Americans continue to love eating their Thanksgiving dinner at restaurants — about 14 million of them, to be exact. Nation's Restaurant News reports these legions of Americans will all dine out on Turkey Day, while 16 million will use restaurant take out for at least part of their Thanksgiving meal. Sure, these are the same estimates as last year, but if anything it seems the numbers are expected to grow.
Various restaurant chains tell NRN that their Thanksgiving Day sales grew last year: Cracker Barrel's "sales were the highest of any day in company history" and Boston Market saw its sales increase by 13 percent. What goes into those Thanksgiving-related sales? Oh, just "more than 1 million pounds of turkey, 2.6 million pounds of mashed potatoes, 639,000 pounds of stuffing and 180,000 gallons of gravy." The chain is expecting another massive increase this year and has even launched a holiday-themed website offering recipes, event-planning advice and more.
This might explain the plethora of Thanksgiving-related promotions, such as an Ohio chain that promises "frozen turkey bowling," or Popeye's Louisana Kitchen's offer of "a 9- to 11-pound whole flash-fried turkey infused with Cajun seasonings." Just what Thanksgiving was missing.
· Restaurants compete for share of Thanksgiving table [NRN]
· Boston Market Launches Holiday-Themed Website [Fast Casual]
· All Thanksgiving Coverage on Eater [-E-]