It's almost time for Thanksgiving 2023, with families coming together to celebrate the period of gratefulness and humbleness and community around them. For this year, it will take place on Thursday, November 23.
The holiday sees up to 37 million turkeys consumed as part of the traditional meat for the dinner, according to countinganimls.com, in what is the second biggest US celebration after Christmas Day.
There are two types of Thanksgiving eaters, ones who would prefer to cook themselves or others who would simply prefer the convenience of eating out at a local restaurant, but which restaurants are open? Here are 15 of them:
- Red Lobster
- Golden Corral
- Tony Roma's
- BRIO Italian Grille
- Domino's
- Applebee's
- Boston Market
- Bob Evans
- Buffalo Wild Wings
- Burger King
- Chart House
- Denny's
- Eddie V's
- IHOP
- Maggiano's Little Italy
Why do Americans celebrate Thanksgiving?
The holiday dates back to 1621 in a moment of history between the Wampanoag people and European colonialists called the Pilgrims. The feasts are based on the food shared between them.
Thanksgiving began with colonists hunting for turkeys but mostly easy game like geese and ducks.
After a highly successful session, almost 100 Wampanoag people made a surprise appearance at the camp and the two groups hung out with little incidents.
It was originally a religious festival that included days of prayer, safe blessings, safe journeys, successful harvests and of military victories, many of which are still celebrated today even if it's no longer connected to religion.
The traditional meal generally consists of turkey, bread stuffing, potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. Data from vehicular travel suggests that the holiday is the busiest of the year as families unite in the big celebrations, compared to Christmas which sees less traffic as people tend to remain localized.