Students may be missing out on home cooking to save on travel fare and dinner table arguments with family. But if you happen to be spending Thanksgiving in the District, there’s no need to reach for the Chinese take-out menu.
Whether your family is visiting D.C. for a holiday trip or you are dining with friends, local restaurants have you covered with Thanksgiving menus worth splurging on and there are a number of prix-fixe meals at celebrated restaurants near campus.
Here are a few restaurants in the District serving modern spins on classic holiday dishes that might make going out a new Thanksgiving tradition.
Founding Farmers
1924 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
As a classic option adjacent to campus, Founding Farmers offers a special pre-set menu of shared plates alongside an appetizer, main dish and dessert course for each person ($39), with iced tea and drip coffee included. Split between shared plates like brioche rolls or skillet cornbread topped with honey butter and tart jam.
The restaurant starts you off slow with two appetizer options: a creamy butternut squash soup or a fresh farmers salad. For the main course, diners have seven holiday options ranging from a classic roasted turkey with black pepper sage gravy, almond mustard-crusted white fish, a rosemary-roasted pork chop or a savory mushroom loaf. All main courses are accompanied by classic sides like cornbread stuffing, double whipped mashed potatoes, cranberry relish and green beans.
If you make room for a dessert slice in one of five flavors like apple, pumpkin or chocolate cream – your five-minute trek back to campus will be more like a wobble than a walk.
Old Ebbitt Grill
675 15th St. NW
Noon to 1 a.m.
If you have a few friends in town and are looking for a fairly priced meal – considering the spiked prices for the holiday – head to Old Ebbitt Grill and try their roast turkey dinner with “all the fixings” ($28.99 per plate), which comes with a choice of apple or pecan pie a la mode or pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
If turkey is not your thing, no problem. The restaurant also has holiday specials like butternut squash ravioli smothered in a sherried onion sauce, toasted walnuts, cranberries and sweet potato strings ($17.59), or apple-wood smoked ham with potato gratin, green beans and a rum-raisin sauce ($18.99). On top of that, Old Ebbitt Grill will also have its normal dinner menu available, so you can be thankful each dinner guest will leave stuffed and satisfied.
Georgia Brown’s
950 15th St. NW
Noon to 6:30 p.m.
The Thanksgiving feast at Georgia Brown’s includes an appetizer, entree and dessert ($60) for an all-encompassing meal that is worth the price tag. The upped cost gets you five or six options for each course, so the entire table will be happy. Start off with appetizers like crab soup with sherry and lump crab meat, cajun shrimp with grits and lemon butter sauce or a classic caesar salad.
Entrees come with a sorted stack of additional treats, like the roasted or deep fried turkey and the glazed country ham – which both come with mashed potatoes and collard greens – or crab-stuffed flounder – which comes with beets, baby arugula and mushrooms.
For those looking to pick up food for a Friendsgiving bash, the restaurant offers a selection of 17 crowd-sized Thanksgiving dishes, like traditional veggies and mac and cheese tubs, or desserts like pecan pie and peach cobbler. If the dishes are ordered online by Monday at 5 p.m., you can pick up your contribution on Thanksgiving morning.
RARE Steakhouse & Tavern
1595 I St. NW
11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
This popular steakhouse offers a savory Thanksgiving special, making it a great spot for families to enjoy a hearty holiday. Try the thyme roasted turkey breast ($32) with mushroom sage stuffing, cheesy broccoli, buttermilk mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, or amp up your order with pan roasted turkey breast ($40) served with a side of Swiss chard and rock shrimp-stuffed turkey leg, potatoes, stuffing and cranberry cara cara orange sauce. Those looking to feast lavishly can try a dry-aged ribeye with caramelized onion bread pudding ($75).
Holiday specials feature some sides like a sweet potato hash ($8), roasted carrots and pistachios ($8), and butternut mashed potatoes ($8), but Rare’s usual dinner menu will also be available.
Save room for dessert because their baked apple crisp with vanilla bean chantilly ($11) will tie the whole feast together.
