STK makes way for turkey on its steakhouse menu for Thanksgiving weekend. | All photos courtesy of the brands.
Restaurants got a head start on holiday menus, rolling out Thanksgiving specials before the Halloween trick-or-treating began. Family dining and casual chains are offering dinner packages of turkey with all the trimmings and other meal deals, while a few quick-service players are featuring the Thanksgiving star in sandwiches and the like.
Country Fried Turkey is back at Cracker Barrel, a holiday classic that features fried, hand-breaded turkey tenderloins topped with herbed pan gravy and served with two sides, cranberry relish and choice of buttermilk biscuits or corn muffins. For the morning crowd, Cinnamon Swirl French Toast and Turkey Sausage return to the menu, plus a new Breakfast Burger makes its debut. It’s composed of a beef patty topped with bacon, a sunnyside-up egg, American cheese and Hashbrown Casserole. Also on offer is a Thanksgiving Heat & Serve Family Dinner for four to six people and a Feast for eight to 10 diners.
A roasted, whole hand-carved turkey joins the traditional Holiday Turkey Dinner at Perkins American Food Co. for group holiday meals. The chain is also introducing a Turkey Gobbler Sandwich for a portable feast. It features fresh roast turkey layered with stuffing and cranberry mayo on toasted sourdough. Also new are the Monte Cristo Flip made with turkey, diced ham and Swiss cheese folded inside buttermilk pancakes and finished with a dusting of powdered sugar and raspberry sauce and a Cranberry Pecan Flip, while the Bacon & Cheddar Pancake Flip returns to the menu.
Arby’s Deep Fried Turkey lineup returns to the fast-food chain’s menu. It’s headed up by the Deep Fried Turkey Gobbler, a sandwich piled with a quarter pound of thick-sliced fried turkey, crispy onions, melted Swiss, stuffing, cranberry spread and mayo on a toasted sub bun. There’s also a Deep Fried Turkey Club layered with bacon, cheddar cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayo, and on the sweet side, an Apple Pie Shake blending baked green apples with warm spices.
Deep-fried turkey is featured in two sandwiches at Arby’s.
The Festive Feast Collection launches at Subway Nov. 13, led by a sandwich called the TurHamKen—Subway’s spin on the Turducken. It combines oven-roasted turkey, Black Forest Ham and rotisserie-style chicken with cheddar jack cheese, spinach, red onions, mayo, stuffing and cranberry sauce. Also on offer is a Festive Turkey and a Festive Chicken sub, both with the same cheese, vegetables, stuffing and condiments as the TurHamKen. Cranberry sauce or stuffing can be added to any sub for $1.
The Fried BBQ Turkey Sandwich runs at Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer throughout November. The sandwich includes crispy fried turkey with a BBQ spice blend, white barbecue sauce, kosher pickles and cherry pepper relish on a toasted potato bun. It’s served with fries and ranges in price from $20-$24, depending on location.
Turkey is not traditional at P.F. Chang’s, but the Asian casual-dining chain is offering a holiday spread that fits its culinary direction. The lineup includes the return of the iconic Longlife Noodles & Prawns along with seasonal additions such as Butternut Squash Dumplings, Miso Lobster Dumplings, Black Pepper Filet with sliced beef, shiitake mushrooms, onions, shishitos and black pepper sauce, and Butter Cake with miso caramel. To sip, there’s a Frosted Cranberry Cosmo and a bourbon cocktail called Apple Spice & Everything Nice. Additionally, the chain introduces its “Light the Fire” platform centered around wok cooking.
The holiday menu at P.F. Chang’s celebrates dumplings, wok dishes and cocktails.
Prime Rib returns to Logan’s Roadhouse for the holiday season. The 13-ounce cut is slow-cooked for six hours with a signature rub and can be ordered on Prime Rib Weekends through Feb. 22 or as part of the Prime Rib Roadhouse Feast that serves six to eight people. Also on offer are chef-created late fall dishes, such as Grilled Bacon on a Stick, Beer-Battered Stuffed Jalapeños, Cedar Plank Salmon, Braised Pork Shank and Double Bacon Sirloin. Limited-time desserts include Blueberry & Apple Cobbler and Chocolate Layer Cake, along with seasonal cocktails like the Drunken Cowboy and Mango Rancher Rita.
The Thanksgiving Menu at Bob Evans covers every course. For the Farmhouse Feast, customers can choose from three entrees, including slow-roasted turkey, hickory-smoked ham and pot roast with caramelized onions and roasted carrots. House-made bread-and-celery dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans with ham and macaroni and cheese are the side options, with pumpkin pie for dessert. The Holiday Hot Family Meal offers similar choices in a smaller format. Sides can also be ordered on their own, with new choices including Green Bean Casserole, Cheesy Potato Casserole and Roasted Apples.
Heat-and-serve turkey meals are available at Cowboy Chicken, with several sizes on offer. The Rotisserie Turkey Package includes a wood fire rotisserie turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, a choice of a holiday side, green beans, country style stuffing, 12 rolls and peach cobbler. There’s also a Turkey Family Meal featuring an oven-roasted turkey breast that serves four and a Turkey Plate with sliced turkey, stuffing, green beans, roll and gravy for a solo dinner.
STK Steakhouse is adding turkey to the menu for Thanksgiving weekend. There’s a Roasted Free Range Turkey Dinner ($64) with cornbread and sage stuffing, shallot and thyme confit thighs, sauteed green beans with crispy shallots, maple baked sweet potato, Yukon gold mashed potatoes with Parmesan crust, gravy and cranberry orange chutney. Signature butters such as Buffalo blue cheese, garlic chili and peppercorn are $12 each and Spiced Pumpkin Pie is $12 a slice.
Smoked turkey or ham and all the trimmings are available at Buddy’s bar-b-q.
The Holiday Feast Hotline at Buddy’s bar-b-q makes it easy for customers to order a Thanksgiving dinner in a few minutes. Options include a whole smoked turkey, smoked spiral-sliced ham or a full Holiday Feast with three quart-sized sides, a pint of gravy, dressing (aka stuffing), two dozen dinner rolls, a choice of pecan or pumpkin pie and a gallon of iced tea.
For the month of November, Kolache Factory is offering the Turkey and Dressing Kolache. The items stuffs the yeast-raised kolache dough with stuffing wrapped with slices of turkey. A cup of classic cranberry sauce is served on the side for dipping.
Polly’s Pies has a slew Thanksgiving feasts on hand for the holiday. The Whole Turkey Feast includes an 11-13 pound cooked turkey, sides, rolls and pie, while the Whole Ham Feast subs an orange-Dijon glazed ham for the turkey. There’s also a Half Ham Feast for four and Everything But the Bird, an assortment of signature sides and pie. The holiday pie lineup includes Pumpkin, Pumpkin Dream, Pumpkin Maple Crunch and Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake alongside year-round favorites like Apple Crisp, Banana Cream, Banberry, Coconut Cream and Chocolate Silk.
Brown Sugar Heat joins the sauce lineup at Buffalo Wild Wings.
While holiday menus dominate this week’s news, a bunch of unrelated items are launching too. Buffalo Wild Wings has a new limited-time sauce: Brown Sugar Heat. The swicy sauce is based on a brown sugar glaze balanced with black pepper and smoked chile seasonings. The sauce can be ordered with wings, a chicken sandwich or chicken dippers and as part of BWW’s Pick 6 with Boneless Wings or Crispy Chicken Dipper entrees.
The Frosted Berry Whatafresher joins Whataburger’s beverage lineup on Tuesday. The drink is a combo of blackberry flavor and blueberry bursties (similar to boba) topped with a cloud of cold whip. Price is $3.69 for 16 ounces and $3.99 for a 20-ounce size.
The viral Dubai chocolate bar is the inspiration for three new sweets at Baskin-Robbins. Pistachio Chocolate Bar Ice Cream is the Flavor of the Month for November, flavored with swirls of pistachio and chocolate ice creams and mixed with pistachio pieces and chocolate crunch. The Dubai Chocolate Bar Shake blends Pistachio Chocolate Bar Ice Cream with milk and simple syrup, finished with whipped cream, pistachio cream and strands of crispy kadayif. Last up is the Dubai Chocolate Bar Sundae with two scoops of the same ice cream, pistachio cream, fudge drizzle and kadayif. And the chain’s signature Turkey Cake returns to the fold.
Schlotzsky’s Greek Calzone is part of a new Greek Trio.
The Greek Trio launched at Schlotzsky’s features a calzone, flatbread and salad. The Greek Calzone is made with a sourdough crust, creamy feta cheese, roasted red peppers, banana peppers, black olives, red onions, grilled chicken and mozzarella served with a side of tzatziki. Greek Flatbread starts with a flatbread crust that’s topped with the same ingredients as the calzone with the addition of spring mix. The Chicken Greek Salad is a toss of romaine, mixed field greens, grilled chicken, feta, banana peppers, tomatoes, black olives and red onions served with Greek dressing. For a sweet ending, there’s the Cinnabon Caramel PecanBon.
The Giant Zensation Wrap is a takeoff of Zaxbys’ popular Asian Zensation Zalad, filling a warm flour tortilla with fried chicken fingers or grilled chicken and the salad ingredients. Along with the wrap is a new Sweet Asian Glaze Chicken Finger Plate that combines hand-breaded chicken fingers with Sweet Asian Glaze, served with cole slaw, Texas toast, crinkle fries and a small drink. Both roll out Monday along with a Cookie Butter Shake.
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