Any local restaurants open during Thanksgiving, with a Thanksgiving-themed menu?

mikebruin

Member
Just curious.  We may be in the minority of looking at restaurants to dine at, rather than cooking at home.  I know there are some places in LA that will be open, but I'd rather not drive that far out if I can avoid it.  Thanks in advance for your input!
 
Capital Grille in South Coast Plaza has a great deal @ $40/adult and $15/kid. You'll need to reserve your spot asap.
 
Last year, Acapulco in Costa Mesa actually had a really nice buffet. Traditional Mexican fare in addition to all of your traditional American Thanksgiving fixings. I?d recommend it although some might think it is weird to enjoy a holiday turkey meal at their restaurant.
 
undecided said:
Just curious.  We may be in the minority of looking at restaurants to dine at, rather than cooking at home.  I know there are some places in LA that will be open, but I'd rather not drive that far out if I can avoid it.  Thanks in advance for your input!

Here's a strategy I used for Thanksgiving this year to find which restaurants still have slots available this late into November:

1) Go to Opentable.com

2) Select which area/s you want.

3) Select Thanksgiving Day.

4) Select your preferred time slot. (Do 2-3 searches for various times of the day since it only looks within a couple hours.)

5) Hit "Find a Table". Let it do all the work for you.

6) Visually filter out all the ethnic places that won't have a traditional Thanksgiving menu.

7) Book your reservation.

... This sure beats Yelping it, visiting each website, downloading a bunch of online menus, and calling around to see what's left. I booked a reservation at a place in Irvine I've never been to before & hadn't even considered until Open Table suggested it. After looking at it, I thought it seemed great and I'm looking forward to trying it. (I'm not going to say what that place is until after Thanksgiving. I don't need any stalkers on Thanksgiving.)

I had originally planned to cook. Last night, my refrigerator AND freezer died at just 6 years old. All groceries had to be dumped out. Not fun! I bought a new one today. They can't deliver until the end of the week. I was going to book Orange Hill. But their one remaining time slot didn't work for me. So I'm trying something new this year and I'm so glad I did it this way through Open Table -- best website ever. So convenient.
 
So. I tried Del Frisco's Grille at the Spectrum today for Thanksgiving. It was my first time.

This must have been the best day at the Spectrum I've ever had in my decades of going there. Parking was a breeze. First level. Easy access. No crowds. Seated right away. Evidently, there's no better day of the year to go to the Spectrum than on Thanksgiving. I had made a reservation for 1:30. However, you could easily get a table without one at that hour, despite it being a pretty traditional time to eat. A couple hours later it still wasn't much busier.

Their service was pretty awesome. This was the only time I've ever had 2 waiters at a place where the bill *wasn't* over $150/pp. Maybe they were just over-staffed.

Recommended.

The only thing I thought was a little weird - besides the girls' skirts being shorter than their small aprons - was the choice of music. I thought they would have something seasonal on. Instead, I was naming every 90s, blues, and rock song. Lots of Natalie Imbruglia, Lisa Loeb, John Mellencamp, Aerosmith, etc. That's probably their standard Play List but it's also Thanksgiving and the music was a little on the loud side. Not horribly loud. You could still have a conversation for the most part.

The food was alright, varying from meh to great. They had a 3-course Prix Fixe menu at $42/pp.

I might go back to Del Frisco's in a few weeks for my birthday and order off their regular menu.
 
Just sharing a... uh... cheerful!...Thanksgiving animation made today by a young artist I happen to know. Future vegetarian? Unlikely. He seemed to have no problem eating turkey.  ;)


hrs0Vqp.gif
 
SoCal try the lemon cake at Del Friscos next time, yummmm.
Also I think they have a Black Friday GC special buy $500 GC get $100 free.  Tomorrow only I think.
 
iacrenter said:
eyephone said:
Here?s another option. Fast food themed Thanksgiving

Popeyes Louisiana Chicken
9 pieces, 2 sides, and 4 biscuits only for $20

The catch is the location is in Santa Ana. (5 and 17th street)

According to Forbes in 2014 Popeyes is winning the Fried chicken war.https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...nted-itself-to-win-the-fried-chicken-war/amp/

That's some good chicken. Wish they had a location closer to Irvine.

I think there?s one under construction in lake forest.
 
Back
Top