There are dining options and activities for Thanksgiving Day in James City County.
Thanksgiving Dining
Enjoy the Bountiful Thanksgiving Buffet at Opus 9 Steakhouse on Thursday, Nov. 24 from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Cost for adults is $38.95 per person and children (6-12) are $15.95. Children 5 and under are free. Please call for reservations.
The complete menu can be viewed online.
- Appetizers: Smoked salmon, spinach & feta salad, roasted pear and cranberry sauce, fresh fruit, and two other salad options
- Sides: Aged white cheddar and bacon macaroni and cheese, roasted artichokes, collard greens, scalloped potatoes, and much more
- Carving board: Roasted turkey with rosemary giblet gravy, salt cured Virginia ham, slow roasted prime rib with demi glace
- Desserts: Chocolate fountain, caramel pecan pie, Southern buttermilk pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice cupcakes and much more
Thanksgiving dinner will be served from 1-6 p.m. at Honey Butter’s Kitchen at the Candle Factory. The cost is $20 per person for all you can eat (because who can only have one serving of turkey dinner!) Honey Butter’s Kitchen would like to have as many reservations in advance with the number in your party and time of reservation. For reservations, please call 757-903-2874. Take out orders will also be available.
Menu items:
- Roasted Turkey Breast with Gravy
- Smoked Porkloin
- Turkey Giblet Stuffing
- Corn Bread Stuffing
- Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
- Whipped Sweet Potatoes
- Green Bean Casserole
- Cream Corn
- Fresh vegetable
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Warm Bacon Salad
- Corn Bread and Honey Butter
- Fresh Dinner Rolls
- Pumpkin Pie
- Butter Pecan Bread Pudding
- Oreo Cheese Cake
Join Cafe Provencal on Thursday, Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving Dinner at Cafe Provencal at the Williamsburg Winery. The menu is inspired by the first documented and original English Thanksgiving which took place on Dec. 4, 1619, at a place called Berkeley Plantation on the banks of the James River in what is now Greater Williamsburg, VA. For reservations, please call 757-941-0317.
- First Course: Butternut Squash Bisque or Endive Salad
- Main Course: Roast of Venison or Roasted Game Bird
- Sauces: Pomegranate Cranberry Pecan Sauce and Roasted Chicken Veloute
- Accompaniments: Roasted Red Potato, Sauteed Brussel Sprout Petals, Smoked and Roasted Whipped Sweet Potato, Baked Oysters with Arugula, Green Beans
- Desserts: Apple Tartlet and Pumpkin Cake
Price of menu is $65 per person exclusive of taxes and gratuity. The Williamsburg Winery’s extensive wine and beverage list will be available. Wiley Bar at Cafe Provençal will be open at 11:30 a.m. Reservations require a credit card upon booking.
DoubleTree by Hilton Williamsburg would love to host you and your family for Thanksgiving on Thurs., Nov. 24, 2016 from 11:30 a.m. -3:30 p.m. $41.95 for Adult, $12.95 for children, children 5 and under are free. Price includes leftovers to take home. Please call to make reservations at 757-220-2500.
Thanksgiving at The Whaling Company is available - turkey with all the trimmings! Cost is $18.95 for adults and $9.95 for children. If you don't like turkey, the full menu will be available all day. Call 757-229-0275 for reservations.
Bonus tip: You can order food for Thanksgiving from many local vendors including Custom Culinary Connections, Carrot Tree Kitchens, and Two Drummers Smokehouse has Thanksgiving to go, which includes a fully completed meal for a family gathering or for just two! Craft 31 will also be open on Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving Activities
Want to work up an appetite for Thanksgiving? Run in the Big Turkey Burn 5K! Mettle Events continues its annual Thanksgiving Day 5K at an exciting new venue, New Town in Williamsburg, VA on Thursday, Nov. 24 from 8:30-11 a.m. The race includes have t-shirts, finisher medals, local food and entertainment. Event proceeds will benefit Williamsburg Meals on Wheels and R.L. Wilkinson Family YMCA. There will be a 1 mile kids fun run and a raffle of outstanding food and wine items will benefit local charities.
Cost is $35 until Nov. 13; $40 until Nov 25 and $45 on race day 1 Mile Kids Fun Run - $10.
Explore centuries-old cooking techniques at Jamestown Settlement & American Revolution Museum at Yorktown during the annual Foods and Feasts of Colonial Virginia.
This event takes place Nov.24-26. Discover how food was gathered, preserved and prepared on land and at sea by Virginia’s English colonists and Powhatan Indians.
In the re-created Powhatan Indian village, visitors can see venison, turkey and other game roast over an open fire, while stews of corn, beans and squash cook in clay pots. A daily program will show the importance of corn to the Powhatan Indians and the variety of dishes in which it was used, including corncakes and corn dumplings. Throughout the day, visitors also can learn how Powhatan Indians made stone and bone tools used to obtain and prepare food and take in a program on Powhatan hunting techniques.
Within the re-created 1610-14 fort, food preparation will reflect the culinary skills English colonists brought to Virginia. Historical interpreters will bake bread on all three days and throughout the event will demonstrate open-hearth cooking of pudding, pies and pottage, based on historical recipes of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. On Thursday and Friday, an entire pig will be processed into hams and bacon, followed by salting for preservation. Museum visitors also can experience European military tactics and drills near the fort.
At the ships’ pier, a special program allows visitors to haul cargo from a replica of one of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607 to learn how the colony was provisioned. Throughout the day, visitors can explore typical sailors’ fare of salted fish, biscuit and dried foods and try making the most common food – a ship biscuit. A program at 12 noon on celestial navigation will explore how 17th-century sailors steered by the stars. For more information and to buy tickets, visit historyisfun.org.
Let us know on Facebook if we have missed any Thanksgiving activities!