We have for more than 20 years. We visit my mom and she doesn’t cook. We prefer a buffet with lots of choices. I cook turkey several times a year, so that’s no treat for us.
I have looked into the pick up meals from local grocery stores for Christmas, but the deal breaker for me is that you can’t pick it up hot and ready LOL. You have to reheat it all. I’d rather just cook it myself at that point.
Personally I think eating at restaurants on holidays is horrible, The cooks and servers would rather be at home or with their own families.
My husband and I did go to restaurants for a couple of holidays when we were young. $45 to $50 per person plus a mandatory %18 tip. The one thing that was nice was that they put parties of 2 to 4 in a different ballroom than the 10 to 30 people groups in another. Just depressing to think about your dead relatives that are not sharing the holiday with you.
The best thing we did as a young couple was to flip the expectations with my in-laws. It was much easier to cook T-day dinner than drive 3 hours one way through ice and snow.
I do not expect my children to travel for Thanksgiving. Too expensive and do not care to fret about the weather.
We typically invite 6 to 25 techie coworkers for T-day. Maybe they have travel issues or visa issues with family. The only additional work for me is having a vegan or vegetation main dish.
“I have looked into the pick up meals from local grocery stores for Christmas, but the deal breaker for me is that you can’t pick it up hot and ready LOL. You have to reheat it all. I’d rather just cook it myself at that point.”
That, plus for my family it isn’t just eating turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. It’s about eating OUR FAMILY’s version of each. The few times we’ve had Thanksgiving elsewhere, we’ve always said it doesn’t compare. Everyone wants the version they grew up with. It’s kind of like your mom’s meatloaf or lasagne. It’s just better than everyone else’s. 
As far as those wanting leftovers, I have seen some restaurants advertise that each table gets it’s own turkey and everything is served family style so you get leftovers to bring home.
My in laws, SIL/her H/their S, aunt, uncle & cousin have had Thanksgiving together at a restaurant for quite a few years. They live many hours away, so we celebrate at home with my family. In laws are in their 90’s, so H feels the need to visit them for Thanksgiving this year. We will join the ranks of those who eat at a restaurant. We are more concerned with being there with them than we are with where dinner is served.
But I am bummed to miss dinner at my D’s. She is taking over holiday hosting duties - she got married last spring & wants to have gatherings at her house so both sides & their friends will all come. S is happy to be able to have dinner with her, since he won’t be able to get time off work to come to his grandparents’ house.
One year my daughter was alone in Seattle and couldn’t get home for Thanksgiving so I went to her. Cooking in her apartment was out of the question (no stove) so we made reservations (a month or so in advance).
We had a wonderful buffet dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel. The food was great and we had a lovely view. There were lots of large tables with big families (3 generations) and they had kids activities, a football lounge, and a photo booth. It was pricey, but considering the quality, variety, and quantity of the food well worth it.
We have eaten out on other holidays - Easter and Christmas Eve - and find the quality of the food and service at restaurants on those days is usually not very good.
We’ve cooked at home and we’ve gone out, with and without other family members. For several years we would go into downtown Chicago to a play the night before and use points to stay overnight. A couple of times we watched the parade. Then off to a nice meal and back home. My favorite meals were at the 95th in the Hancock Tower, or whatever they’re calling it now. Fantastic views, good food, great ice carvings, and boxed leftovers. Either way is fine. With only the two of us, I’d rather go out because it just seems kind of lonesome. DS decided not to come down for Thanksgiving since he’s coming in late December for his birthday and doesn’t want to travel twice in two months.
We haven’t done restaurants for regular holidays. Since our family has people in the service industry, we almost never do Thanksgiving on the actual day. We have done everything from Wednesday through Saturday. We also share with friends so each of us only do half of the dinner. It seems to work. We do the same around Christmas, depending if S3 is working in a restaurant that is open on the holidays. The only time we did a restaurant on a holiday was when we were at a Disney park. We get the stories of the restaurants on the holidays so I think I will pass.
I used to work at a restaurant and always had to work on Thanksgiving (back in HS). Family festival moved to dinner as they were kind enough to wait for me. I used to wonder, who goes out for Thanksgiving? This wasn’t even a nice restaurant, more like a HoJos in the old days. We did serve a lot of turkey dinners though!
@rickle1 were the tips better than usual on holidays?
Once, when the kids were in college, we went to them and had Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant. No one was thrilled because, as doschicos noted, nothing tasted like our family’s version of it. Last year we did something new. Realizing that everybody was looking forward to the “traditional” leftovers more than the Thanksgiving dinner we cut to the chase. So, we roasted the turkey the day before and, on Thanksgiving, we had black bean and turkey soup with cornbread, “shepherd’s” pie with turkey, veggies, gravy, and mashed potatoes, and, for anyone wanting a sandwich later, curried turkey salad. The only Thanksgiving elements were a favorite sweet potato casserole and apple and pumpkin pies. No less work, but, for us, more casual and relaxed.
@bajamm really don’t remember, but I know we were jammed. Just like a hot spot after church for Sunday brunch. My mom’s stuffing and gravy was definitely better! :-*
I prefer to eat out at a nice Inn.
So my favorite Tday has been when we go skiing on Thanksgiving day and then go to nice local Inn and have a buffet that everyone likes and there is no cleaning or cooking involved.
I can’t stand sitting around waiting for the huge feast either, so we eat at 2:00.
^^^ Does your main cook agree with that? Because that means the cook may be getting up at dawn!!
I sometimes think the majority of us go through the ritual of the Thanksgiving dinner largely for the leftovers.
What I would miss going out to eat on Thanksgiving is the pre-dinner chatter, the long dinner discussions (at a restaurant I may feel the need to not linger) and the post dinner stuff - and lounging around together. So if you go out for dinner AND still get to hang out with family that isn’t too bad!
I just think without guilt, do what suits your crowd.
We wake up, have breakfast, go ski, come home, go eat at the inn, go back home and sit in the hot tub . No mess, no fuss. Get outside and get some exercise and I don’t need to hang out with my crazy mom in law all day. Win!!!
On Christmas I order Sushi and Chines food for everyone. Another win!!
Not dealing with holiday food has been a great relief for me. I enjoy the holidays much more since I implemented this approach a few years back.
After my Grandmother died (the host house for 20+ relatives some coming from afar like us), it was decided that we would do a Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant relatively near where she lived. It works.
The pros are no cooking/cleaning and they have the space for a large group.
The cons are you don’t get to socialize as you do in a house - you really only talk to those you’re seated around, there are no leftovers, and the recipes are nowhere near as good as home cooked.
A few years we’d head up to my mom’s after the official dinner and do a “real” turkey and stuffing for that weekend with her. I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen this year at this point.
I worried about making the workers work on the holiday, but those I’ve asked at that restaurant have told me they volunteer for that day and most really want it due to the money they make. They shift their own day/tradition. Now I just make sure we tip well. I still won’t shop at any store on a major holiday though.
I hate being part of a huge group at a restaurant. Turns into a circus.
Always get put at a long table where you can’t talk to the people you want to talk to.
Rather have some already prepared dishes to serve and disposable dishware.
I don’t like turkey and I’m the main cook in my house. Thanksgiving for me used to be a day of a lot of work and little joy. One year when I was pregnant, even the thought of raw turkey made me barf so we tried going out to eat. It was fantastic! We lived in Phoenix at the time and the Phoenician had a wonderful buffet and all sorts of activities like Native American Hoop Dancing going on.
Since then, we usually go out to eat at a nice local place on Thanksgiving and it’s nice. I happily tip the servers extra and we all get to eat what we want. Win/win.