Thanksgiving is not the busiest day in the year for restaurants, but it is the time when things have a way of becoming most frantic. It's also a day in which finding a reservation is most difficult. Calling ahead months is a very good idea, particularly if you're planning on having Thanksgiving dinner with many family members and friends. Tables in famous restaurants are also hard to nail down. Finally, if what you want from the restaurant is a big feast, it's essential to make your reservation in, say, September or earlier. There is an escape if you still don't have a reservation a few days ahead of Turkey Day. When you call a few says or hours before dinner time, laugh to show that you understand how dear Thanksgiving tables are, then ask whether there are any last-minute cancellations you can fill. That works even for the toughest seats. The Thankgiving experience is is different from other meals in other ways. Buffets--which have almost disappeared from fine dining in recent years--have a way of popping up in many restaurants. Most of these are high-end hotels. If you go that route, know that it will be much more expensive than what you remember from years ago. It may even go higher than $100. On the other hand, Thanksgiving has a way of inspiring restaurants to create special menus that may be surprising. Three courses for $around 50 have been common in recent years. Here is a list of the 40 best restaurants. And there are always children's menus. All that said, here is my list of the forty best restaurants for Thanksgiving in 2018. Enjoy! Andrea's. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 3100 19th St. 504-834-8583. Special menu. Regular menu also available. 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Annadele Plantation. Covington: 71518 Chestnut St. 985-809-7669. Arnaud's. French Quarter: 813 Bienville. 504-523-5433. A special four-course menu, with a mix of traditional Thanksgiving dishes and Arnaud's specialties. Bistreaux. French Quarter: 1001 Toulouse St. 504-586-8000. Borgne. CBD: 601 Loyola Ave (Hyatt Regency Hotel). 504-613-3860. A special four-course menu, plus a limited regular menu. Bourbon House. French Quarter: 144 Bourbon. 504-522-0111. Regular menu and Thanksgiving specials. Brennan's. French Quarter: 417 Royal. 504-525-9711. Broussard's. French Quarter: 819 Conti. 504-581-3866. An especially beautiful setting, with the courtyard open. Café B. Old Metairie: 2700 Metairie Road. 504-934-4700. Special menu, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Three courses, around $45. Chophouse. CBD: 322 Magazine St. 504-522-7902. This high-end steakhouse is promoting its steaks as an alternative to the standard turkey dinner. If that appeals to you, there they are. Handsome place. Commander's Palace. Uptown 1: Garden District & Environs: 1403 Washington Ave. 504-899-8221. Special menu. Very likely already to be sold out. Compere Lapin. CBD: 535 Tchoupitoulas. 504-599-2119. Criollo. French Quarter: 214 Royal. 504-523-3341. The new restaurant in the Monteleone Hotel serves its second Thanksgiving. It's a handsome restaurant with an imaginative, current New Orleans-style menu. Crystal Room. CBD: Le Pavillon Hotel, 901 Poydras. 504-581-3111. Buffet, a bit less expensive than in the other hotels, and for that reason fills up early. Food is good as buffets go. Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. French Quarter: 716 Iberville. 504-522-2467. Regular dinner menu and Thanksgiving specials, 3-9 p.m. Five Happiness. Mid-City: 3605 S Carrollton. 504-482-3935. Fleming's Steak House. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 3064 N. Causeway Blvd.. 504-799-0335. Latil's Landing. River Parishes: In Houmas House Plantation. 225-473-9380. This is the grand restaurant in Houmas House Plantation, on the River Road, halfway from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Buffet, noon-4 p.m. $65, $25 children. Lebanon's Cafe. Uptown 4: Riverbend, Carrollton & Broadmoor: 1500 S Carrollton Ave. 504-862-6200. Lüke. CBD: 333 St Charles Ave. 504-378-2840. John Besh's most popular restaurant. Special menu. M Bistro. French Quarter: 921 Canal. 504-524-1331. The flagship dining room of the Ritz-Carlton offers a high-end buffet 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Maple Street Cafe. Uptown 4: Riverbend, Carrollton & Broadmoor: 7623 Maple. 504-314-9003. Both locations, special menu. Three courses, $30, $13 children. under 12. Noon-7 p.m. Mr. B's Bistro. French Quarter: 201 Royal. 504-523-2078. Special menu, featuring free-range turkeys. Noon-8 p.m. Muriel's. French Quarter: 801 Chartres. 504-568-1885. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Special menu, three courses, $48. Palace Cafe. French Quarter: 605 Canal. 504-523-1661. Regular menu with Thanksgiving specials (entrees $30s-4$40s2), 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Ralph's On The Park. City Park Area: 900 City Park Ave. 504-488-1000. Very substantial special menu, three courses $46-54. Red Fish Grill. French Quarter: 115 Bourbon. 504-598-1200. Buffet 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m., $47, kids $15, under 6 free. It's not an enormous hotel-style buffet, but the food is fresh and distinctly Creole. Lots going on for the kids. Restaurant des Familles. Marrero To Lafitte: 7163 Barataria Blvd. 504-689-7834. Way out on the bayou twenty minutes from downtown, and quite an environment. Special menu. Rib Room. French Quarter: 621 St Louis St83. 504-529-7045. Special menu. four courses, $37-51. 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Roosevelt Hotel. CBD: 123 Baronne. 504-648-1200. The Roosevelt Hotel serves Thanksgiving dinner in the Waldorf-Astoria ballroom, the grandest and largest space in the hotel. In addition to the buffet, there are several other action stations cooking to order. On a smaller scale, the hotel's Fountain Lounge will also be open. Roux On Orleans. French Quarter: 717 Orleans (Bourbon Orleans Hotel). 504-571-4604. The restaurant of the Bourbon Orleans, a block in back of St. Louis Cathedral. Buffet from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Adults $59, tax and tip included (!). Royal Sonesta Ballroom. French Quarter: 300 Bourbon. 504-553-2278. Now that R'evolution is the main dining room at the Sonesta, the holidays bring forth special arrangements. The buffet you remember from the days of Begue's is now in the hotel's big ballroom. $85 is the price; $35 6-12 years, free under that. Seatings begin at 10:30 a.m., with the final seating at 1:30 p.m. Ruth's Chris Steak House. Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd: 3633 Veterans Blvd. 504-888-3600. Thanksgiving specials ($40's, complete dinner) and regular menu, both locations. Noon-8 p.m. Ruth's Chris Steak House. CBD: 525 Fulton St. 504-587-7099. Thanksgiving specials ($40, complete dinner) and regular menu, both locations. Noon-8 p.m. Tujague's. French Quarter: 823 Decatur. 504-525-8676. Usual table d'hote dinner, with fresh turkey and other Thanksgiving dishes, about $40. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Vacherie. French Quarter: 827 1/2 Toulouse St. 504-207-4532. This boutique hotel in the French Quarter (it's where Louis XVI used to be) hase continually expanded the reach and goodness of its restaurant, particularly on holidays. Thanksgiving brings a buffet from noon until 4 p.m. The price is $39 adults, $18 children. Windsor Court Grill Room. CBD: 300 Gravier. 504-522-1994. Special menu, four courses, $95. It's offered all day long: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
