Our family made the big meal early this year so we could celebrate with my eldest son who was visiting from the West Coast. So you can bet that I’m not doing that again next week. For the first time in many years, we may actually go out for Thanksgiving dinner and let someone else do the cooking. Personally, I’m thankful for not having to go to the grocery store next week and arm wrestle someone for the last can of fried onions.
If you’re also eschewing the long hours in the kitchen, you have three strategies to choose from: Bring It Home, Go Out or Get a Little Help. Here’s a handy guide as to what’s available around town this year.
STRATEGY 1: BRING IT HOME
Backyard Grill 9453 Jones Road, Jersey Village & Backyard Smokehouse 13802 Fleur de Lis Blvd., Cypress
The owner of Backyard Grill and Backyard Smokehouse told me on Twitter yesterday morning, “I humbly offer that my turkey is the finest smoked turkey you can buy.” So I went to the online order page, and I have to admit I am impressed – and I haven’t even tried the turkey yet. Their process takes four days. The birds are selected, brined, seasoned and then smoked over Texas pecan. There’s also a Cajun fried turkey option.
(Please, folks, leave frying whole turkeys to the professionals, or at least go watch Alton Brown’s tutorial on how to do it safely if you insist on doing this yourself. Every single year, home cooks set fires or sustain burns from doing this improperly.)
Backyard Grill has made it as easy as pie to order: You can drop by one of the locations, fax in your order form or order and pay online. By the way, they actually do have pies, too, including sweet potato, pumpkin and bourbon pecan, as well as a variety of side dishes. Orders must be picked up and are due by Monday.
Eleven IX 607 W. Gray
Eleven IX has several offerings geared for a crowd of 12 for you to take home, including gazpacho shooters, shrimp cocktail, seafood-stuffed mushrooms, vegetable habanero tempura and braised pork shank. Prices vary depending on the dish, but it generally ranges from $24 to $60. There are desserts to choose from as well — call 713-529-5881 to order.
If you prefer email, you can send your order to lauren@elevenxihouston.com. All orders must be received by 5 pm on Monday. Pick-up is available on Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 am until 10 pm.
Sparrow Bar + Cookshop 3701 Travis
Chef Monica Pope has always been great about making her offerings available for take-home, and this Thanksgiving is no exception. As always she’s also providing some nice vegan and vegetarian options, including a vegan heirloom bean chili and steamed winter greens with lemon and garlic. For the meat and seafood lovers, choose from pasture-raised turkey, beef tenderloin, pork loin, quail and scallops. Order these items a la carte or create multi-course meals for $50 per person. Or, email monica@monicapopehouston.com with your order. Orders are due by 5 pm on Monday, and pick-up is between 4 and 8 pm on Wednesday.
Ciao Bello 5161 San Felipe
Get your complete Thanksgiving meal to go from Tony Vallone’s Ciao Bello. You can order for six people for $159.95 or for 12 for $299.95, depending on how many mouths you have to feed and how much leftovers you want. The meal includes sliced turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, corn bread stuffing, green beans, bread and pie. Add an Italian accent by also ordering their well-regarded lasagna that is made from a Vallone family recipe.
Orders are due by Monday and are available for pick-up on Wednesday between 1 and 5 pm.
Ouisie’s Table 3939 San Felipe & The Bird & the Bear 2810 Westheimer
If you’re feeding a big crew and want to do it all fancy-like, Ouisie’s has some high-end options if you’d rather buy than fry. Their grilled herb-crusted beef tenderloin ($350) and smoked salmon ($175) feed 15 to 20 people. Note that these come with accoutrements but no sides. Sides are available separately for $50 each.
Their classic turkey dinner will serve 10 to 15 folks and comes at a more approachable $175 and includes gravy, two sides and a dessert. Note that the restaurants are closed on Thanksgiving Day, so these orders have to be picked up on Wednesday.
Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen 6401 Woodway & 12637 Westheimer
It’s not the entire meal, but it’s quite common in Houston to indulge in tamales on the holidays. Sylvia’s offers a dozen tamales as takeout for $15. If you need lots and lots of tamales, you can buy six dozen and get the seventh dozen free. Time is running out on this, though. You must have your pre-paid order in no later than Tuesday at noon to get them in time for Thanksgiving. Pick-up is by 5 pm on Wednesday.
If you’ve got a turkey-hater in your crew, you can make everyone happy by throwing some barbecue into the mix. The traditional package of a 10- to 12-pound turkey, cornbread dressing, giblet gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, a dozen rolls and your choice of a sweet potato casserole or mashed potatoes comes to $47.95. That’s not a bad deal and if you don’t want to run and fetch, you can opt to go eat at any of the three Gabby’s locations between 11 am and 3 pm for $10.49 per person.
One nice bonus: Gabby’s turkeys are mesquite-smoked. Take-out orders must be called in and paid for 48 hours in advance.
STRATEGY 2: GO OUT
Note: Pricing does not include tax and gratuity, and if you are eating out on Thanksgiving, please remember to be kind to restaurant staffers who are working on a holiday to serve you.
Osteria Mazzantini 2200 Post Oak Blvd. & Mockingbird Bistro 1985 Welch
Chef John Sheely has got you covered for Thanksgiving at both of his restaurants. At his original, Mockingbird Bistro, a three-course menu is being served. Options include lobster bisque, roasted Virginia ham, crispy pork belly and flourless chocolate cake, as well as some more traditional selections just in case you “need” your turkey. The cost is $59 for adults (but I might opt for the $89 version with wine pairings). Kids are $25. You can check out the menu for yourself online.
Mockingbird’s sister restaurant, Osteria Mazzantini, has its own three-course meal with a pairings option, and I daresay the menu is less mainstream and a little fancier. Options include pumpkin ravioli, herb-roasted turkey breast, prosciutto- and mozzarella-stuffed slow cooked leg and cranberry panna cotta.
Not going out? Mockingbird Bistro also offers an at-home option. Orders are due by 2 pm on Tuesday and can be picked up on either Wednesday between 10 am and 4 pm or on Thursday between 10 am and noon. It’s both considerate and unusual for pick-up on the actual day to be available, so kudos to them for offering this as an option.
The Bistro at Hotel Sorella 800 Sorella Court (at CityCentre)
Vegetarians take note: The Bistro has an option for those who want to spare a bird (and still have turkey for your meat-loving heathen relatives). Either go all the way in for the $62 per person, four-course fixed-price menu or order your options a la carte. Entree choices are either brined turkey or vegetarian mushroom Wellington. Dinner is served 11:30 am to 3 pm. Call 713-973-1600.
Line & Lariat 220 Main Street (Hotel Icon)
Line & Lariat is hosting a four-course set menu for $27 per adult and $15 for children between five and 12. The menu is butternut squash soup, a chopped salad and roasted turkey with cornbread dressing and then you can choose between pumpkin pie or bourbon pecan pie. Dinner rolls, cornbread, coffee and iced tea are served alongside at no extra charge. It’s happening between 11am and 5pm on the big day. Call 832-667-4470.
Bistro Provence 13616 Memorial Drive
Bistro Provence will be open 11 am to 2:30 pm on Thanksgiving and offers a three-course, French-inspired meal. The cost ranges from $19 to $25, depending on whether you select roulade of turkey breast, roast beef or grilled Nova Scotia salmon as your entrée. If you prefer email to calling, you can make your reservation via bistro_provence@sbcglobal.net.
Ara at Royal Sonesta Hotel 2222 West Loop South
From 11:30 am to 2 pm, the newly rebranded Ara is having a Thanksgiving dinner that combines buffet service and traditional platings. There’s an appetizer buffet that includes salads, pâté and lobster brioche sliders. The entrées are formally plated and the choices are sage-roasted turkey, prime rib roast, and a scallop and lobster dish. And there are some delicious-sounding desserts: cinnamon raisin brioche bread pudding, Godiva chocolate cake and pumpkin cheesecake with caramelized pecans. The cost is $56 for adults, $50 for seniors and $25 for children ages five to 12. Kids five and under eat free. Call 713-973-1600.
STRATEGY 3: GET A LITTLE HELP
You can always piecemeal your Thanksgiving dinner. Cook the things that you really don’t mind dealing with and supplement with the main courses or sides that you don’t want to deal with by ordering them from elsewhere.
Central Market 3815 Westheimer, 713-386-1700
Central Market has put their extensive selection of cheese plates, appetizers, side dishes, vegetarian sides, mains (such as pork tenderloin, rack of lamb, hams, turkeys, both cooked and uncooked) and desserts online for easy perusal. Thanksgiving orders need to be placed by phone, online or in-store by Tuesday. You can drop off your own casserole dishes and platters at the catering counter by Tuesday, if you’d like; you’ll pick them up filled with your order.
Underbelly 1100 Westheimer
Underbelly believes that you need to man-up (or woman-up, as the case may be) and make your own turkey, as they’re not offering one for pick-up. Considering they offer a “day after Thanksgiving” andouille sausage gumbo option, to which you can add your own leftover turkey, we can get behind this idea.
If you can cook the turkey, Underbelly can sell you everything else. The sides are $35 each but they come in a 9” x 13” pan, so it’s a generous portion. Note that your order is due by Saturday (yes, tomorrow) and pick-up is only available on Wednesday.
Revival Market 550 Heights Blvd.
Stay away from the factory-farmed birds and get one that’s been pasture-raised from Revival Market. You might find they taste a lot better than your typical grocery store birds, too, but you will have to pay for the privilege. Raising animals the old-fashioned way isn’t cheap. (Have a stack of past My Table magazines? Look up my article on humanely raised meats in the Meat Issue (Aug.-Sept. 2012) if you’d like to know why.)
Choose between a Blue Slate turkey from Tejas Heritage Farm in Texas or a smoked “Willie Bird” turkey from Sonoma, California. The “Willie Birds” come in two size ranges: 12 to 15 pounds and 18 to 20 pounds and are $4.95 per pound (which makes the price range from $59.40 to $99). The Blue Slate turkeys are in the eight- to 12-pound range and are $12.95 per pound (making these range from $103.60 to a whopping $155.40). It’s preferred you place your order on-site, but they will take phone orders as well, as long as you promise to be patient. A deposit of $25 or $35 is required and if you don’t cancel before this Sunday, it’s forfeit.
Revival also has a slew of take-home sides and desserts, including gravies, casseroles, and soups, so you can just fill out your meal at home if you’re not in for the whole turkey and don’t want to cook everything yourself.
As of publication time, the Blue Slate turkeys from Tejas Heritage Farm are sold out!
Ooh La La 23920 Westheimer Parkway (Katy) & 770 W. Sam Houston Parkway N., Suite 500 (Town & Country)
Ooh La La has a plethora of pies to choose from to complete your Thanksgiving meal. Check out the yummy selections and lovely photos online. Prices range from $28.95 to $54.95, depending on which one you want. There are also smaller-sized “cutie pies” for $6.95 each – just right for a duo. Place orders no later than 9 pm Monday and pick up on Wednesday.
Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers. We’re thankful to have you.