Best Thanksgiving Take Out

Why cook? Where to order the perfect Thanksgiving feast to-go from new and fave H-Town restaurants

With people cooking for themselves less frequently than ever, many find the prospect of preparing a full Thanksgiving feast to be incredibly daunting. Brine the turkey? Start cooking it upside down? Tent it? And what the heck is spatchcocking anyway?

Thankfully, Houston's restaurants are here to help. We've rounded up a range of options from new (and new-ish) places as well as selections from tried and true favorites that are sure to please both local diners and out-of-town guests.

While most restaurants are trying to sell packages, the truly ambitious gourmet should round up a couple of families (or a large group of friends) and get everyone to pitch in on an a la carte feast. Start with ceviche from Hugo's, tamales from Picos and squash, carrot, ginger soup from Etoile. Prime rib from B&B Butchers would make an excellent main (sorry not sorry, turkey fans), with sides from Underbelly, Revival Market and Pondicheri. For dessert, gets pies from Pour Society and L'Olivier. Just think of the Instagram likes when a photo of the whole spread hits the table.

Or just order the feast from Table. The Galleria-area restaurant delivered one of its meal to the CultureMap office, and we devoured it.

For those who go this route, be mindful of ordering deadlines. Some of them arrive as soon as Thursday.

New Options

B&B Butchers
Why eat turkey when you can have prime rib? The Washington Ave steakhouse is selling whole (feeds 10-12, $550) and half portions (feeds 5-7, $300) through its butcher shop to diners who feel like splurging on the celebrated cut. Turkey (10-12 lbs at $4.35/lb), traditional sides like sweet yams and cranberry sauce, and pies are also available. Order 48 hours in advance.

Craft Burger Truck
The thought of ordering Thanksgiving from a food truck that hasn't even hit the streets yet may seem ludicrous, but chef Shannen Tune's pedigree at places like the Hotel Derek suggests your meal is in good hands. For $375, choose from one of four different turkey preparations (roasted, smoked, jerk or fried), with three sides and two desserts. Tune estimates his menu will feed 10-12 people. Best of all, he delivers.

Pour Society
The Southern-influenced, upscale pub in Gateway Memorial City keeps things classic with turkey and trimmings packages designed for 10-12 people ($185) or 15-20 ($325) that include a cooked turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes and choice of pie (sweet potato pumpkin, whiskey pecan, Southern buttermilk). Turkey, sides and pies may also be ordered ala carte.

Radio Milano
The Italian restaurant in CityCentre goes traditional American with a $300 package designed for six to eight people. Turkey, pumpkin soup, Brussels sprouts, green beans, potatoes and two kinds of pie are all included. Order by November 23.

Table
The revitalized French restaurant offers a $350 feast that's designed to feed 10-12 people. Available either for pickup on Thanksgiving morning or delivery ($25, within 10 miles of the restaurant), the menu includes a whole turkey, chestnut mushroom stuffing, potato puree, roasted corn, three other sides and two kinds of pie. Even the typically ravenous CultureMap staff had some leftovers, but diners may want to inquire about the possibility of ordering extra potato puree.

Tried and True

Etoile
Get a small taste of France thanks to chef Philippe Verpiand's three-course, to-go menu that starts with butternut squash, carrot and orange ginger soup ($20 for one quart), turkey and trimmings (the aged brandy gravy sounds tempting, $190) and pecan vanilla bourbon pie ($22). Order the whole combo for $230.

Hugo's
Give Thanksgiving a Mexican twist with starters and sides from one of the city's best restaurants. Offerings include red snapper ceviche ($42/lb), a variety of tamales (chicken and mole, seafood, wild mushroom, $24/dozen), guacamole ($32/quart) and the signature tres leches ($45). Orders must be placed by November 23 and picked up on November 25.

Kenny & Ziggy's
Getting a little deli flavor on the Thanksgiving table with this Galleria-area staple. The $260 offering include a 20 lbs turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry compote and choice of two sides (potatoes, kugel, candied yams, etc). A la carte options include all of the package options plus honey-glazed corned beef, pies (pecan, pumpkin and apple) and chocolate bobka. Place order by November 18 for pickup November 25.

L'Olivier
The French restaurant offers a variety of Thanksgiving options, but those looking to splurge should opt for the "French Traditional Deluxe" that features turkey, ham, smoked salmon, pate, sides and two kinds of pie. Yes, it costs $340 for six to eight or $490 to feed 12 to 16, but why put a value on hospitality? Proteins, sides, desserts and breads are also available a la carte. Order by November 23.

Phoenicia
The international, gourmet grocery store has a wide range of Thanksgiving options. Choose from traditional roasted turkey or a Halal version with a harissa olive oil rub. In addition to garlic mashed potatoes and traditional stuffing, customers can choose roasted potatoes with Aleppo pepper and quinoa stuffing. One may even choose a tray of their signature baklava instead of pie.

Picos
The Upper Kirby Mexican restaurant's tamale stand returned for its second year on Monday. Open daily through January from 11 am to 7 pm, the stand features both Oaxaca-style (wrapped in banana leaf, $36/dozen) and Norteños-style (wrapped in corn husks, $18/dozen) tamales. No, it's not Thanksgiving specific, but they will make out of town guests pretty happy to be in Texas.

Pondicheri
Let the celebrated Upper Kirby Indian restaurant add flair to the traditional meal with sides and desserts like pumpkin samosas, Goan sausage stuffing and pumpkin chai pie. Order by November 21.

Revival Market
The restaurant and market has a full lineup of mains, sides and desserts. Build a meal around either free range, hormone free turkeys or holiday ham. Round it out with staples like cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and duck fat fingerling potatoes. Order by November 19.

Underbelly
Add "the story of Houston food" to the more familiar one about the Pilgrims with sides and desserts from Chris Shepherd's Montrose restaurant. Rest assured that dishes like blue crab and corn pudding, sorghum-glazed charred carrots and vinegar pie will stand out from whatever your cousin from Dallas is bringing to the meal. Order by November 22.

This turkey is part of Table's Thanksgiving feast.

Courtesy photo

This turkey is part of Table's Thanksgiving feast.

news-you-can-eat lists holidays

What's up, Doc?

Houston's new retro-styled jazz supper club sets opening date

Photo by Matthew Casby

Doc's Houston opens November 15.

Brent “Doc” Watkins has a very specific reference for Doc’s Houston, his new jazz supper club that’s opening November 15 in the historic Tower Theater in Montrose.

“I ask them if they’ve seen the movie Goodfellas,” Watkins tells CultureMap. “If they have, there's that famous scene where Ray Liotta takes his girlfriend to the supper club. They walk through the secret entrance and go in through the kitchen. They bring out a special table with the white tablecloth and they sit down and the show starts.”

The very famous scene captures the spirit of what Watkins wants to create at Doc’s Houston — an intimate venue serving classic American fare and showcasing live music in genres such as jazz, R&B, soul, and the blues. It’s a formula that Watkins developed at Jazz, TX, his original jazz supper club that’s part of San Antonio’s Pearl District since 2016. He says Houston was always a logical choice to expand the concept.

“Doing a proper jazz supper club, there wasn’t anything like that in Houston 10 years ago, and there wasn’t anything like that now until Doc’s,” Watkins says.

Let’s start with the jazz part first. Doc’s will host live music Tuesday through Saturday in a variety of genres. Artistic director Graeme Franci, who, like Watkins, holds a doctorate in music from the University of Texas, is a Houstonian with a deep knowledge of the local music scene. He’s been reaching out to musicians and booking them to play Doc’s. In addition to local acts, the venue will host national touring acts — Tony Danza recently played San Antonio — and as many as 30 performances by Watkins himself.

From his perspective, Doc’s provides an essential space for friends and neighbors to connect during a shared experience.

“We aren’t inventing a brand new concept. We’re reviving something that had been lost,” Watkins explains. Later, he adds, “These are really essential spaces. It’s a very ancient tradition to gather as smaller groups of people for a meal and some music. It’s a very timeless thing. There was a blip on the radar where we lost these rooms for about a generation.”

In terms of the food, chef Jose Avila’s menu is built around classic supper club fare such as steaks, seafood, and pastas. Specific dishes include grilled octopus, short rib empanadas, pork belly chicharron paella, coq au vin, and Chateaubriand that will be carved to order tableside.

“We’ve got a massive kitchen. We’ve got the ability to do a big menu and do it right,” Watkins says. “You can’t be all things to all people, but we’ll get pretty damn close.”

Doc's Houston jazz club staff Watkins has assembled an experience team to lead Doc's Houston.Courtesy of Doc's Houston

The Tower Theater has had a number of lives. Most recently home to Acme Oyster House and El Real Tex-Mex Cafe, it’s also been a movie theater and a video store, among other iterations. To turn it into Doc’s, Watkins and his team added all-new lighting and sound, built a stage, and added a wraparound balcony.

“When we found it, it was pretty wonky. The orientation was all wrong,” Watkins says. “We decided to go big and do it right. That balcony is new, but it looks like it’s always been that way. It’s how the space needs to be and wants to be, even though for 100 years it did not have a full wraparound balcony.”

Reservations and tickets will be available via the Doc’s website in the coming days. Memberships will be available that come with perks such as preferred seating and advance access.

“I hope we’re around for a very long time,” Watkins says. “I think we’ve set ourselves up to be around for a very long time. We’ve got all the ingredients that go into success. Now we just have to execute.”

Photo by Matthew Casby

Doc's Houston opens November 15.

openings news-you-can-eat performing-arts music concerts nightlife