Thanksgiving Dinner - Des Plaines,IL

Cracker Barrel if there is one close to you. Yum.
C.

We did this 2 years--once after half of my family moved across the country (dad was "left behind" to finish packing and close on the house) and again for my wedding (we had the "traditional" meal for my reception the Sat after). I know of a few buffet style restaurants that are open, but not sure what's in your area. I love Ryan's Steakhouse, but Golden Corral, Barnhills, and Quincy's are good too. Some "ethnic" places should also be open: Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. Once you get an idea of where everyone would like to go, call around to see what's open (make a reservation 1-2 days before if you have more than ~6 people).

Oh, and my best friend's dad was a chef and cooks lots of nice meals for the family. Once his 3 kids were grown, they started a tradition of going to a casino buffet for Thanksgiving--that way he could have 1 big meal to enjoy (that he didn't have to cook)!

I live kind of near you. Probably if you get a chance just drive around and see what's happening. Sometimes hotels have Thanksgiving dinners. Happy Thanksgiving!

Many high end restaurants are open for Thanksgiving as well Denny's & Cracker Barrell and the like.

I just did a quick google seach and found that Birch River Grill will be open on Thanksgiving - here is the link: http://www.birchrivergrill.com/index.html

I'm sure you can find many more places. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

I agree with Workinmom. I used to work at a movie theater on thanksgiving and Spangles (a local fast food joint) was the only thing open for us to have our dinner from.

You may want to look around to see if many places will even be open? Your selection may be narrowed down based on that.