Best Thanksgiving Takeout and Catering in NYC (2026)

Thanksgiving is a lovely day to host and a fairly unreasonable day to cook everything yourself. A turkey commandeers the oven, the potatoes need attention, and someone still has to find room in the refrigerator for two pies. Ordering some or all of dinner can give you back the part you actually wanted: a long meal with people you like.

New York has plenty of ways to do it. You can order a traditional spread with stuffing and gravy, collect a smoked bird from a barbecue restaurant, bring home Peking-style turkey with pancakes, or let a caterer handle a Friendsgiving for twenty. The best choice depends on how many people are eating, how much kitchen space you have, and whether you want a complete dinner or just help with the difficult parts.

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026. We lead with the places that have 2026 menus out, then cover the favorites still to announce. Prices are menu prices before tax and delivery unless a fee is specifically included. 

We'll keep adding menus as they land through November. 

The sections below explain what each order includes and who it suits. Use the map to find a convenient pickup first; a nearby collection point can matter more than a famous name when you are carrying dinner for ten.

These are the orders to start with when you want turkey, the expected accompaniments and dessert handled by someone else, from a ten-person package to a dinner sized for four or a roasted bird you build around.

Smoked birds, Peking-style turkey and a Cuban spread, for tables that want Thanksgiving to revolve around turkey without being the same meal as last year. Two of these need real oven time on Thursday, so read the heating notes before you commit.

Fried chicken for a Friendsgiving crowd, a proper kosher dinner for one, and the pie to finish any of the meals above.

Three of the most useful options have no single pickup point, so they don't appear on the map. They're worth planning around if the biggest favor you can do yourself is avoid a separate trip, or if you're feeding an office.

FreshDirect. For having dinner delivered with the rest of the groceries. This year's prepared meals come sized for two to four, six to eight, and eight to twelve. The smallest uses a turkey breast; larger packages use whole birds, with gravy, cranberry sauce, garlic green beans and a choice of additional sides. The food is fully cooked but still needs heating, and the whole birds need carving. Preorders open October 29, with prepared-meal delivery scheduled for November 23 through 26. Prices come out when ordering opens, so reserve a delivery slot then.

Mangia. Classic turkey without a ten-person minimum. Thanksgiving catering starts at six people: a whole 12-to-14-pound roasted turkey, advertised for six to eight, is $225, and sliced turkey or a spinach-and-pepper turkey roulade is $26 per person, with gravy and two chosen sides included. Pies are extra. Build in the 12% service and administration fee: the $225 turkey becomes $252 before tax and delivery, and adding a $42 nine-inch pie brings those items to $299.04. Delivery across the five boroughs, with fees depending on the address, which makes Mangia the first call for a Bronx or Staten Island table.

Epic Catering and Events. For twelve or more without negotiating everyone's favorite side. The 2026 menu is a broad, familiar buffet: sliced turkey and apricot-glazed ham, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, salad and a dessert choice. $49.95 per person with a twelve-person minimum, plus a 10% delivery charge and a separate 10% administration charge on the food subtotal, so twelve people is $719.28 before tax rather than $599.40. Available November 1 through 30, which suits an early office lunch or a post-holiday gathering. Manhattan is the standard delivery area; ask for a quote for the other boroughs, and sort out heating or serving needs if the office kitchen is one microwave.

Some of the most interesting choices are restaurants and markets people already love, and not every one has a 2026 menu out yet. These deserve a place in your planning, with one quick check of the current holiday details before you commit. Two of them, LifeThyme and Seitan's Helper, are the specialists to watch if you're ordering for vegans; for a larger mixed-diet table, Dish's menu above includes a vegan carrot Wellington and an Impossible shepherd's pie at $60 for five servings, subject to its $595 minimum. Whatever you order, ask about the actual dishes: vegetable sides can contain butter or stock, stuffing can contain sausage, and a pie's filling tells you little about its crust.

A turkey-only price can look much cheaper than a dinner that includes six accompaniments and dessert. Before comparing totals, write down the whole table: main, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, gravy, cranberry sauce, bread and dessert. Then remove anything a guest is bringing or you actually want to make. Dish includes two pies, Bread and Honey includes one, and Eli Zabar sells the components separately. Mangia's fee and Epic's two charges belong in the comparison too. A final checkout total is more useful than an attractive starting price.

There are three different experiences hidden inside "Thanksgiving takeout": food ordered hot, cooked food that needs reheating, and a bird that still needs to finish cooking. Bread and Honey explicitly offers the first; most choices here offer the second; Dinosaur's and Pig Beach's turkeys fall into the third. If you have one small oven, ask for the heating instructions before buying a whole bird and four large trays, and consider sliced turkey or a turkey roll if that will make serving easier. If you have no usable kitchen, choose a confirmed hot meal with a suitable delivery or pickup time.

"Serves six to eight" is a useful estimate, not a promise that eight hungry adults will all leave with sandwiches for Friday. Use the smaller end of the range if leftovers are part of your plan, and look at the side-dish quantities as carefully as the turkey. For a small table, a turkey breast, a meal for four or an individual dinner can be more enjoyable than spending the weekend working through an enormous bird. For a potluck, ordering the main and gravy may be all the help you need.

Wednesday collection gives you more freedom on Thursday, provided the food fits in your refrigerator. Thursday collection reduces overnight storage but ties part of the day to a pickup slot. Delivery saves a trip, but you still need to be home for the window. Book the slot you need when you place the order and save the confirmation with the pickup address, since holiday collection can happen at a catering kitchen rather than the storefront you know. For an earlier Friendsgiving, start with the businesses publishing a broader November schedule: Epic, Havana Central and Pies 'n' Thighs.