Restaurants Open on Thanksgiving: How to Find One and What It Costs

Not every restaurant closes on Thanksgiving. Breakfast chains, family-style restaurants, and many fast food locations stay open every year. Hours change for the holiday, though, and the best options fill up. Here's how to find a place that's open near you and decide whether eating out is worth it.

Which kinds of restaurants usually open

Each year's lineup is a little different, but the same kinds of chains tend to stay open. In ABC7's 2025 roundup:

• Breakfast and 24-hour chains. Denny's, IHOP, and Waffle House were open, though not every location kept 24-hour or normal hours.
• Family-style chains with holiday meals. Bob Evans, Cracker Barrel, Golden Corral, and Maggiano's served traditional Thanksgiving meals, and several offered them for takeout.
• Coffee and fast food. Many or select locations of Dunkin', Starbucks, McDonald's, Jack in the Box, and Whataburger were open, with hours set by each location.

Plenty of independent restaurants and some chains close for the day. Use any list as a starting point, not a promise about the location near you.

How to confirm a place near you is open

• Check the restaurant's own website or app. Chains often post holiday hours the week of Thanksgiving.
• Look at the map listing, but don't rely on it. Holiday hours on map apps are only as accurate as the restaurant keeps them.
• Call ahead. It's the only way to be sure, especially for franchise locations that set their own hours.
• Reserve a sit-down meal early. The same ABC7 report noted that Thanksgiving restaurant reservations were up 13% over the year before.

Eating out vs. cooking: what it costs

The American Farm Bureau Federation's 2025 survey put a classic Thanksgiving dinner for 10 at $55.18, about $5.52 a person. A holiday plate at a sit-down restaurant costs several times that per person, before tip.

Eating out on Thanksgiving is rarely the cheapest option. What you're paying for is not having to cook or clean up, which can be worth it for a small group, a busy year, or anyone traveling.

Ways to spend less

• Order a takeout holiday meal. A family-style meal to reheat usually costs less per person than individual plates, and you skip the tip. Our guide to family meal bundles covers how to compare them.
• Go earlier in the day. A holiday breakfast or lunch at a breakfast chain costs less than a holiday dinner.
• Split the work. Cook the turkey at home and buy the sides, or the other way around.
• Pick up instead of ordering delivery. Holiday orders can mean long waits, on top of the usual delivery fees. See delivery vs. pickup.

For other days with free and discounted food, see our food holidays calendar.

Chain examples are from ABC7's 2025 Thanksgiving roundup, and hours vary by location, so confirm before you go. Cost figure from the American Farm Bureau Federation's 2025 survey.