I am not a cook. No, really. I am NOT a cook. You know how if you buy a box of instant mashed potatoes, there are two packets so that you can make two different servings? Well I didn’t. So I used them both to make one serving. True story.
And that is why I am thankful for restaurants that are open on Thanksgiving. Otherwise, I might starve. (Not really. Have you seen me?) But when I was still a daughter, not yet a mother, and my siblings found other ways to occupy their holidays, I didn’t think it was fair for my parents to be burdened with cooking 15 different sides and dishes. So we started a tradition of going to Calhoun’s on the River. To be fair, we tried Cracker Barrel but there was a TWO HOUR wait-whoa people, apparently I am not the only one who likes to eat out on Thanksgiving.
And it was joyous. True, there were no leftovers to enjoy for the next week, but the ease of zero dishes to clean up, no stressing over making sure the house immaculate, no last minute Call of Duty trips to Walmart for supplies, and absolutely no remorse more than made up for not having any leftovers. Basically, eating out on Thanksgiving is like a pre-Christmas gift to yourself and to your family members.
Not to mention, as another contributor pointed out to me, not everyone can make it home for the holidays. Fellow contributor Ashley shared this sentiment: “When I lived in New York, I couldn’t afford to come home for Christmas and Thanksgiving so I chose to stay in New York for Thanksgiving. There was one place open in Union Square that had turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and a friend of mine and I went because he was in the same situation; could only go home for one holiday. And I cried my eyes out at the table because I was so sad that I didn’t get my usual Thanksgiving but so happy that there was something decent open.”
I know what you are thinking — but those poor servers and hospitality workers, they have families too!
I know people riot the stores that greedily open on Thanksgiving and force their employees to work… and while retail doesn’t have to be open on a holiday, some businesses still do. In my former life, I was a hotel employee who was subject to working 365 days a year, and honestly, it’s not so bad. Granted, I wasn’t serving people food, but I was still required to report on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and heck, I even worked on my wedding day, Independence Day. You name it, I’ve probably worked it. But here’s the thing about working on holidays — you get time and a half (most of the time) and generally, for servers at least, MUCH better tips because of the guilt associated with forcing people to work on holidays. And really, truly, Thanksgiving is the ugly stepsister of Christmas, so I feel a lot less guilty about going out to eat on Thanksgiving than I do about eating at Waffle House on Christmas morning (yes, guilty there too).
Now that I am a mother, I can see why some people want to make all of the fuss about the food, the holiday, the family gathering. I wouldn’t mind raising my daughter to properly make instant mashed potatoes (I kid…) and baste a turkey, but truthfully, I still don’t like the hassle. Unfortunately, my husband insists on torturing me, and for the first time ever, we will be hosting Thanksgiving. I’m terrified.
Thankfully for me though, if anything goes wrong, Calhoun’s, Waffle House, and a bevy of other restaurants will be there to welcome us with open arms. And I will tip* my server in abundance.
*I always strongly encourage tipping 20% any time you eat at a restaurant; remember servers only make $2.13 an hour. So if you eat on Thanksgiving, make sure to give your server extra “stuffing” to say thank you.
How do you feel about restaurants being open on holidays? Have you ever partaken or indulged in eating out on the holidays?
I’m very thankful for the restaurants that are open for the holidays. Our church organization has a convention the week of thanksgiving every year, mostly at the opryland resort. So cooking is not an option. We usually do Cracker Barrel, even though the wait is horrible. We always go above and beyond with the tip to show our appreciation.