Holiday Eatings

All the best restaurants in Dallas for dining on Thanksgiving Day 2018

Thanksgiving dinner usually involves a turkey.

Photo courtesy of Mudhen

In 2018, Thanksgiving falls early: November 22. That means the window of opportunity for you to plan where and what to eat is slim. We've compiled this list of all the restaurants around Dallas that are serving turkey dinners, brunches, and buffets.

Here's where to eat on Thanksgiving Day:

Asador
Three-course meal at Renaissance Dallas Hotel eatery includes salad with pumpkin, goat cheese, and watercress; turkey roulade with smoked purple sweet potato puree; and sweet potato panna cotta. 5-10 pm. $40. 214-631-2222.

Avanti
Three-course traditional menu includes soup or salad, turkey, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce, with choice of pecan pie or pumpkin pie. Regular menu is also available. 11:30 am-3 pm, 5:30-10 pm. $39. 214-871-4955.

CBD Provisions
Holiday offerings include brunch and dinner. Brunch specials include pancakes with blueberry butter and turkey with cornbread dressing, sage gravy, and cranberry chutney. Dinner specials include butternut squash veloute, turkey, sweet potato casserole, and green beans. Regular menu is also available. Breakfast 7-10 am, brunch 10 am-3 pm, dinner 3-9 pm. 214-261-4500.

Circo
Three-course lunch at Uptown Dallas restaurant includes deviled eggs and choice of roasted beet and goat cheese salad, Le Cirque classic Caesar salad, brown butter sunchoke soup, butter-herb roasted turkey with Italian sausage stuffing, ravioli, grilled beef tenderloin, and pan-seared branzino. Desserts include choice of old-fashioned pecan pie, creamy pumpkin panna cotta, and sweet potato–milk chocolate cremeux. 11 am-5 pm. $65 or $15 for 12 and under. 469-440-8843.

City Hall Bistro
Turkey dinner includes smoked turkey breast, gravy, squash dressing, whipped sweet potatoes, rutabaga au gratin, broccolini, and deviled egg. 12-9 pm. $24. 214-651-3686.

City Works
Frisco hangout has a buffet with choice of entrees from turkey or prime rib plus green bean casserole, corn slop, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potato mash, habanero cranberry sauce, corn bread and Andouille sausage stuffing, smoked cheddar mac and cheese, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, bourbon-glazed carrots, and more. Additional menus items also available a la carte. 12-8 pm. $25-$30. 469-850-1850.

Cru
Three-course meal of Thanksgiving dishes with seasonal focus and complimentary glass of Angry Orchard Rosé Cider. 12-9 pm. $42, or $21 for 12 and under. At all four locations in Dallas, Plano, Allen, and Fort Worth.

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House
Turkey dinner with choice of appetizer and dessert, from options such as butternut squash soup, turkey breast with apple-sausage stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, Chateau potatoes, cranberry relish, and pecan pie a la mode. $49, at all three locations: Fort Worth, Plano, and Uptown Dallas; hours vary.

Del Frisco's Grille
Elevated twists on classic Thanksgiving favorites such as butternut squash bisque, turkey breast with apple-sage sausage stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin cheesecake. Regular menu items such as cheesesteak eggrolls and prime steaks will also be available. 11 am-8 pm at all locations: Southlake, Fort Worth, Plano, and Uptown Dallas.

Dodie's at the Harbor
Special Cajun Thanksgiving dinner includes fried turkey breast, cornbread or oyster dressing, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans Amandine, charred bourbon corn, salad, cranberry sauce, and French bread, with bread pudding for dessert. Mimosas are $3. 11 am-5 pm. $20 or $13 for 12 and under. 972-771-0004.

Fairmont Dallas
Hotel will host a Thanksgiving brunch buffet with charcuterie and cheese station, salmon, shrimp, crab claws, oysters, urkey, short ribs, and cheddar cheese grits. Desserts iclude pies, crumbles, sweet potato trifle, carrot cake, banana pudding, doughnut bread pudding, and crepes. Four seating times: 10:30 am, 11 am, 1:30 pm and 2 pm. $69 or $34.50 for 12 and under. 214-720-5275.

Fearing's
Ritz-Carlton will serve a three-course meal in two options: a Thanksgiving theme with choice of turkey, Novia Scotia halibut beef tenderloin, lamb osso bucco, butternut squash soup, poached prawns, scallops on Indian corn pozole, or stuffed quail; or a vegetarian theme with choice of linguini on sunchoke puree, vegetable curry on basmati rice, red chile pozole stew, Mexican sampler with avocado fries, street tacos, tomato burrata panna, vegetable salad, tortilla soup, and pumpkin cheesecake bar. 10:30 am-2:30 pm, 5:30-9 pm. $125 or $35 for 12 and under. $75 for vegetarian. 214-922-4848.

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
Three-course meal features choices from lobster bisque, turkey breast, mashed sweet potatoes, and apple crisp. Regular menu will also be available. 11 am-8 pm. $42 or $19 for 12 and under. 972-543-2141.

Gorji Restaurant
Three-course dinner with choice of mixed greens or Caesar; turkey breast, pork chop, three-cheese spinach lasagna, prime petit filet, or poached salmon and shrimp; kefir cheese butterfly or flourless chocolate cake. 5-9 pm. $59-$69, pre-payment required. 972-503-7080.

Holy Grail Pub
Four-course meal includes choice of fried turkey or chili-rubbed lamb; salad or roasted root vegetables; mushroom brie en croute or smoked corn chowder and pumpkin pie cheesecake or bread pudding with whiskey sauce. 12-5:30 pm. $40 or $12 for 12 and under; add $15 for beer pairing. 972-377-6633.

Lark on the Park
Festive brunch features traditional Thanksgiving Day meal served family-style. Offerings include smoked turkey, mashed sweet potatoes, stewed green beans, cornbread oyster dressing, and pecan and pumpkin pie for dessert. A la carte brunch menu including the signature Lark Benedict, steak & Eggs, and chilaquiles will also be served.11 am-3 pm. $25. 214-855-5275.

LAW
Restaurant at Four Seasons Dallas will host an all-day brunch buffet with turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, roasted root vegetables, roasted Brussels sprouts, charred green beans, cornbread or apple-sausage stuffing, prime rib, salmon, glazed ham, a raw bar with seafood such as crab claws and shucked oysters, brunch options such as banans foster French toast, omelets, croissants eggs benedict, poke and sushi rolls,a salad bar, cheese and charcuterie, and a dessert station with two dozen options including made-to-order cake doughnut bar. 10:30 am-7:30 pm. $95 or $45 for 12 and under. 972-717-2420.

Mansion on Turtle Creek
Thanksgiving menu is available at lunch and dinner and includes beet salad, hubbard squash soup, smoked salmon with parmentier waffle and hen egg, duck confit hash, organic Heritage turkey with cornbread stuffing, maple glazed carrots, Brussels sprouts, cranberry jam, and Wagyu ribeye with creamed potato and wild mushrooms. A pastry buffet includes pumpkin pie tartlet, apple cobbler tartlet, pecan pie tartlet, cinnamon churros, pumpkin cheesecake, and espresso crème brulee. $125, or $60 for 12 and under. 214-443-4747.

Meddlesome Moth
Holiday brunch includes a la carte menu plus special turkey plate with confit turkey breast and choice of three sides from Brussels sprouts, pumpkin tamales, whipped sweet potatoes, whipped potatoes, confit duck stuffing, and more. Additional specials include spiced pumpkin soup and Cedar River Ranchers Reserve ribeye. 10 am-3 pm. $25. 214-628-7900.

Moxie's Grill & Bar
Plano location will be open with full food and drink menu including sushi cones with tempura shrimp and avocado; red Thai curry bowl with stir-fried veggies, jasmine rice, and curry-buttered naan; and potstickers. Main dishes include steak, blackened mahi mahi, and chipotle mango chicken. 11 am-midnight.

Morton's The Steakhouse
Signature steakhouse will open early at 1 pm for a special steak dinner, plus côte de boeuf, and filet & lobster Oscar. 214-741-2277.

Mudhen Meat and Greens
In addition to a full brunch menu, there's a turkey plate lunch special with turkey breast, sweet potato mash, green bean almondine, and wheat roll. 10 am-3 pm. $24. 214-698-7000.

Oceanaire Seafood Room
Special meal at Galleria Dallas restaurant includes turkey roulade stuffed with sage cranberry stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry chutney, and seasonal vegetable. 11:30 am-10 pm. $39. 972-759-2277.

Perle on Maple
Stoneleigh restaurant has a three-course meal with choice from turkey with cornbread stuffing, green beans, and glazed yams; prime rib with whipped potatoes and Brussels sprouts; or cedar-panked salmon with corn pudding and asparagus tips. First choice courses include butternut squash soup, greens with pecans and blue cheese, or a Caesar. Dessert choices include apple crisp, pecan pie, or pumpkin cheesecake. 11 am-7 pm. $50 or $75 with wines. 469-375-5846.

Perry's Steakhouse
Three-course meal includes choice of butternut squash soup or Honey Crisp apple salad; turkey breast with mashed potatoes, green bean almandine, sausage and sage cornbread stuffing, and cranberry relish; and pumpkin pie. 11 am-9 pm. $50 or $15 for kids. At all three locations in Uptown Dallas, Frisco, and Grapevine.

Princi Italia
Three-course meal of seasonal dishes with Italian twist. 12-9 pm. $42, or $21 for 12 and under. At both locations in Dallas' Preston Royal Village, 214-739-5959, or West Plano, 972-378-9463.

Pyramid Restaurant
Fairmont hotel eatery hosts a three-course dinner with choices from salad, sunchoke bisque, pumpkin risotto, turkey, cornbread stuffing muffins, Brussels sprouts, sweet potato, saffron-roasted cod tagine,beef short ribs, and white cheddar grits. 5-8:30 pm. $49 or $24 for 12 and under. 214-720-5249.

Roy's
Three-course turkey dinner starts with choice of Caesar salad or lobster bisque, and features teriyaki glazed turkey, Portuguese sausage stuffing, haricots verts and hazelnuts, sesame carrots, truffle mashed potatoes, and gravy. Dessert includes choice of maple brown sugar pumpkin tart or chocolate torte.12–9 pm. $40. 972-473-6263.

Savor Gastropub
Four-course menu includes choices from turkey, salmon, grouper, or heritage pork. Sides are family-style and include whipped potato, roased sweet potato and butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, green bean casserole, and cornbread. Salads and appetizers include Caesar, deviled eggs, and lobster puffs. 10 am-6 pm. $58, free for 12 and under. 214-306-5597.

Scout
Statler Hotel eatery will host a buffet with stations, featuring honey glazed ham, deep-fried turkey, prime rib, fried Brussels sprouts, cornbread stuffing, and Parker House rolls. 11 am-4 pm. Plated turkey dinner and turkey sandwiches will be served from a late-night bar menu from 4 pm-midnight. 469-320-8993.

Second Floor Kitchen
Brunch buffet includes carving station with roast and fried turkey, sausage, ham, three kinds of stuffing, brisket and hash, roasted salmon, pork tamales, green bean casserole, broccoli cheese casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, butternut squash soup, a kids' station, salad station, and a dessert station with cobbler, bread pudding, cookies, mousse, and more. 11 am-4 pm. Also open for dinner 6-10 pm. $60 or $25 for 12 and under. 972-450-2978.

SER Steak + Spirits
Special chef-created dinner includes turkey breast and confit turkey leg with maple root vegetable hash, porcini mushrooms, and garnet yams topped with marshmallows and candied pecans. Regular menu will also be served. 5:30-10 pm. $39. 214-761-7498.

Shell Shack
All four locations (Dallas, Arlington, Mesquite, and Denton) of the local seafood chain will be open with their full regular menu. 11 am-2 am.

Sushi Marquee
Sushi restaurant at The Star in Frisco will be open with regular menu and cocktails. 3 pm-2 am. 972-833-1608.

Texas de Brazil
Churrascuria chain will feature turkey, stuffing, and holiday dishes along with the full rodizio style menu which includes a 50-item salad bar and selection of succulent churrasco grilled meats. Available at all three locations in Dallas, Addison, and Fort Worth. 11 am-10 pm.

Table 13
Addison restaurant is hosting a three-course dinner with turkey breast, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, and cranberry sauce. Starter includes choice from pumpkin salad, lobster bisque, Caesar salad, or Table 13 house salad. Dessert is bread pudding. Regular menu is also available a la care. Mike Nicosia will perform at lunch and dinner. 11 am-7 pm. $37 or $15 for 12 and under. 972-789-9558.

Truluck's
Three-course meal includes turkey breast with parmesan mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, and gravy, plus pumpkin pie. Choice of lobster bisque or clam chowder; and choice of creamed spinach, asparagus, broccoli, or mac and cheese. 11 am-9 pm. $40 or $15 for 12 and under. Dallas 214-220-2401. Southlake 817-912-0500.

V-Eats Modern Vegan
Trinity Groves restaurant will serve a three-course vegan menu with butternut squash soup, choice of entrees from vegan turkey, turkey pot pie, deep-fried turkey, butternut squash noodles, or grilled mushroom scallops. Choice of two sides from French-cut string beans, glazed carrots, Brussels sprouts, three-cheese mac and cheese, or garlic mashed potatoes and gravy. Choice of dessert from bourbon pecan pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin cheesecake, or cinnamon gelato. Seatings at 5, 6:30, and 8 pm. $25, or $8 for 12 and under. 214-377-6009.

Vidorra
Deep Ellum restaurant will screen Cowboys game at 3 pm, and serve regular menu plus special Thanksgiving dishes including chicken tortilla soup and poblano chorizo tacos with chorizo, onions, poblano pepper, and cilantro cotija sauce. 2 pm-2 am. 972-215-0640.

holidays

Food trends

Dallas-Fort Worth pitmasters lead Texas’ growing halal BBQ boom

Levant BBQ

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FORT WORTH, Texas (RNS) — At 9 am on a scorching Saturday in June, nearly 100 people were already lined up outside Goldee’s BBQ, a small, wooden-shack restaurant.

First in line was 30-year-old Thanh Huynh, who had been sitting in a lawn chair on the joint’s rustic porch since 6:30 am.

“I have, like, a whole list, and I’m going to spend lots of money here. It’ll be worth it,” he said, laughing while rattling off a long order of meats and sides from his phone’s Notes app as a sweet, smoky scent from nearby pits hung in the air.

Opened in 2020 by a group of his friends, the restaurant was named the No. 1 barbecue spot in the state by Texas Monthly a year later, and then won a Bib Gourmand award from the prestigious Michelin Guide, given for “great food at a great value.”

The restaurant serves classic Texas barbecue like craft pork belly, sausage, and ribs. But it also offers halal brisket, turkey, and lamb.

"Halal" means meat raised and butchered in accordance with Islamic guidelines. It refers to the method in which the animals are slaughtered, one that focuses on humane treatment, cleanliness, and acknowledging the value of life — similar in concept to kosher food in Judaism.

A growing number of halal places have opened around Fort Worth in recent years, and there are also non-halal restaurants that use halal beef, such as burger institution Kincaid's, the new Burger Vault in Keller, and the forthcoming Tick Tock Taco in Colleyville.

Growing Texas trend
At a time when Republican leaders are increasingly targeting the state’s growing Muslim communities, halal barbecue joints like Goldee’s are thriving in Texas. Across the state, Muslim pitmasters are gaining recognition for putting their own spin on one of Texas’ most iconic culinary traditions.

Goldee's Barbecue is an acclaimed BBQ joint in Fort Worth. Goldee's Barbecue/ Facebook

At least a dozen barbecue spots now serve halal meats, including Yearby’s Barbecue & Waterice, run by Black Muslim couple CJ and Sabrina Henley, soon-to-be in Plano; and Levant Mediterranean BBQ, a restaurant with locations in Houston and Frisco and whose all-beef menu includes a brisket shawarma sandwich.

“Now there are so many options, and for us to have highly rated barbecue, it’s a blessing,” said Haris Ghaffar, who drove an hour from Celina and stood in 90-degree weather for nearly two hours with a friend for the halal options at Goldee’s.

Growing up in the 1990s, Ghaffar said a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich was one of the few halal meals he could eat while dining out. Back then, halal food was seen as serving a small community. Today, it’s a multibillion-dollar industry that’s part of the American culinary mainstream, said James Beard Award‑winning food writer Farhan Mustafa, who wrote about the rise of American halal barbecue for Bon Appétit magazine in 2025.

“Halal food is American food,” said Mustafa, who is based in Seattle. “It belongs on your plate. It belongs in the casual chat. It belongs in hip hop tracks. It’s the most American thing there is.”

Mustafa said Muslims are part of a growing list of communities putting their stamp on Texas barbecue. “Whether they’re first, second or third-generation Muslims or Muslim Americans or just Americans, they’re bringing what they know and what excites them,” he said.

More than salt and pepper
Texas barbecue is typically defined by salt-and-pepper brisket and pork ribs, but this new crop of halal pitmasters are adding inventive twists, often based on their own family heritages.

Zain Shafi, a pitmaster and co-owner of Goldee’s, previously ran Sabar Barbecue, a food truck that offered Pakistani-infused halal dishes, such as brisket with rub that included spices like bay leaf and coriander.

Sabar was nominated for Best BBQ in CultureMap's 2025 Tastemaker Awards, and made the list of Texas Monthly's Top 50 Barbecue Restaurants of 2025. The restaurant was also featured in a recently published BBQ book Texas BBQ: The Art of Low and Slow. He closed Sabar in December 2025 after two years.

Sabar BBQ Sabar Barbecue offered a Pakistani twist on BBQ. Sabar Barbecue

Shafi brought tandoori smoked turkey to Goldee’s menu. And sourcing halal cuts, he said, was a natural choice because they are “the highest quality” meats.

Goldee’s chef and part owner Nupohn Inthanousay also blends his Laotian heritage, serving a smoked Lao “sai oua” sausage with sticky rice and a fiery, tangy dipping sauce.

At Kafi BBQ in Irving, owner Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi brings halal Wagyu beef and Iraqi spices to classic Texas barbecue, challenging what he said is the “traditional old guard of Texas barbecue.”

“My goal at Kafi BBQ is to make the best barbecue in Texas,” Abdul-Kafi said. “I have not been shy about that at all, and making the best barbecue in Texas does not necessarily have to include pork.”

A former Silicon Valley tech worker, he moved to Texas six years ago in search of a Muslim community. On weekends in his backyard, he smoked brisket for friends. By 2024, he bought a smoker and opened Kafi BBQ.

He said he spent months testing and perfecting recipes and finding local producers. Abdul-Kafi attributes his obsession with crafting a stand-out menu to the Islamic concept of “Ihsan”— an Arabic term meaning doing something with excellence for the sake of God.

On a Sunday afternoon this summer, the restaurant’s red booths were packed with diners, drawn to menu items like the 13-spice Wagyu brisket, pomegranate-glazed beef belly burnt ends and Iraqi-inspired spicy beef sausage.

“That sausage, I’d probably put it at the top sausage I’ve ever had, and we eat barbecue a lot. This place is unique,” said Jonathan Tate, a Fort Worth resident who came to Kafi BBQ with a friend after reading about it on a Facebook foodie group.

“I don’t necessarily have to have it halal, but it’s nice to know they took good care of the food, the meat,” his friend Jon Sklar said, before going back in line to order oxtail.

Meat at Kafi BBQ in Irving. Kafi BBQ

'We love barbecue'
Although political rhetoric against Muslims in Texas has become increasingly hostile — some GOP lawmakers even discussed a ban on halal food at a conference this month — pitmasters like Abdul-Kafi see the rise of halal barbecue as an effective counterargument.

“It’s an example of exactly the opposite of what the Islamophobes talk about, right?” he said. “They say, ‘oh, Muslims don’t integrate, they stay alone, they don’t help society and all this stuff.’ And it’s like, I’m sitting here contributing to the most well-known cuisine of Texas.”

One of the diners at Kafi BBQ, Houston native Muhammad Sohail, 23, said the restaurant reflects who he is — a proud Texan and Muslim. “This place is super important because I can see halal within the culture of Texas, which is my culture at this point,” Sohail said. “We love the food. We love meat. We’re Muslims and we love barbecue.”

After finishing a big lunch with 10 relatives, Areeba Ali, a Dallas native of Indian heritage, said the restaurant’s appeal cuts across communities, which she said is evidence that halal barbecue isn’t a niche but resonates broadly with Texans. “If you look around in the restaurant, you see everybody in there — it’s not just one demographic in there,” Ali said.

For Mustafa, that success is ultimately a testament to the resilience of Muslim American communities.

“No matter how much they try to erase us, our food is here to stay,” he said. “You will see the power of just good food and the fact that most people really seem to understand that this is just as American as anything else.”

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This story was written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. It also includes information from the CultureMap archives.

halal halal barbecue muslim communities pitmasters religion texas texas barbecue trends culinary traditions goldee's barbecue

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