Top Thanksgiving Restaurants in Philadelphia

You can't get more traditional than the City Tavern, the Old City restaurant that serves up colonial food year-round, complete with servers dressed in period garb. For Thanksgiving, City Tavern serves up a four-course set menu, a family-style meal that includes turkey and all the trimmings.

If you want to be thankful for exquisite cuisine, consider having your feast at Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, one of the Philadelphia area's best restaurants. Philadelphia Inquirer restaurant critic Craig LeBan awarded it the elusive four bells, the highest rating a Philadelphia restaurant can get.

If you're a vegetarian or vegan sick of getting stuck with side dishes, order your Thanksgiving dinner from vegan caterer Miss Rachel's Pantry. Miss Rachel will deliver a fully vegan Thanksgiving meal to your door on Wednesday, November 22, ready to heat and eat, or you can pick it up the same day.

The pilgrims came to America on big wooden boats, and this Thanksgiving, you can eat on one. Moshulu, the floating restaurant on Columbus Boulevard, will offer an a la carte Thanksgiving menu.  What could be more fun than having a celebratory cocktail around the firepits on the Deck Philly?

The Valley Green Inn, a National Historic Landmark, offers a classic and bountiful Thanksgiving buffet in a beautiful space along Wissahickon Creek. Its colonial ambiance is absolutely perfect for Thanksgiving.

Square 1682, inside the Kimpton Hotel Palomar a block from Rittenhouse Square in City Center Philadelphia, serves up creative American cuisine, and that would give your Thanksgiving Day one delicious twist. You'll no doubt be treated to seasonings that come straight from Square 1682's own herb garden to celebrate this harvest festival.

Davio's, off Rittenhouse Row, is a Northern Italian steakhouse. But it's deviating from that menu for Thanksgiving, when it's serving a traditional feast of free-range turkey; creamy potatoes; cranberry-walnut stuffing; roasted butternut squash; and pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie. ​Its welcoming setting in a restored bank building will make a beautiful backdrop for a holiday celebration.

Bank & Bourbon is inside the landmark Philadelphia Savings Fund Society building that dates to the Great Depression of the 1930s. It's now the home of the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. Just as its name suggests, it is big on bourbon and craft cocktails. Bank & Bourbon is serving a three-course prix-fixe feast for Thanksgiving. If you are not a turkey lover, you can have salmon, trout, or filet mignon instead.

If casual is more your scene, check out London Grill, where a Thanksgiving buffet will be served, or you can order a platter and sit in the bar if you're not up for a heavy holiday feast. This cozy grill and bar combo on Fairmount Avenue specializes in craft beers, cocktails, and Pennsylvania wines, so you won't be left wanting for a fantastic libation for toasts.