These Restaurants Are Giving Us All Sorts of Reasons to Be Thankful
November is here, and we can’t wait to celebrate Thanksgiving in true OC fashion! This year, you don’t have to panic about a grocery list or spend hours in a crowded kitchen—there are plenty of local restaurants offering truly delicious meals that you can pull up a chair to or serve at home. This means that you can spend less time doing the dishes and more time with your family. These nine Orange County restaurants will curate the menu of your dreams this Thanksgiving, and you don’t have to lift a finger! Here are our picks for delicious Thanksgiving meals worth going out for this year.
Tavern at the Mission
Menu: Dine-in
Price: $65 per adult; $30 per child
Finding a Thanksgiving venue where kids can be kids and where in-laws are impressed is like finding a needle in a haystack. Lucky enough, we found it for you! With the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano as your backdrop and classic comfort food on the menu, there is no better place to take the family than Tavern at the Mission. Reserve a patio table to soak in the SoCal sun with the Mission towering behind you. The setting is rustic, charming and all you could ask for on this special holiday. The menu highlights tradition with classic herb-roasted turkey accompanied by all the nostalgic sides (hello maple-bacon-glazed Brussels sprouts), but also boasts options of roasted prime rib and Scottish salmon. The kids will love the buttery mashed potatoes, and the in-laws will be asking for seconds of the coconut walnut cake. This is the Tavern’s inaugural Thanksgiving feast, so start an annual tradition here!
Location: San Juan Capistrano
Silver Trumpet at Avenue of the Arts
Menu: Dine-In
Price: $91 per adult, $38 per child
Record the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and head to Silver Trumpet. This upscale eatery captures the essence of Orange County holidays: upscale dining, sophisticated lounging and shopping galore! While your kitchen stays sparkling clean, the kitchen of Silver Trumpet is whipping up the ultimate Thanksgiving Day Brunch Buffet. The cornucopia of flavors ensures there is something for every eater: hemp seed smoothies for health gurus, fresh oysters for seafood lovers and carving stations for something classic. When finished, walk off the turkey coma by getting a head start on Black Friday shopping at South Coast Plaza.
Location: Costa Mesa
Tavern House
Menu: Dine-in
Price: $70 per adult, $30 per child
Tavern House is hosting its 5th annual Thanksgiving feast this year! Cozy up in their harborside dining hall to indulge in the comforting classics that will grace their traditional three-course menu. Prepare your palate with Maine lobster bisque or a Santa Fe Caesar before the main event: traditional herb-roasted turkey, salt and pepper prime rib or grilled BBQ spiced salmon. Their smoky Maple Mark cocktail is also a Thanksgiving must-try.
Local Insight: Make this year a Thanksgiving to remember with an electric boat ride to this dock-and-dine venue!
Location: Newport Beach
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Tangerine Room at The Westin Anaheim Resort
Menu: Dine-in
Price: $85 for adults, $45 for children 12 and under
Tucked within The Westin Anaheim Resort just steps away from Disneyland, Tangerine Room presents a menu that celebrates local flavors and seasonal ingredients. This year, on Nov. 23, the restaurant will be offering an exquisite Thanksgiving buffet from noon until 8:30 p.m. Guests can indulge in a lavish spread curated by Executive Chef JJ Burton. The buffet will include an array of seasonal delights, interactive culinary stations, a seafood display, an assortment of tasty appetizers, a tasty selection of desserts and more. Come get your fill of food and enjoy an afternoon or evening of live music and good company!
Location: Anaheim
Driftwood Kitchen
Menu: Dine-in
Price: $125 per adult, $25 per child
Thanksgiving always involves a lot of time sitting around the table, so that table may as well be on the waterfront! Floor-to-ceiling windows showcase the sparkling Pacific in the breezy dining room of Laguna Beach’s iconic Driftwood Kitchen. This year, the Thanksgiving Day buffet is complete with seafood action stations—where diver scallops are seared to perfection—Omaha prime rib in a port wine reduction and, of course, a whole roasted Diestel turkey. Pro tip: Reserve a table around 4:15 p.m. to catch the sunset over the horizon as you dine.
Location: Laguna Beach
Bayside Restaurant
Menu: Dine-in
Price: $79 per adult, $39 per child
Wine and dine in the elegant dining room of Bayside Restaurant in Newport Beach. Classy white linens and cozy leather chairs create the most nostalgic Thanksgiving day vibes. This year, Bayside Restaurant is offering a traditional three-course plated Thanksgiving meal with a choice of salad, oven-roasted organic turkey for the main and a choice of classic pumpkin pie or contemporary butterscotch budino to finish. Not a turkey lover? A limited a la carte menu will also be available as well. Stand-out dishes include the roasted rack of lamb and mushroom-crusted sea bass.
Location: Newport Beach
VIEW Restaurant & Lounge at VEA
Menu: Dine-in and to-go
Price: $250 (to-go dinners for six people), $75 per guest (dine-in)
Dining at VEA Newport Beach’s VIEW Restaurant & Lounge is a celebration in itself. From the urban oasis of a dining room to the seafood-forward cuisine and seemingly bottomless cosmos, VIEW offers an unparalleled Newport culinary experience. Their $250 to-go dinner (practically cheaper than groceries) serves six, but you have to order it before Nov. 20. You can also dine in for Chef Andrew Arndt’s prix fixe Thanksgiving dinner from 3-10 p.m. on Turkey Day.
Location: Newport Beach
Vaca Restaurant
Menu: To-go
Price: $540
Costa Mesa’s Vaca is making holiday hosting as easy as pie this year with a special Thanksgiving to-go package that serves 4-6 people! This dinner package comes with a whole-roasted Marys Farm all-natural turkey, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, orange-scented cranberry sauce, Santana Famous Italian Sausage, cornbread stuffing, bourbon and maple glazed yams and more. For dessert, feasters can choose between pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie or cheesecake. Order between now and Nov. 16 (at 2 p.m.), and your meal will be ready for pick up on Wednesday, Nov. 22!
Location: Costa Mesa
The Capital Grille
Menu: Dine-in and to-go
Price: $50 per adult, $20 per child, $135 to-go platter serves 4
The Capital Grille combines art deco elegance with California comfort. Take a seat in the dining room for slow-roasted turkey and savory stuffing, but perhaps the best part of Thanksgiving at The Capital Grille is that the regular menu is also available! Dry-aged New York strip anyone? And if you love hosting but don’t love having your hands full, order The Capital Grille’s assortment of side dishes for the big day! All you have to do is roast the turkey, and they handle the rest. Think brioche stuffing and pecan-crusted sweet potatoes with hot honey!
Location: Costa Mesa
Las Brisas
Menu: Dine-in
Price: $125 per person
An iconic cliffside restaurant in Laguna Beach, Las Brisas is the perfect place for a coastal Thanksgiving meal. In addition to offering their weekend brunch menu from 8-11 a.m., they’ll also be whipping up a special three-course prix fixe Thanksgiving menu for $125 per person from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Guests can start with a corn mousse tostadita with celery, cilantro and red onion and then move onto appetizer choices, such as red pumpkin soup, cured duck breast or lobster salad. In terms of mains, choose from the chile-rubbed turkey, butternut squash tamales, New Zealand lamb chops and more, but don’t forget to save room for dessert!
Location: Laguna Beach
