<p>Northwest kids attending Northeast universities will be meeting in Boston for Thanksgiving. Parents have made reservations at a hotel on the Charles River. Need advice for Thanksgiving dinner restaurants for as many as 10 college freshman??? Thanks.</p>
<p>This isn’t the <em>easy</em> answer … but the Publick House in Sturbridge MA, about an hour west of Boston out the Mass Pike would be a wonderful New England style Thanksgiving. Make reservations very very soon.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.publickhouse.com%5B/url%5D”>www.publickhouse.com</a></p>
<p>I’m sure someone that <em>knows</em> Boston will give you some recommendations in the city!</p>
<p>This suggestion is also for a restaurant outside Boston. It is in Concord, closer than Sturbridge and on the commuter rail. The Colonial Inn is very New England-y, and of course Concord itself has its place in American history:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.concordscolonialinn.com/restaurants.php[/url]”>www.concordscolonialinn.com/restaurants.php</a></p>
<p>I was there for Sunday brunch recently, and they had the Thanksgiving menu posted. It looked scrumptious.</p>
<p>A second for the Concord Inn.</p>
<p>Also…if there are any who don’t like turkey…I’ve had Thanksgiving dinner at Legal Seafood! The Turkey was great…but there were lots of other choices.</p>
<p>Wherever you go, just make sure to make reservations VERY soon. Could be difficult to get the time you want…especially for a large party.</p>
<p>Wanna come to Plymouth and have a real Thanksgiving? 
It’s only 40 minutes down the road!</p>
<p>Who wants to eat salt cod? ;)</p>
<p>The Wayside Inn in Sudbury (the one Longfellow wrote about). But I second Molliebatmit’s suggestion. The Plimoth Plantation’s Thanksgiving dinner is very popular.</p>
<p>Plan for traffic on Thanksgiving if you are driving to PP. It is surprising how many people travel on the actual day.</p>
<p>Lobster is the word.</p>
<p>Well, my suggestion may be out of date, as I have not stayed nor eaten there in a couple of decades :eek:. So, if things have gone downhill, others with more current info can correct me. However, if they have not, I suggest the Parker House right in the city (in case schlepping 10 college kids to the Sturbridge/Plimoth options doesn’t appeal). I have always loved the Parker House dining room, home of Boston Cream Pie, the Parker House roll and Boston scrod. Lovely atmosphere and on the Freedom Trail.
<a href=“http://www.historic-boston-hotel.com/?gclid=CNbc2beyiogCFQ2gHgodtD1kAA[/url]”>http://www.historic-boston-hotel.com/?gclid=CNbc2beyiogCFQ2gHgodtD1kAA</a></p>
<p>I am partial to The Wayside Inn, but another suggestion is The Sherborn Inn in Sherborn; very nice and quaint. I do second the suggestion about making reservations now. I just made reservations today for The Wayside Inn, for the day after Thanksgiving and could not get the time I wanted. I was still able to get them, but at a later time. I would think a large party would need to make reservations now. If transportation is a problem, I would think that any of the larger hotels in Boston would offer a very good Thanksgiving dinner option.</p>
<p>Recently ate at the Colonial Inn in Concord–really great food!</p>
<p>Better check out Sturbridge–I heard they don’t do Thanksgiving dinners there anymore. </p>
<p>Plimouth may require Thanksgiving reservations a long time in advance.</p>
<p>I would suggest - while in Boston - making reservations for the MIDEVAL MANOR - an awesomely fun dinner - excellent for groups of fun folks - would highly recommend calling to see anything available tho - reservations required.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.medievalmanor.com/[/url]”>http://www.medievalmanor.com/</a></p>
<p>I would also second LEGAL SEA FOOD
and
Harvest 44 Brattle St., Cambridge. 617-868-2255. Three courses, $55 per person/$70 with glass pairing/$80 full glass. Four-courses $65/$85/$95.
and
Meritage Boston Harbor Hotel, Rowes Wharf, Boston. 617-439-7000. Buffet $60 per person/$30 10 and under. Picks: Mini pumpkins filled with harvest vegetables. Also: Buffet in the Atlantic Room, $75/$37.50. Picks: Crisp confit of duck with lingonberry and braised cabbage salad
and
Seasons Millennium Bostonian Hotel, 26 North St., 4th floor (Faneuil Hall), Boston. 617-523-3100 ext. 128. Four courses, $58 per person/$25 under 10. Picks: Indian pudding with brown sugar-buttered gingerbread crumbles</p>
<p>Hi you may still have time to make reservations. Try the city especially if the kids do not have cars.
the sites below give you comprehensive search options and usually the best places.
good luck…</p>
<p><a href=“CitySearch - Your local city guide”>CitySearch - Your local city guide;
<p><a href=“http://www.bostonmagazine.com%5B/url%5D”>http://www.bostonmagazine.com</a></p>
<p>Just while we’re on the topic of Thanksgiving in Boston:</p>
<p>My (now-) fiance’s grandmother expressed surprise that he was coming to my home in Ohio for Thanksgiving two years ago – she “didn’t know that people outside New England celebrated Thanksgiving.” :)</p>
<p>ROFL, mollieb. I imagine she came over on the Mayflower?</p>
<p>Having been to (what purported to be) a Thanksgiving Dinner in Chicago, complete with spaghetti alongside the turkey, banana creme pie, key lime pie, and gasps of disbelief and horror at my traditional family recipe mince pie – I quite understand where Mollie’s grandmother-in-law-to-be is coming from!</p>
<p>
Are there more than a half-dozen of us left in the country who eat this? (We even make it from scratch here). </p>
<p>It could be worse, cnp55. We had a young friend years ago, far from her Montana farm home, whom we invited to Tgiving dinner with us. She decided to spend it with her younger new friends and came back to report on the disaster. As she put it, the entire meal, except the turkey, was “boxed.” I’d never heard the term before, but what it meant was instant mashed potatoes, “instant” boxed stuffing, canned this, fake that.</p>
<p>I don’t think there are many people who love mince pie the way my New England family does. We also occasionally make mincemeat from scratch – but usually I do the little box of dried fruits and go from there.</p>
<p>My FIL, Polish WWII veteran, loves mince pie for Thanksgiving, Christmas and whenever else I choose to make it. He was in England during WWII where he met and married my British MIL. Mince pie represents those days for him.</p>