The Brief

For many people, Thanksgiving may be synonymous with turkey, but for some of us, dry turkey breast doesn’t seem the right choice for a celebration. After all, it’s very likely that there was no turkey at all at the first Thanksgiving.

If you like to stick to turkey and stuffing, we figure you already know what to make or where to order it. Instead, we're focusing on restaurants beyond classic roasted turkey and offering something different.

Thanksgiving dine-in

Baekjeong 

Grilling meat together on a tabletop is always a great way to bond and celebrate, so why not for Thanksgiving, too? Korean BBQ favorite Baekjeong will be open during their normal hours on Thanksgiving Day, serving up their regular menu. With multiple locations around Southern California, it’s easy to enjoy some marinated galbi or pork jowl instead of turkey.

Crossroads Kitchen

Tal Ronnen’s plant-based Crossroads Kitchen will offer a four-course prix fixe menu for Thanksgiving supper. Instead of turkey, there will be breaded scallopini or pulled lion’s mane mushroom served with herbed gravy alongside sweet potato biscuits with maple “butter.” The menu costs $75 per person and will be available from 12-6 p.m.

Dog Haus

For those who do want to get turkey and all the trimmings in a different form, Dog Haus will be offering one in the form of Wurst Thanksgiving sausage, which is made with turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries, stuffing, sage, thyme, rosemary, and maple. Select locations of Dog Haus will be open on Thanksgiving Day, so we suggest calling your nearest location to confirm.

Espelette

For those celebrating in style, Waldorf Astoria’s Espelette will be open from 1-8 p.m. and serving a three-course dinner along with live entertainment. The main course options include whole roasted lobster, wagyu beef tenderloin, and for the plant-based: ricotta ravioli with black truffles. A slew of starters, including langoustine papillote, will be served family-style. The prix fixe menu costs $175 per person ($75 for kids 12 years and younger).

Sugar Palm

The restaurant at Viceroy Santa Monica, Sugar Palm, will be open and offering a three-course menu for $125 per person ($50 per child). The entree options do include roasted turkey, but also leg of lamb in mole sauce and a blackened king salmon. Sugar Palm will be open on Thanksgiving Day from 2-10 p.m. A similar menu is also being served family-style for Friendsgiving on Nov. 15-22.

Il Moro

Il Moro will be open 4 - 8:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving and will be serving their regular menu, which means tagliatelle bolognese, grilled lamb chops, and pizzas instead of turkey. Il Moro also promises special dishes infused with Thanksgiving flavors throughout the night.

Fogo de Chao

Feasting with your stretchy pants on is a must. Brazilian churrascaria chain Fogo de Chao will be open for dine-in and takeout on Thanksgiving, serving their full all-you-can-eat (for dine-in) churrasco menu as well as holiday specials including roasted turkey, sweet potato casserole and a Brazilian sausage with apple dressing. For the holidays, they're also offering wagyu and other more luxurious cuts that can be added a la carte.

Lunasia

Dim sum is always great for group holiday lunching. Head to the San Gabriel Valley and you'll find quite a few Chinese restaurants open on Thanksgiving. One of the top spots in SGV, Lunasia, will be open all day and serving their regular menu. For those celebrating with a big group, Lunasia takes phone reservations for parties of eight or more.

The Peninsula Beverly Hills

The Peninsula will be hosting a three-course dinner (or lunch) at The Belvedere for Thanksgiving. The entree options do include roasted turkey, but there’s also a dry aged New York strip, seared diver scallops, and branzino. The Belvedere will be open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and the three-course meal costs $180 per person.

Saddle Peak Lodge

Dinner at this mountain spot feels like a mini getaway, so why not make the trip for Thanksgiving? Saddle Peak Lodge will be offering a four-course menu ($120/adult; $65/children 12 and under). Yes, there will be turkey as one of the main course options but you can opt for seared elk tenderloin or salmon instead.

Leña

The Argentine-inspired Leña inside Sendero is offering a four-course feast with panoramic views of downtown. The $90 dinner will start with celery root blini and caviar followed by squash and crab bisque. There is a turkey ballotine as one of the main course options, but they’re also offering dry aged salmon en croute or Australian wagyu rib. The restaurant will open from 3-9 p.m.

Fig

FIG at the Fairmont Miramar is offering a prix-fixe menu for $89 per person. Start with half a dozen oysters or chicken liver parfait with poached persimmons before moving on to the main course with options ranging from roasted sea scallops to braised short rib to butternut squash tortellini.

Thanksgiving take-out

Angelini Osteria

Angelini Osteria is offering large trays of their Italian favorites for the holidays. Look for lasagna verde, eggplant alla parmigiana and a whole leg of pork porchetta. Order must be picked up on Wednesday, Nov. 22. Note that some items (including porchetta and beef tenderloin roast) must be pre-ordered at least five days in advance. Check the website for the full catering menu and ordering instructions.

Kuya Lord

Kuya Lord has gained a brick-and-mortar space since the last time we did this guide, but they’ll still be offering their Pamilya Tray for Thanksgiving takeout. The tray feeds 4-6 and includes lucenachon (slow roasted, rolled pork belly), wood-grilled Hiramasa collar, pancit chami, and more. Order must be placed by Nov 17 and can be picked up on Thanksgiving Day.

Holy Basil

DTLA Thai street food pickup spot Holy Basil is offering a Thanksgiving package they’re calling the Holy Tray. The tray costs $150 and feeds 4-6 people with a seafood curry that includes live local rock crab, half slab of moo krob (crispy pork belly), half of a fried Jidori chicken, and a whole tamarind rockfish. Each item is also available to order a la carte. Orders must be picked up on Thursday, Nov. 23 between 10 and 2 p.m.

Chimmelier

The Korean fried chicken specialist Chimmelier is offering a special Thanksgiving package with tongdak (a deep fried whole chicken), collard green kimchi, potato egg salad, and K-ole slaw. The feast costs $75 and will feed three to four people. Pre-order on Tock

Bar Ama

Bar Ama is offering a turkey dinner but with a Tex-Mex twist. Expect a Tex-Mex turkey roulade with gravy, stuffing with hoja santa, cornbread Johnny cakes and brussels sprouts with chicken chorizo and cotija cheese. The feast costs $300 for four people minimum and can be picked up on Nov. 22. Pie, cocktails and select items are also available à la carte. Pre-order on Tock.

Ms. Chi Cafe

Chef Shirley Chung's Culver City Chinese spot, Ms. Chi Cafe, is offering a couple of different Thanksgiving takeout feasts and we're having a hard time choosing between them. One features a whole tea-smoked duck while the other showcases Peking turkey breast served with chili sauce. Both come with salads and sides including duck fat sticky rice stuffing and sweet potato mochi cobbler. Order on Tock and pick up on Wednesday, Nov. 22.

Photo:

Augie’s on Main

Josiah Citrin’s Augie’s on Main will be offering two different takeout packages for Thanksgiving. The first features Augie’s dirty chicken with the classic Thanksgiving sides including stuffing, pecan yams, and cranberry sauce plus other sides like Szechuan Brussels sprouts and chopped salad. There’s also a prime rib version of the same pack and each package serves two people. Pre-order on Tock.

Vinh Loi Tofu

Long-time vegan Vietnamese spot Vinh Loi Tofu is offering vegan turkey made from faux meat, and it’s even shaped like a turkey and has a hole for stuffing. The faux turkey costs $60. Customers must pre-order by texting the owner and his phone number can be found on Instagram - hurry, though, there is a limited amount available.

Sampa

Sampa is a Filipino-American pop-up taking a residency at KAVIAR in downtown LA through the holidays and they’ll be offering their favorite dishes in half or full trays for Thanksgiving. Dishes like spicy calamansi-glazed chicken wings, lechon fried rice, crispy duck pancit or ube cheesecake can be ordered a la carte. Pick up on Thanksgiving Day at KAVIAR. Pre-order on Tock.

Osteria Mamma

Neighborhood classic Osteria Mamma is offering a takeout feast throughout the holiday season, and while they’re closed on Thanksgiving Day, the dinner-for-two package can be picked up on November 22 and the restaurant will provide heating instructions. The feast costs $69 for two or $120 for four and includes classics like tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce, frittura mista and each order includes a bottle of wine.

A federal judge has ordered Los Angeles to pay more than $1.8 million in attorneys’ fees and costs to the L.A. Alliance for Human Rights and other organizations that sued the city over what it deemed an inadequate response to the homelessness crisis.

The city is appealing the decision.

The details

L.A. Alliance is a group of business owners and residents who sued the city and county of Los Angeles in 2020 in an effort to push both governments to provide more shelter to unhoused people in the region.

The city of L.A. settled with the plaintiffs in 2022, and U.S. District Judge David O. Carter is overseeing the city’s progress in keeping up with the terms of that agreement. The judge found the city breached its agreement in multiple ways in a ruling last summer.

Specifically, the judge found that the city did not provide a plan for how it intends to create 12,915 shelter beds, as promised, by 2027. The court also found the city “flouted” its responsibilities by failing to provide accurate, comprehensive data when requested and did not provide evidence to support the numbers it was reporting, according to court documents.

In addition to $1.6 million in attorneys’ fees and $5,000 in costs to L.A. Alliance, Carter awarded about $200,000 in fees and $160 in costs to the Los Angeles Catholic Worker and Los Angeles Community Action Network.

The organizations are considered “intervenors” in the suit, representing people experiencing homelessness on Skid Row. Their attorneys include those from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

Why it matters

In his order, released Tuesday, Carter compared the recent award to the millions of taxpayer dollars city officials agreed to pay an outside law firm representing L.A. in the settlement.

Carter wrote in the order that the attorneys' fees and costs to L.A. Alliance and others “is reasonable, especially in light of the approximately $5.9 million that the City’s outside counsel is charging.”

LAist’s housing and homelessness coverage was cited several times in the order.

“It has fallen to plaintiff, intervenors, and journalists to point out the deficiencies in the city’s reporting,” Carter wrote, referring to data the city is required to report to the court as part of the settlement.

“Plaintiff and intervenors must be compensated for this,” he said.

The city’s response 

Attorneys representing the city filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday.

L.A. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto’s office did not respond to LAist’s requests for comment by phone or email.

Shayla Myers, senior attorney with the Unhoused People's Justice Project at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, told LAist the intervenors participated in the case without compensation “because it's incredibly important given what is at stake in these proceedings that unhoused folks have a voice.”

Matthew Umhofer, an attorney for L.A. Alliance, told LAist he’s thrilled the court is imposing accountability on the city, including sanctions for violating the settlement agreement. But Umhofer said he’s saddened that L.A. Alliance is going to have to keep fighting to hold the city to its promises.

“The obvious city strategy here is hire a big, good law firm to fight on absolutely every front in hopes that the plaintiffs, the intervenors or the court will ultimately give up trying to hold the city accountable,” he said.

What's next

The parties are scheduled to appear in federal court in downtown L.A. on Monday, when a hearing will resume to determine whether the judge will hold the city of Los Angeles in contempt of court.

Carter has said in documents that he’s concerned “the city has demonstrated a continuous pattern of delay” in meeting its obligations with court orders under the settlement and that the “delay continues to this day.”

Every January, the open-air downtown food fair reopens after its winter break and announces new additions to its carefully selected group of regular vendors.

This year’s new vendor class demonstrates the resilience of L.A.'s independent food scene, ranging from a Grammy-nominated producer's Persian-influenced pizza to Southern fried fish celebrating Black American culinary traditions, to an LAist 2025 Tournament of Cheeseburger heavyweight contender.

The reopening also marks the start of Smorgasburg LA's 10th anniversary year, and will feature 41 returning vendors, who've helped build the regular event into a fun, family-friendly opportunity to try new, often cutting-edge food you may not be familiar with.

Doors open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at DTLA’s The Row, with free entry and free parking for the first two hours.

A new year

General manager Zach Brooks said this is his favorite time of year. "We add the new vendors at the beginning of the new year, everyone's excited."

Vendors apply through Smorgasburg's website, and the team meets with every applicant to taste their food before acceptance. Brooks said it's not a vetting process like "Shark Tank" but rather a matter of seeing if it's a good fit. Competition remains fierce, with many more applicants than available spots.

"I think it's just a testament to L.A. and the resilience of people who love this business and have a passion for it, and are going to continue to persevere and start their businesses and want to be out there selling food," Brooks said.

Here are a few highlights:

Viral orange chicken sandwich 

Long Beach-based Terrible Burger becomes Smorgasburg's new permanent burger vendor after standout appearances at LAist's Tournament of Cheeseburgers and the market's rotating Smorgasburger Stand. The smashburger pop-up, run by husband-and-wife team Nicole and Ryan Ramirez, specializes in burgers that draw from pop culture and global influences. They've made waves with a Korean barbecue burger topped with bulgogi barbecue sauce and a viral orange chicken sandwich, previously available only at their Tuesday night residency at Long Beach's Midnight Oil, making its L.A. debut Sunday.

Terrible Burger's viral orange chicken sandwich makes its LA debut at Smorgasburg after being available only in Long Beach.

(

Courtesy Terrible Burger

)

"We have been big Smorgasburg fans for a really long time before we even started Terrible Burger. We would go to Smorgasburg on dates, just eat and hang out. And it was just always a little dream of, "oh, what if we ever sold food here?" Nicole Ramirez said.

Crispy fried snapper and thick-cut fries 

Orange County-based Hot Grease, run by Asha Starks, is among four vendors graduating from residencies to permanent status. The Southern fried fish pop-up celebrates Black American history through food that honors Starks' family heritage.

"Folks often forget that there are Black folks in Orange County. My family came to Orange County during the second wave of the Great Migration, and they settled in Santa Ana... my food is very cultural. And the story, I feel like, is just as important to highlight," Starks said.

Hot Grease's crispy buttermilk fried snapper with thick-cut fries and "Ill Dill" tartar sauce.

(

Courtesy Hot Grease

)

Hot Grease serves crispy buttermilk fried snapper with thick-cut fries and small-batch sauces like "Ill Dill" tartar. Honoring the fish fry's history as a site of mutual aid, Starks directs 3% of sales to the Potlikker Line, Hot Grease's reproductive justice mutual aid fund. For January, she's added fish and grits, black-eyed peas and collard greens.

Pizza with a Persian twist

Mamani Pizza brings studio-born energy to Smorgasburg LA with pies featuring Persian-inspired creativity.

(

Courtesy Mamani Pizza

)

Mamani Pizza, from the Grammy-nominated producer Farsi, part of the music production team Wallis Lane, started making Neapolitan-style pizzas at his West L.A. recording studio a year ago. What began as late-night pies for friends and artists became an underground hit. Most pizzas are traditional, but Farsi adds Persian touches like The Mamani, topped with ground wagyu koobideh, roasted Anaheim chilis, Persian herbs and pomegranate molasses.

Other new vendors

Banana Mama - Asian-inspired pudding
Barranco's Yogurt - Oaxacan fruit yogurt
Franzl's Franks - Austrian sausages
Melnificent Wingz - Gourmet chicken wings
Piruchi - Peruvian street food
RuRu's Golden Tea - Karak chai
Stick Talk - vegan corn dogs
SouuLA - Taiwanese breakfast concept
Unreal Poke - Hawaiian poke
Zindrew Dumpling Shop - Spicy wontons