendary 1905 salad for $3 more. The child’s meal for 10 and under is $7 without soup or salad. You can also add pumpkin pie, pumpkin flan, or a pitcher of white sangria. The regular dinner menu will also be available.
Hinckley’s Fancy Meats at East End Market is closed on Thanksgiving but putting all its Thanksgiving-themed options in the display case all November. That includes smoked turkey drumsticks, sausage stuffing, Brussels sprouts with bacon, turkey gravy and cranberry sauce. That’s a little simpler than the catered meals from years past so, staff are suggesting you load up early.
Canvas Restaurant & Market, the Lake Nona spot for new American cuisine will be open noon – 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Thursday and is also doing a to-go turkey feast for four. For $175, you get roast turkey breast, gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, brioche stuffing, green beans with shallots, orange-cranberry sauce, and a pumpkin or apple pie.
Fusing Carribean and southern cooking in Thornton Park, Island Time is cooking up a $50 prix fixe Thanksgiving meal with seatings at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Choices include salad or pumpkin soup; a traditional Thanksgiving plate of turkey and the trimmings, a vegetarian meal of sides, or a vegan meal of pumpkin curry with rice; and a dessert of pumpkin pie, key lime pie, or coconut plantain rice pudding. You can also order sides or pies for Wednesday or Thursday pick-up.
The Tap Room at Dubsdread is accepting seatings every half hour from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day for a buffet menu that includes roast turkey, honey spiced ham, and prime rib, along with the traditional sides and pies and cakes. The lunch is $54.95 for adults (before tax and tip) and $17.95 for children under 10. Vegan and vegetarian options are available on request.
Multiple Locations
The locally owned deli and bakery chain TooJay’s will have all locations open 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. for dine-in on Thanksgiving with a traditional menu of roast turkey with gravy or honey-cured sliced ham with apricot glaze, mashed potatoes, cornbread suffering, green beans almondine, cranberry sauce, artisan rye bread and choice of soup, salad, or dessert – all for $24.99. Of course, the regular menu of deli classics will also be available. Reservations are a good idea. You can also pre-order several sizes of Thanksgiving feasts that feed up to 20 (or individual side dishes such as pumpkin rugelach) for Thursday pick-up. The order deadline for carry-out is Tuesday, Nov. 21.
The locally owned family-style chain Buca di Beppo will be open on Thanksgiving Day, 11 a.m. – 11:30 p.m., with both the usual Italian favorites and a traditional family-style Thanksgiving turkey menu with spicy Italian sausage stuffing. Pre-orders have to be in by 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 22. A feast for three is $105. For six folks, it’s $160. They also have careering plans for up to 20.
