The big list: Where to eat Thanksgiving dinner, whether you can spend $125 or $12.99
Thanksgiving dinner can cost $125 or $12.99.
I’m not kidding about the $125. That’ll buy “tangerine-glazed all-natural” turkey and tortilla dressing at Fearing’s in Dallas or “roasted organic heritage” turkey with chestnut stuffing at The Mansion on Turtle Creek.
In Fort Worth, the No. 1 rule of Thanksgiving is that you don’t blow all your Christmas money on lunch.
So here’s a selection of restaurants serving Thanksgiving lunch, some pricey but all cheaper than in Dallas:
▪ The newest hotel buffet brunch in town is at Live! by Loews-Arlington, where Cut & Bourbon will open at 10 a.m. Thanksgiving for its inaugural “tailgate brunch.”
That’s early enough to beat the crowd for the Cowboys’ 3:30 p.m. game next door. The Loews will serve a $49 buffet with food stations including turkey with cornbread stuffing, ham, prime rib, salmon and chicken.
(I’d take Arlington’s Via Rideshare or another shared ride. Consider going either early or late — the buffet continues until 4, after the stadium crowd’s inside.)
If there’s a good turnout, Cut & Bourbon will serve more holidays. It’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily at Live! by Loews, 1600 E. Randol Mill Road, 682-277-4950, loewshotels.com.
▪ We’re waiting to see two new downtown hotel restaurants. Till then, the local holiday brunch buffet king remains Cast Iron and the Omni Fort Worth.
The Thanksgiving buffet ($70) features sage- and orange-brined roast turkey with stuffing, four other entrees and a huge dessert station.
It’s 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., with prime times sold out; 1300 Houston St., 817-350-4106, omnihotels.com.
▪ The other hotel buffet that draws a lot of Tarrant County business is at LAW Restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort Dallas at Las Colinas.
LAW (“land, air, water”) has a buffet every Sunday and gets heavily booked on holidays. But it still has a few tables available from 10:30 a.m. to as late as 6 p.m. for a $95 buffet featuring turkey and cornbread dressing
The dessert bar has more than 25 choices; 972-717-2420, lawrestaurant.com.
▪ The Marriott Gaylord Texan Resort, past its prime as a holiday dining destination, hasn’t published any menus yet. Only the prices.
Zeppole Coastal Italian’s holiday brunch costs $78.99. Riverwalk Cantina’s costs $75.99.
I have no way to tell what makes either worth it; 1501 Gaylord Trail, 817-778-1000, marriott.com
▪ Some hotel restaurants that have served buffets in the past will serve a menu special instead.
That includes the Worthington Renaissance in Fort Worth (now Toro Toro Pan Latin Steakhouse, opening this weekend) and the Hilton Southlake (Copeland’s of New Orleans).
Midprice buffets
Two local restaurants will offer a family buffet for less than $25.
▪ Blue Mesa Grill will open at 10 a.m. Thanksgiving and serve a giant version of its regular weekend buffet.
Roast turkey and glazed ham will be on the $24 mimosa buffet, along with corncake stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin flan for dessert.
The regular buffet includes fajitas, chicken and fish dishes, blue corn enchiladas, adobe pie and a choice of salads and desserts.
Blue Mesa’s Thanksgiving buffet will be served until 4 p.m.
If you’d like to scout the place, there’s a regular Saturday and Sunday buffet, Tuesday taco buffet and Wednesday lunch buffet.
It’s at 612 Carroll St., on the corner at West Fifth Street near Montgomery Plaza; 817-332-6372, bluemesagrill.com.
▪ Buttons Restaurant will expand its regular Sunday buffet, adding turkey along with the usual chicken, fish, vegetables, home cooking and soul food.
The price is $32; no menu yet, but call 817-735-4900; 4701 West Freeway, Fort Worth, buttonsdfw.com.
▪ Heaven’s Gate Restaurant, a folksy breakfast and lunch home-cooking buffet near Meacham Airport, will start its turkey buffet at 10 a.m. this year.
For $16.99, the little plate-lunch cafe on North Main Street will serve turkey plus more than 15 other choices including prime rib, brisket, chicken, fajitas and enchiladas.
Heaven’s Gate has grown and improved in recent years, adding a landscaped patio and more Tex-Mex menu items including enchiladas, tacos and breakfast platters like chilaquiles verdes. The classic fried chicken is still served every day.
It’s open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Thanksgiving Day; 3820 N. Main St., 817-624-1262, https://bit.ly/33Lv0sU.
▪ Traditional cafeterias Luby’s, Furr’s Fresh Buffet, Golden Corral and the Highland Park Cafeteria in Dallas will be open and serving for less than $20.
At the prime steakhouses
Almost all the prime steak and seafood houses are open and serving turkey.
That includes:
▪ B&B Butchers, Clearfork, Fort Worth ($68)., bbbutchers.com.
▪ Boi na Braza, a churrascaria, Grapevine ($43.95), boinabraza.com.
▪ Buffalo West, near the Benbrook Traffic Circle, Fort Worth, serving buffet-style ($45, seniors $35), buffalowestfw.com.
▪ Capital Grille, downtown Fort Worth ($43), thecapitalgrille.com.
▪ CRÚ Food & Wine Bar, Clearfork, Fort Worth ($46); cruwinebar.com.
▪ Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, downtown Fort Worth ($49), delfriscos.com.
▪ Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, in the Cultural District, Fort Worth ($43), eddiev.com.
▪ Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, Grapevine ($45), perryssteakhouse.com.
▪ restaurant506 at the Sanford House, Arlington, also offering beef Wellington ($59), thesanfordhouse.com
▪ Ruth’s Chris Steak House, downtown Fort Worth ($41.95), ruthschris.com.
▪ Silver Fox Steakhouse, Fort Worth ($49), silverfoxcafe.com.
▪ Texas de Brazil, a churrascaria, Fort Worth ($45.99); texasdebrazil.com.
▪ Truluck’s Seafood, Steak & Crab, Southlake ($45); trulucks.com.
Not so pricey
▪ Bird Café, Fort Worth, will serve its regular brunch menu with a turkey special; birdinthe.net
▪ Chef Point Cafe, Colleyville and Watauga ($25), chefpointcafe.org.
▪ Del Frisco’s Grille, Fort Worth or Southlake ($25), delfriscosgrille.com
▪ Lucile’s Stateside Bistro, Fort Worth ($25..95), lucilesstatesidebistro.com.
▪ The Keg Steakhouse, Arlington, kegsteakhouse.com.
▪ Ol’ South Pancake House, Fort Worth ($12.99); olsouthpancakehouse.com.
▪ Skillet N Grill, Arlington, skilletngrill.com.
▪ Stirr Restaurant, with Cajun fried turkey, Fort Worth ($25.99); stirrrestaurants.com.
▪ Taste Community Restaurant, Fort Worth (pay as your heart leads you), tasteproject.org.
Chain restaurants such as the Black-eyed Pea, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Mimi’s Bistro + Bakery will be open and serving inexpensive turkey lunches.
Worth the drive
For a country-style Thanksgiving, try:
▪ Greer’s Ranch Cafe, owned by the former owners of the now-gone Cactus Flower in Fort Worth, Stephenville; greersranchcafe.com.
▪ Iron Skillet Restaurant, Weatherford, is open all holidays; ta-petro.com.
▪ Jake & Dorothy’s Cafe, Stephenville, twitter.com/jakescafe.
▪ Ketzler’s Schnitzel Haus & Biergarten, Granbury, will serve turkey and stuffing; $22, ketzlersschnitzelhaus.com.
▪ The Koffee Kup Family Restaurant, Hico, koffeekupfamilyrestaurant.com.
▪ Lush Resort, Possum Kingdom Lake, will serve a buffet; $30,possumkingdomlake.com.
▪ Paradise Bistro, Granbury, will serve turkey and dressing; $19.49, granbury.paradisebistro.com.
▪ Ranchman’s Cafe, marking its 71st year in Ponder, Denton County; ranchman.com.
If you can’t dine Thursday
A holiday turkey lunch buffet with desserts is served daily through Jan. 4 at The Zodiac inside the brightly decorated Neiman Marcus in Dallas. It’s also open at dinner Dec. 12 and 19; $45, 214-573-5800, neimanmarcus.com.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 5:45 AM.
