Maybe it’s just too soon to bring your new girlfriend home to meet the family. Maybe the idea of slaving over a hot stove for 24 hours to serve a 15-minute meal is less than appetizing. All we can say is, if you can’t take the heat…you’re in luck. These lesbian-friendly establishments are at your service, cooking up all the fixins’ for you and your favorite gal pals, so you can be thankful for a stress-less Thanksgiving Day.
Cattyshack
249 4th Ave (btwn President & Carroll Sts), Brooklyn, 718-230-5740, cattyshackbklyn.com. Prix fixe: $30 Seating: 2–10pm. The hottest lesbian bar in Brook-lyn will once again serve up all the trimmings with their 3rd Annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner Feast. The traditional holiday buffet, cooked up by NYC’s very own Beast Restaurant, will get that extra oomph from Cattyshack’s large wine and beer selection. Watch old movies and football on the flat-panel TVs or play a good ol’ game of pool while you digest. Add entertainment in the form of the Ladies Love Ladies Drag King Show and a Shitkickers mini rodeo (after 8) and it’ll be a lot more fun than watching football over uncle Ted’s enormous belly. All proceeds from the dinner benefit various LGBT charities.
Philip Marie
569 Hudson St (@ W 11th St), 212-242-6200, philipmarie.com. Prix fixe: $39.50 per person, half-price for children under 12, Seating: Noon–10pm. Get stuffed like a turkey at Philip Marie’s where a hearty three-course meal awaits you. Choose from classic appetizers like spinach and artichoke terrine and butternut squash soup; main courses of fresh roasted turkey served with candied yams, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy chestnut stuffing and green beans; studded pineapple ham; or red snapper filet with lobster bisque. Three tantalizing desserts will top off the feast. And just like Thanksgiving at mom’s house, dinner at Philip Marie’s includes a package of leftovers for that late night snack you’re sure to be craving.
Miriam
79 Fifth Ave (@ Prospect Pl), Brooklyn, 718-522-2220, miriamrestaurant.com. No prix fixe; appetizers start at $6.50, entrees at $10. Seating: Opens at 2pm. This Israeli-Mediterranean-style café is a Slope favorite with an affordable wine list and service with a smile. While there’s no prix fixe menu, Miriam will offer their full menu, sporting such impressive favorites as the wild-mushroom Hummus, Marjoram-crusted Mahi Mahi and the eggplant steak with Tahini sauce. In addition to their typical fare, the holiday specials include roasted butternut squash and turkey with stuffing and all the trimmings. At such reasonable prices, this Park Slope treasure is surely something to be thankful for.
Rouge
107-02 70th Rd (@ Austin St), Queens, 718-793-5514. Prix fixe: $29.95. Seating: 1–8pm. Offering its regular French Bistro menu, with delectable specialties such as coq au vin, duck pate, and beef bourguignon, Rouge will also offer a three-course prix fixe menu including soup or salad, a turkey dinner with sautéed vegetables, stuffing and all the fixings, and a très bon dessert. Bon appétit!
East of Eighth
254 W 23rd St (btwn 7th & 8th Aves), 212-352-0075, eastofeighth.com. Prix Fixe: $30. Seating: 12pm, 2pm, 4:30pm, 7pm & 9pm. The Chelsea eatery offers a three-course Thanksgiving dinner with your choice of any meat imaginable (and pasta for the vegetarian dinner). Soup and salad are offered to start, and entrees include traditional turkey, ham, fish, roast beef or lamb dishes. A variety of traditional Thanksgiving deserts follow.
Dish
201 8th Ave (btwn 20th & 21st Sts), 212-352-9800. Prix fixe: $19.95. Seating: 2–8:45pm. This Chelsea haven for quality comfort food at a price that won’t break the bank offers a five-course Thanksgiving feast this year, including both soup and salad courses, complimentary wine, your choice of turkey, chicken, or ham dishes and dessert. Where else can you get all this for twenty bucks? You’ll be treated like one of the family at Dish, without being forced to make awkward small talk with relatives you haven’t seen in a year.
Ellen’s Stardust Diner
1650 Broadway (@ 51st St), 212-956-5151, ellensstardustdiner.com. Prix fixe: $29.95; children $19.95. Seating: Noon until 11pm. This themed Theatre District mainstay is not only a diner this November 22nd, but a classic American Thanksgiving refuge for those of us whose ovens haven’t worked since they were Easy Bakes. While the regular menu offers up such diner favorites as meat loaf and mashed potatoes, their special four-course Thanksgiving Day feast is invigorated by the pumpkin ravioli and squash-and-roasted-pepper soup. The singing wait staff also helps liven up the festivities…and they take requests!
Talia’s Steakhouse
668 Amsterdam Ave (btwn 92nd & 93rd Sts), 212-580-3770, taliassteakhouse.com. Prix fixe: $57; children (under 10) $25. Seating: 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm, 5:30pm, 7:30pm & 9:30pm. Make reservations for this one. Talia’s has long been known as NYC’s most popular Glatt Kosher steakhouse and bar, and on Thanksgiving they’re offering a four-course prix fixe. Appetizers include grilled chicken and tricolor veggies or Mediterranean chicken kabobs, while the main entrees of oven-roasted turkey, Black Angus brisket of beef, Talia’s seafood sampler, roasted chicken marsala, or Talia’s grilled ranch sampler tantalize the palate. This is followed by a pasta course of rigatoni alla vodka, vegetable and beef lasagna, or grilled veggies and Israeli cous cous, and five dessert options. A meal so tasty, your bubby would be proud!
Rose Water
787 Union St., Brooklyn, 718-783-3800, rosewaternyc.com. Prix fixe: $65. Seating: 2:30pm until 7:30pm. Intimate dining, a global feel, and local, sustainable, seasonable food make Rose Water a unique option for delectable, and guilt-free, fine dining this Thanksgiving. Be sure to make reservations. The three-course prix fixe will include vegetarian favorites like delicate squash risotto, baby beet salad and sunchoke soup. For the meat lovers, Rose Water offers a trifecta of roast chicken under a brick, seared flatiron steak, or suckling pig confit. Rose Water’s extensive wine list and unique desserts such as fig upsided-down cake, tres leches cake, artisanal cheeses and small-producer local wines set it apart.
Angelina’s
26 Jefferson Blvd (@ Annadale Rd), Staten Island, 718-227-7100, angelinasristorante.com. Prix Fixe: $30. Seating: 1pm until 9pm. With an old-world Italian charm you’ll feel like you’re back in the old country when spending your Thanksgiving at Angelina’s. The casual eatery boasts a special holiday menu showcasing turkey cooked three different ways (poached, roasted and braised) along with minced turkey stuffing and choice of traditional side dishes with an Italian kick. And since their specialty is pasta, the meal starts out with a delicious pumpkin ravioli that you could be sure the Pilgrims would have wanted the recipe for. Mangia!
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