A Classic Thanksgiving Spread
For a Thanksgiving Feast with a Southwest flair, locals and travelers alike can head to Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa’s Adobe. The restaurant will display a family-style spread of classic, savory dishes. Reservations required.
Date: November 22
Time: 2–7 p.m.
Price: $68 adults, $34 children
9700 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla
Celebrate the season’s produce at Amici’s Fall Harvest Dinner, which includes a pre-fixe menu created by Chef Rhoelle Gabriel that features traditional fall ingredients—think pumpkins, potatoes, turkey, and more. Book a 12-person table or opt for communal seating.
Date: November 18
Time: Seatings at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Price: $35
5980 Village Way, Del Mar
The Lodge at Torrey Pines’ fine dining restaurant is hosting a four-course meal led by Executive Chef Jeff Jackson and overlooking the 18th hole of the iconic Torrey Pines Golf Course.
Date: November 22
Time: 4–10 p.m.
Price: $115 adults and $60 children under 12
11480 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla
Bo-Beau
All three San Diego locations (Hillcrest, La Mesa, and Ocean Beach) are cooking for Thanksgiving. Choose from a three-course menu of sweet corn bisque, melted brie, slow roasted turkey with garlic mashed potatoes, and butter cake topped with vanilla ice cream. There’s also a kids’ menu for the little ones.
Date: November 22
Time: Varies by location
Price: Varies by location
At the Hilton Garden Inn San Diego Del Mar, the property’s signature restaurant will host their three-course prix fixe dinner for the holiday. The meal includes a first course of soup or salad, before moving on to roasted turkey and orange cranberry sauce, and an assortment of pies for dessert.
Date: November 22
Time: 3–9 p.m.
Price: $41.99 adults, $22 children
3939 Ocean Bluff Avenue, Del Mar
The French restaurant will honor Thanksgiving traditions with a gourmet three-course holiday dinner and specialty cocktail created by owner and executive chef, Ken Irvine. The meal will have options including soupe de citrouille; a pumpkin-hominy soup with crispy parsnips and chive crème fraiche; dindon prepare deux facons, Diestel Family Ranch turkey from Sonora, California; and mousse au chocolat, a rich dark Callebaut chocolate mousse with seasonal red berries.
Date: November 22
Time: Noon–8 p.m.
Price: $59.95 adults, $20 children
4090 Adams Avenue, Kensington
Destination diners and local guests can savor an eight-course tasting menu at the award-winning Addison restaurant and a special all-day three-course menu with various options at Amaya. The hotel’s Explorer’s Club will offer outdoor games and activities on the Aria Lawn from 11 a.m.–1 p.m., complimentary for resort guests and restaurant diners.
Date: November 22
5300 Grand Del Mar Court, Del Mar
At the more casual restaurant at The Lodge at Torrey Pines, sip on beer or wine pairings alongside your pre-fixe three-course meal, while overlooking the greens at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
Date: November 22
Time: 1–10 p.m.
Price: From $60 adults and $35 for children under 12
11480 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla
Turkey season is here at Fiore, and they’re serving up fall-inspired feasts. Dine on turkey breast filled with fresh spinach and traditional stuffing, a savory bread pudding, and caramelized yam gratin.
Date: November 22
Price: $28
777 Harrah’s Rincon Way, Funner
Dine on a three-course, family-style Friendsgiving menu that includes turkey, bacon and apple stuffing, and pumpkin spiced lattes. A portion of the proceeds will benefit No Kid Hungry. Reservations encouraged.
Date: November 22
Time: 3–8 p.m.
Price: $75 (plus tax and gratuity)
616 J Street, East Village
Take in the turkey from atop the iconic Bankers Hill building with a three-course meal that spans lobster bisque, truffle macaroni and cheese, roasted organic turkey, vegan chickpea fritters, and desserts like pumpkin cheesecake.
Date: November 22
Price: $74.50
2550 5th Avenue, Bankers Hill
Head to the oceanfront restaurant for a special three-course menu, and choose from a variety of classics, like free-range roasted turkey, prime rib, and more. They’re also offering a special kids’ menu.
Date: November 22
Time: Noon–9 p.m.
Price: $51 turkey entrée, $61 any other entrée
1555 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar
Get your Turkey Day meal with a French twist. The Bankers Hill restaurant is serving a roasted organic turkey, along with French staples like steak frites, escargots, short ribs bourguignon, and more.
Date: November 22
Time: 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
Price: Varies
2760 5th Avenue, Bankers Hill
Felice Ringraziamento! The Italian restaurant is opening its doors for a new family tradition—offering the restaurant’s first-ever prix fixe Thanksgiving dinner. The menu features a three-course meal, with a specialty cocktail.
Date: November 22
Time: 2–8 p.m.
Price: $70
932 Orange Avenue, Coronado
At the expansive, family-friendly resort, Avant will offer a three-course holiday menu with roasted pancetta-wrapped quail and at Veranda Fireside Lounge & Restaurant, settle in for a three-course Thanksgiving menu for lunch and dinner.
Date: November 22
17550 Bernardo Oaks Drive, Rancho Bernardo
Enjoy Turkey Day at the downtown restaurant with a three-course, prix-fixe menu on Thanksgiving that includes apple-honey glazed pork belly, turkey roulade, seared scallops, and pumpkin pie cheesecake.
Date: November 22
Time: 2–8 p.m.
535 Fifth Avenue, Gaslamp Quarter
Let the picky diners have their choice with an à la carte menu at this waterfront restaurant. Choose from a wide selection of savory appetizers like sweet corn autumn panna cotta, entrees including the Julian cherry cider brined turkey breast, seasonal sides, and desserts like a bonfire toffee liqueur crème brulee.
Date: November 22
Time: Noon–7 p.m.
2000 Spindrift Drive, La Jolla
Enjoy Thanksgiving by the water this year at Paradise Point Resort & Spa’s signature restaurant for cheese and charcuterie, a housemade honey roasted kabocha squash bisque, orange ginger-brined turkey, lemongrass roasted prime rib, and a smoked salt roasted Atlantic salmon. End the meal on a sweet note with treats including handcrafted mini French macarons and a variety of mini cheesecakes.
Date: November 22
Time: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Price: $69
1404 Vacation Road, Mission Bay
Bound for the Buffet
Like your turkey with a side of bayside views? At this Harbor Island restaurant, they’re serving roasted butternut squash soup, sage-infused stuffing, green beans almondine, and a carving station that includes turkey, pork, and slow-roasted prime rib. Save room for the pies (apple, pecan, and pumpkin), as well as the cakes, pastries, and cookies.
Date: November 22
Price: $65 adults and $18 children 6–12 (kids under 6 complimentary)
The resort and spa will also be offering a holiday buffet at The Clubhouse Grill. Families are encouraged to enjoy a day of fun as the Explorer’s Club hosts outdoor games and activities on the Aria Lawn from 11 a.m.–1 p.m., complimentary for resort guests and restaurant diners.
Date: November 22
5300 Grand Del Mar Court, Del Mar
For a more casual experience at the resort, guests can indulge in orange clove glazed bone-in ham, prime rib of beef au jus, and classic pumpkin cheesecake.
Date: November 22
Price: $33
777 Harrah’s Rincon Way, Funner
Spend Thanksgiving on the Bay, and best of all, Hornblower will do all the cooking and cleaning. Date: November 22
Time: Brunch 11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m., dinner 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Price: Brunch $75 adults and $45 children; dinner $99 adult and $59.40 child
1800 North Harbor Drive, Downtown
The crown jewel of Coronado is celebrating its 130th birthday this year—celebrate with one of the most lavish spreads in town. You can opt to dine in their iconic Crown Room or oceanfront ballroom.
Date: November 22
Time: Noon–6:30 p.m.
Price: $145 for adults and $50 for children ages 6–10 (children under 5 are complimentary)
1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado
Beyond Avant’s seated dinner, Aragon Ballroom at the Inn will also be offering a holiday buffet complete with hot carvings paired with live music and more.
Date: November 22
17550 Bernardo Oaks Drive, Rancho Bernardo
Give thanks with some bubbly at the Manchester Grand Hyatt’s restaurant. The champagne brunch menu includes selections from a raw seafood bar, risotto station, cheeses and charcuteries, a Thanksgiving-esque carving station, and desserts.
Date: November 22
Time: 11 a.m –5 p.m.
Price: $74 adults, $34 children
7714 Market Place, Downtown
The Hornblower’s on-land venue will be offering a rare, refined uptown option for Thanksgiving. (Originally constructed as an Episcopal church, this 1910-era landmark is San Diego’s only remaining Classic Revival structure.) Enjoy an elaborate seasonal buffet, decadent desserts, and live jazz by Republic of Music.
Date: November 22
Time: 3–5:30 p.m.
Price: $59
2825 Fifth Avenue, Bankers Hill
The Pink Lady is one of the most popular and iconic places to dine on Thanksgiving. A buffet stocked with a raw bar and carving station will accompany seasonal selections like soups and salads, wild mushroom pappardelle, and winter heirloom carrots. Reservations required.
Date: November 22
Time: 2–8 p.m.
Price: $89 adults, $39 children
1132 Prospect Street, La Jolla
Give thanks with an oceanfront view and buffet of appetizers, main courses including orange blossom ricotta crepes, seasonal sides, and pies. In addition, there will be a children’s station filled with picky-eater favorites.
Date: November 22
Time: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Price: $64 adults, $38 children
8110 Camino Del Oro, La Jolla
Celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends at Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa with fall-inspired activities, live entertainment, and plenty of eats. To work up an appetite, kids can play in the jumphouse, decorate ornaments, hop on a hayride, and take snaps at the photo station. Come mealtime, dine on a buffet with decadent desserts.
Date: November 22
Time: 1–5:30 p.m.
5921 Valencia Circle, Rancho Santa Fe
Communal Feasts
Provisional Kitchen, Café, & Mercantile
Inspired by the spirit of Thanksgiving, eight of San Diego’s most renowned chefs are coming together for one night only, to host a very special “ChefsGiving” dinner at Pendry San Diego hotel to benefit the San Diego Food Bank. The “ChefsGiving” menu will include a different creative holiday dish from each chef—from truffled beggars turkey to “twice baked” clams, coal roasted beets, and more that reflect their unique cooking styles and delicious deserts—prepared in the restaurant’s open kitchen. Dinner will be served family-style and paired with complimentary Cambria wines at communal tables.
Date: November 14
Time: 6:30–9:30 p.m.
Price: $145 (includes a $25 donation to the San Diego Food Bank)
425 Fifth Avenue, Gaslamp Quarter
Indulge in a three-course menu offering butternut squash soup, kurobuta pork short rib, pumpkin risotto, and more. After dinner guests can enjoy a tableside pie or gelato and sorbet station for dessert. Sit inside the all-day eatery’s communal dining space or head outside to the patio, where guests can warm up next to heaters while people-watching along Fifth Avenue.
Date: November 22
Time: 2–10 p.m.
Price: $80 adults, $25 children
425 Fifth Avenue, Gaslamp Quarter
Cocktails & Casual Bites
It’s fall in a glass, with the Little Italy eatery’s Carina cocktail, which combines cinnamon honey simple syrup, cardamom bitters, nutmeg, coconut cream, and chai spiced rum.
Date: Through December
Price: $12 each
1917 India Street, Little Italy
For those looking to cheer on their favorite team before or after the big feast, they’ll be showing the big games all day long. Plus, look for discounts on drinks and bites.
Date: November 22
715 J Street, East Village
If a traditional turkey dinner isn’t your thing, consider Cerveza’s Taco of the Month, the Thanksgiving Taco. It combines all the best parts of Thanksgiving dinner—turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce—to create a holiday-centric taco.
Date: Through November
Price: $5 each
1165 Garnet Avenue, Pacific Beach
Fall may signal Halloween candy and pumpkin pie for kids, but for adults, it means cocktails inspired by the warm, crisp flavors of fall. Brian Malarkey’s restaurant is serving up their take on an autumn classic, the Rye & Pie, made with rye, calvados, Peychaud’s Bitters, herbsaint rinse, and a house made apple pie syrup.
Date: Through December
Price: $16 each
2210 Kettner Boulevard, Little Italy
Celebrate this Thanksgiving with Turkey’s & Touchdowns. Watch your team play on one of their 23 TVs while enjoying the Chef’s Special Hand Carved Turkey Sandwich during the afternoon games.
Date: November 22
Time: 9 a.m.–close
570 J Street, Gaslamp Quarter
At Sam the Cooking Guy’s ode to nontraditional tacos inside Little Italy Food Hall, try the Thanksgiving Breakfast Taco all the month. It features a corn tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, roast turkey, stuffing, sautéed onions, peppers and mushrooms, cheese, cranberry sour cream, and crispy onions.
Date: All month
Price: $4 per taco
Time: 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Sunday– Thursday; 11 a.m.–11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
550 West Date Street, Little Italy
Enjoy a seasonal Thanksgiving Leftover Toast with a healthy twist, comprising roasted butternut squash on toasted walnut bread and topped with garlic sage mushrooms, balsamic reduction, and goji berries.
Date: Through November
Price: $12
90 North Coast Highway, Encinitas
Thanksgiving To-Go
The upscale California grocer, located in La Jolla, offers uncooked and cooked holidays meats (including non-GMO, pasture raised turkeys), as well as fully cooked sides, like scalloped potatoes and roasted butternut squash with cranberries, and desserts (pumpkin crumb pie or apple cobbler crisp).
Price: Varies
8510 Genesse Avenue, La Jolla
Chef Nick Brune is behind this sustainably minded catering company that serves the San Diego Gulls, L.A. Dodgers, and other bold-faced brands. They do buffets (organic, vegetarian, or vegan), cocktail parties, tacos bars, Italian spreads, and more.
Date: Ongoing
Price: Varies
Giardino will be offering traditional and Italian-inspired dishes (i.e. pumpkin and turkey lasagna) to go. Head to their website to check out their menu, order ahead of time, and pick up on Thanksgiving. (Your family and friends will thank you.)
Date: November 22
8131 Broadway, Lemon Grove
The Bay Park outpost of this beloved catering company has an extensive to-go menu that includes organic butternut squash soup with maple Chantilly cream, housemade Parker rolls, and Mary’s all-natural free-range turkey among other options. You can also opt for their pre-set Thanksgiving for Four menu ($230).
Date: Pick up on November 21
Price: Varies
San Diego Thanksgiving Guide 2018
