The 14 Best NYC Restaurants To Celebrate Thanksgiving

Where do you go for Thanksgiving if you can't go see the folks? A lot of people will host Friendsgivings, but that's not always an option in tiny NYC apartments which may have limited dining space and even less for cooking. The joke of Manhattan efficiency, sadly, stopped being funny a long time ago. The bright news for you is you live in the greatest city in America, so the incredible restaurants you savor are staying open to feed you and your loved ones.

While this is far from an exhaustive list of places that are open on Thanksgiving, we're looking at venues that are doing something special for the day. It doesn't have to be turkey, but it sure ought to evoke ideas of what Thanksgiving is all about: family, friends, food, and, as we discovered in our research, lots of butternut squash soup. Just... wow, gallons of the stuff, so you'd better bring your squash appetite if you dine at any of these restaurants.

To keep things fair, we're listing them in alphabetical order rather than ranking them. Who can put an objective assessment of the joy of gathering in gratitude? The important thing is you're here and the food's hot, so let's eat.

Carl Redding grew up cooking alongside his grandmother, Amy Ruth Moore Bass while visiting her every summer in Alabama. When he opened a Southern restaurant to feature all she'd taught him, naturally he named it Amy Ruth's in homage to her. And while he might have absorbed all these cooking lessons in the hotter months, we can't thank of anything that says autumn holidays like a place that's modeled after a visit to Grandma's. When you can't be with your family for Thanksgiving, you can spend it with the Bass family's testament to a beloved matriarch and the life she led.

Approaching its 25^th year of business, Amy Ruth's walls also document centuries of Black achievement, from Frederick Douglass to Muhammad Ali to Barack Obama, which may prompt some thankful discussions and reflections.

Amy Ruth's $40 prix-fixe Thanksgiving menu offers you a choice of turkey with cornbread stuffing and cranberry sauce or honey-glazed ham, along with two sides, a soft drink, and a peach cobbler or banana pudding dessert. The Harlem institution also offers meal platters for anyone who wants to entertain at home but doesn't want to cook... or just recognizes Amy Ruth's can do it much better.

At first, The Flatiron Room is remarkably similar to what's been seen in founder Tommy Tardie's other holding, Fine & Rare: live jazz, a traditional Thanksgiving prix-fixe (here the soup's kabocha) mixed with Italian options, and a riveting dessert list. It's not like you'll be disappointed with turkey brined in apple cider, but if you're trying to make your decision, here's what sets Flatiron Room apart as a different destination: whiskey pairings. You might balk at $45 for a 1-ounce pour (really, gang? Not even a shot, for the price of a double?) but it's difficult to deny that the options for a robustly boozy dinner are strong here.

While Four Roses Small Batch is often touted as an underpriced find that you might be better off buying by the bottle at that price, Garrison Brothers is a pricey whiskey in regular circumstances, let alone that label's small batch, and worth it in either expression. The real get, if your sommelier recommends the pairing, is probably Milam & Greene, however. The label makes a strong showing throughout The Flatiron Room's mixtures and tastings and isn't ubiquitous around this city, so go for the new experience. But beware that Texas whiskeys (even those with master distillers by way of Kentucky, such as Milam & Greene) tend to punch hard, and there's no shame in savoring that frequently recommended Four Roses.

Continuing with our theme of stuffings that make you say "Wowwww," like Owen Wilson, here comes The Fulton with a sourdough mushroom variation. The rest of the menu tilts towards the ocean, as you would expect from not only a seafood restaurant, but one located on South Street, just steps from the old Fulton Fish Market — which is itself recently selling fresh seafood again, among many other foods, under the banner of the Tin Building food emporium, and sister business to the Fulton.

Whether you like your maritime meal to taste Mediterranean or South Asian, The Fulton has you covered. In fact, the dishes on offer here are so light and zesty, you may just want to reserve a table for lunch before the main feast... or a late dinner following a midday family meal. Prices are $158 for an adult and $79 for a child, so only bring the family members you actually want to talk to this Thanksgiving.

Do you want to get stuffed to the gills like those fancy pants at The Grill without paying carefree prices? Do you not own a tuxedo that you can spare to spill nine kinds of ham on? Then gather at the perfect midrange joy of Jacob's Pickles. Better than fast casual, and more relaxed than almost all of its UWS kin, Jacob's Pickles will pack you full of square biscuits and Southern hospitality for $75 per person, or $40 if that person is between the ages of six to 12. (If you want to go a little higher up the formality ladder without sacrificing the sense of humor in this joint's happy vibe, the sister restaurant Maison Pickle is doing its own Thanksgiving special just around the corner.)

Normally, you'd queue up outside for a half hour on a weekend brunch to visit either place, but here's the chance to stroll straight on up and get to the important business of stuffing your gob full of good food.

Hot and spicy tip: The pickles really are an attraction here, so don't get so lost in your rustic gravy and whipped taters that you fail to leave room for tasting your way through the included pickle flight. Don't be surprised if you start stuffing them into your purse for midnight noshing. Oh no, look what has become of you. The pickle's allure has claimed another victim.

If Nougatine gives you sticker shock, well, your first step is to get okay with splurging sometimes on an experience by a generational talent. The next step is to acclimate to that with a more manageable $65 a head. Parker and Quinn has a classy and classic décor that somehow manages to be cozy despite lots of tile and wall décor that wouldn't be out of place in a jazz-age parlor.

Kids are the best deal yet at $25 each, but the real reason to bring them here might be that Parker and Quinn are very friendly to those with food allergies, making its menu pretty forthright about its ingredients and offering vegetarian and gluten-free choices that won't disappoint, as you'll see from the Thanksgiving menu.

Something else you'll see: The coconut milk and wild mushroom soup on offer might not be a true tom Kha, but hey, at least we've finally found a prix-fixe soup that isn't squash! Don't worry, the menu includes a cider-brined turkey breast, and one of your two dessert options is pumpkin pie, so we're still on-brand.

Let's blow it up. Where would you go if turkey weren't a must-have? Some people can't be bothered with the stuff, others are pescatarians, and a few people just like what they like. Well, since all of those people like sushi and sushi is delicious, let's turn our eyes over to The Standard's nearby neighbor Sushi Lab East Village. The newly opened outpost of Sushi Lab is about six months old, and already beloved for its omakase options of 12 courses for $65 or 15 for $100. That puts this $100 Thanksgiving meal exactly in line with the location's everyday offering for greater indulgence.

No word on what the exact menu will be, which isn't surprising at a place that's shopping for fish as fresh as possible, but the Sushi Lab reservation page does promise this omakase experience is a special one. Book it and take the chance. What's the worst that happens, you enjoy a delicious, non-squash-themed Thanksgiving dinner? You're eating decadent, roundly praised omakase in N.Y.C. on a holiday, so you've already got plenty to be thankful for.

Vestry is a Michelin-starred SoHo spot with an elegance far beyond the cobblestones, dingy alleys, and whatever slick consumerist walking mall has replaced boho chic. Put simply: SoHo has been a destination for quite some time, yet Vestry is one of its few restaurants that looks like you had better don those couture designer clothes you bought around the corner if you want entry.

Once you're dressed for access, as well as anxiety that you're going to spill butternut squash soup — this one employs buckwheat — on your designer outfit, settle in for a meal that will out-luxe your tux. Vestry's Turkey Day dining goes classic with chestnut stuffing, but there are three entrancing seafood options as well. Still, you don't ever see beef cheeks on a menu, so we say go for the novelty. If you're going to eat offal, eat it somewhere that ensures it won't be awful. We're willing to bet chef Shaun Hergatt's able skills will serve you something tender with a rich, beefiness that does wonderful dance steps cheek-to-cheek with the honshimeji mushrooms included.

Because if there's one thing every New Yorker is thankful for, it's the chance to try it all here.