17 Family-Friendly Restaurants Open on Thanksgiving in DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia

Hosting Thanksgiving at home is a lot of fun, but let's face it—it's also a lot of work. Gathering the crew at a restaurant instead allows everyone to be together on Thanksgiving without all the hassle of cooking and cleaning. Luckily, there are plenty of restaurants open on Thanksgiving in DC and its surrounding areas where you can do just that.

Here are 17 restaurants open on Thanksgiving in DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia in 2023. Not only are they all kid-friendly, but many even offer special pricing for kids ages 12 and under. If you see something you like, make a reservation ASAP, as spots fill up quickly.

Wherever you choose to gather this Thanksgiving, bring some laughter to the table with our list of 25 Thanksgiving jokes for kids. For even more Thanksgiving fun, try one of our 50 Thanksgiving crafts, games, and activities for kids and families.

Whether at home or in the restaurant, Founding Farmers & Distillers will make your Thanksgiving delicious.

Restaurants Open on Thanksgiving in DC 

1. Founding Farmers & Distillers

Founding Farmers & Distillers offers a three-course prix fixe Thanksgiving dinner for $45 per person and $20 per child 12 and under. It includes a choice between turkey, honey-glazed spiral ham, and five other main entree options (including veggie loaf), a variety of sides, and a choice of butternut squash soup or salad for appetizer, as well as 11 options for dessert.

Take it Home: The restaurant also offers a Heat and Eat Thanksgiving at Home menu, which includes partially cooked food that you can pick up the day before Thanksgiving and finish cooking at home. Order a complete dinner for four or various a la carte items to customize your feast.

2. Farmers Fishers Bakers

Farmers Fishers Bakers serves the exact same Thanksgiving Day menu as its sibling restaurant, Farmers & Distillers (see above) for the same prices, as well as the same Heat and Eat Thanksgiving at Home menu to pick up the day before Thanksgiving and finish cooking at home.

Take it Home: Both Founding Farmers & Distillers and Farmers Fishers Bakers are offering a Leftover Kit for Home as an add-on for $75 that includes turkey and various fixings—because who doesn't love leftovers?

3. Lincoln

For those who want a true Thanksgiving feast (and who doesn't?), Lincoln is providing an all-you-can-eat carving station with turkey and gravy, beef tenderloin, and quince- and mustard-glazed wild salmon, plus endless sides such as mac and cheese, cheddar grits, collard greens, and more. Each guest can also choose one of five appetizers and four desserts. The feast costs $70 per person and $30 per child age 12 and under.

Take it Home: Lincoln's Thanksgiving At Home menu includes turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, salad, biscuits, and dessert for one to 10 people.

4. Blue Duck Tavern

If you're looking for one of the fancier restaurants open on Thanksgiving in DC, this Michelin-distinguished eatery in the Park Hyatt is offering an a la carte, three-course prepaid menu for $155 per adult and $55 per child under 12. Main-course options include prime rib, halibut, black walnut risotto, and, of course, turkey. Guests can also choose one of five appetizers and two desserts.

Take it Home: The Thanksgiving To-Go menu at Blue Duck Tavern includes a 12- to 14-pound turkey and gravy, two loaves of bread, five traditional sides, and two pies for $550. Get even fancier by adding on a charcuterie and cheese board.

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Full up on a buffet-style Thanksgiving meal at Teddy & The Bully Bar.

5. Teddy & The Bully Bar

President Theodore Roosevelt loved simple American comfort food, and the Thanksgiving menu at his namesake, Teddy & The Bully Bar, certainly reflects that. For $75 per person ($32 per child 12 and under), you'll enjoy an "all you can handle" carving station with turkey, prime rib, and wild salmon, plus endless helpings of 10 sides including mac and cheese and stuffing. Guests can also choose one of five appetizers and one of four desserts.

Take it Home: Teddy's Thanksgiving At Home menu includes turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce, cornbread, stuffing, pomme puree, green beans, and dessert for one to 10 people.

6. Yardbird

This downtown restaurant is offering a special Thanksgiving a la carte menu featuring an herb-roasted turkey dinner with traditional fixings, shareable sides like biscuit stuffing and lobster mac and cheese, brown butter bourbon pumpkin pie, and more.

Take it Home: Order Thanksgiving dinner to go for two to eight people. Choose between turkey with traditional sides and fried chicken with mac and cheese and biscuits. You can also add on brown butter bourbon pumpkin pie.

7. Sfoglina

Celebrate Thanksgiving Italian-style at Michelin-starred chef Fabio Trabocchi's Sfoglina, which serves up its full menu of fresh pasta dishes, meats, seafoods, and more on the holiday at its downtown, Van Ness, and Arlington, Virginia locations. Thanksgiving specials include roasted turkey with traditional sides like stuffing and whipped potatoes, butternut squash caramelle pasta, and individual pumpkin pie for dessert.

Take it Home: Order a Sfoglina Thanksgiving Box for two for $145 or for four for $275. The box includes bread, salad, butternut squash caramelle pasta, turkey with three sides (plus gravy and cranberry compote), individual pumpkin pies, and cookies.

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Enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in an elegant setting at La Ferme.

Restaurants Open on Thanksgiving in Maryland

8. La Ferme Restaurant — Chevy Chase

This popular restaurant serves up fine French cuisine in an elegant country-farmhouse setting. For Thanksgiving, La Ferme is offering a three-course prix fixe menu for $69 per person. Choose between six items for the first course (from roast autumn squash soup to cassolette of snails), seven main-course entrees (options include roast turkey, New York strip loin, and pumpkin ravioli), and five desserts.

9. Founding Farmers — Potomac (also in DC and in Reston and Tysons, VA)

At all of the Founding Farmers locations, families can enjoy a three-course prix fixe dinner for $45 per person and $20 for kids 12 and under (the same menu that's offered at its sibling restaurants, Farmers & Distillers and Farmers Fishers Bakers, as described above).

Take it Home: Preorder that same meal, hot and ready to eat, for pickup or delivery for the same price. Or, you can order a complete, partially cooked Thanksgiving dinner for four, along with various a la carte options, to pick up the day before Thanksgiving and finish cooking at home.

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Seasons 52's Thanksgiving feast will not disappoint.

10. Seasons 52 — Columbia and North Bethesda (also in McLean, VA)

All three locations of Seasons 52, which offer seasonal menus and 52 wines by the glass, are open on Thanksgiving. For $40 per person and $18 for kids, enjoy a Thanksgiving feast that includes turkey and gravy, mashed potatoes, brioche and sage stuffing, green beans, mashed butternut squash, cranberry relish, and pumpkin pie.

Take it Home: Order a complete Thanksgiving dinner for four to six for $225 to pick up the day before Thanksgiving, then heat up and serve it on the big day. It includes everything on the dine-in Thanksgiving menu plus a field greens salad.

11. Alexandra's American Fusion — Ellicott City

Enjoy a Thanksgiving buffet at Alexandra's that includes turkey and gravy, bourbon-glazed ham, prime rib, and salmon with shrimp scampi along with 11 different sides and four desserts. The buffet, includes all non-alcoholic beverages, costs $58 for adults and $28 for kids ages 4-12. Children 3 and under eat free.

Take it Home: Enjoy a family-style meal for six from the comfort at home for only $180 with Alexandra's Turkey To-Go menu. In addition to the bird you'll enjoy cornbread stuffing, garlic and parmesan mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes with honey and marshmallows, cranberry sauce, brioche rolls, and pumpkin pie.

12. Twin Arch Tavern — Mount Airy, MD

For a more casual holiday, Twin Arch Tavern is serving up a Thanksgiving buffet for only $40 per person. For two hours families can feast on a spread of turkey and gravy, roast beef, ham, salmon, nearly a dozen sides (including mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, green bean almondine, and vegetable stuffing), and pumpkin and apple pie.

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Experience Thanksgiving in a 19th-century setting at Gadsby's Tavern.

Restaurants Open on Thanksgiving in Northern Virginia

13. Gadsby's Tavern — Alexandria

This historic restaurant serves up a three-course menu on Thanksgiving that includes a choice of peanut soup or salad to start, turkey and ham with all the fixings or herb-crusted rockfish filet for the main course, and pumpkin or pecan pie for dessert. Bread, cornbread, and non-alcoholic beverages are also included with the meal, which costs $68 per person and $34 per child age 12 and under. Or, enjoy a family-style meal in the 19th-century ballroom for the same price.

14. Wildfire — McLean

Thanksgiving dinner is served family-style at Wildfire. The meal includes two appetizers, two salads, two entrees (options include roasted turkey, cedar-planked salmon, and roast tenderloin of beef), two sides, and two desserts. The dinner costs $67.95 per person and $29.95 for kids age 12 and under.

Take it Home: Wildfire offers a Thanksgiving carryout menu with appetizers that serve 8-10, various-sized salads, and main courses and sizes for 4-5 or 8-10. Individual dinners are also available, as are whole pies or slices.

15. Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant — Mount Vernon

This restaurant on the grounds of Mount Vernon is serving up a Thanksgiving buffet that includes turkey and gravy, honey-glazed ham, pork loin, salmon, and veal short ribs along with five sides (mac and cheese, green bean almondine, garlic roasted fingerling potatoes, maple bacon brussels sprouts, and cornbread stuffing), five salads, and four desserts. The meal costs $68 for adults and $25 for kids under 10.

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Thanksgiving dinner at L'Auberge Chez Francois includes a whopping seven courses.

16. L'Auberge Chez Francois — Alexandria

Want to go home stuffed this Thanksgiving? Enjoy this French restaurant's traditional seven-course dinner that includes a classic organic turkey with all the trimmings, plus nine other main-course options such as Maine lobster and rack of lamb, for $122-$132 per adult. Kids 12 and under can order off a special children's menu for $75. There will be three seatings to choose from: 11:30am-1pm, 3-4:30pm, and 6-8pm.

17. Bazin's on Church — Vienna

Celebrate Thanksgiving at this charming Vienna eatery, which is serving up a four-course prix fixe meal for $52.95 per person and $30.95 for kids 10 and under. Start with clam chowder or turkey chili, continue with butternut squash ravioli or a fall salad, then enjoy a full turkey dinner with various sides followed by your choice of four desserts. If prix fixe isn't your thing, you can order one of Bazin's favorites such as filet mignon, crab cakes, or duck breast.

Take it Home: Enjoy a Bazin's Thanksgiving To-Go meal for $48.95 per person. The feast includes turkey and gravy, sausage and sage stuffing, maple sweet potatoes, Idaho potato puree, cranberry-orange relish, and pecan or pumpkin pie.

All photos courtesy of the restaurants open on Thanksgiving