What's Open on Thanksgiving Day in Jacksonville

Cartoon illustration of Jacksonville, Florida on Thanksgiving Day showing open restaurants, closed grocery stores, fine dining, and locals celebrating on the beach in turkey hats.

Most Jacksonville restaurants close on Thanksgiving, but a reliable set stay open every year: casual chains like Cracker Barrel, IHOP, and Denny's, plus upscale spots at St. Johns Town Center and downtown steakhouses running reservation-only holiday menus. Grocery stores, big-box retailers, and most local shops close for the day.

Jacksonville's Thanksgiving basically has two modes: cook everything yourself, or stand in a Waffle House parking lot in a turkey hat.

Restaurants Open on Thanksgiving in Jacksonville

A handful of restaurants reliably open every year for Thanksgiving Day service, usually running a set holiday menu alongside their regular one. Reservations fill up fast, especially at fine dining spots, so call ahead rather than showing up cold.

Each part of town has its own full list, with addresses, phone numbers, and what's confirmed for 2026:

Downtown and San Marco

These steakhouses run Thanksgiving service every year without fail:

  • Ruth's Chris Steak House, Riverplace Boulevard, downtown
  • Morton's, Hyatt Regency Jacksonville, downtown
  • City Grille and Raw Bar, Prudential Drive, downtown

Riverside and Five Points

For a Thanksgiving table that would rather skip the turkey entirely:

  • Curry Guys (sponsored), Lomax Street, Five Points, open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with the regular Indian street-food menu, dine-in and takeout, no reservations needed, plenty of vegetarian and vegan options
  • The Casbah Cafe, St. Johns Avenue, Avondale

Mandarin

  • ChopHouse Thirteen, San Jose Boulevard, Mandarin, holiday menu served in its private dining spaces
  • Nagoya Sushi, San Jose Boulevard, Mandarin
  • Chowrastha, Race Track Road, just south of Mandarin

St. Johns Town Center

Usually the single biggest cluster of Thanksgiving-open restaurants in the city, most running a fixed holiday menu with turkey, sides, and dessert built in:

  • Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant
  • Fogo de Chao
  • True Food Kitchen
  • Seasons 52
  • Maggiano's Little Italy
  • The Capital Grille

Southside, Baymeadows, and Arlington

  • Hot Pot & BBQ, Beach Boulevard
  • 5th Element Taste of India, Baymeadows Road
  • K-Pop Chicken, Regency Square Boulevard
  • Copeland's of New Orleans, Southside Boulevard
  • 14 Prime, Gate Parkway, catered pickup only
  • Jax Honest, Baymeadows Road
  • Licious Noodles & Bao, Southside Boulevard
  • Timwah Dim Sum Restaurant, Point Meadows Drive

The Beaches (Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Ponte Vedra)

These lean toward brunch over a full dinner seating, which fits a morning already built around the Turkey Trot and Petesgiving:

  • Buddha Thai Bistro (sponsored), Jacksonville Beach, annual all-you-can-eat vegan Thanksgiving brunch buffet, noon to 3:30 p.m., $49.99 adults, reservations recommended
  • Cookies and Creme JAXBEACH (sponsored), Jacksonville Beach, open 2 to 7 p.m. with special Thanksgiving cookies, dine-in and takeout, no reservations needed
  • Casa Marina Hotel and Restaurant, Jacksonville Beach, Thanksgiving brunch, reservations required
  • Joseph's Pizza, Atlantic Beach and North Main Street, take-out only
  • Lukumades, Jacksonville Beach
  • Eleven South, Jacksonville Beach, prix fixe Thanksgiving menu
  • Nara Revolving Sushi Bar, US 1, Nocatee
  • Ruth's Chris Steak House, Ponte Vedra Beach

Neptune Beach shares its restaurant scene with Atlantic Beach through Beaches Town Center, so the open options there fall on either side of that line rather than inside Neptune Beach itself.

Everyday Chains

These traditionally stay open across the whole city:

  • Bob Evans
  • Denny's
  • Cracker Barrel
  • IHOP

Fast food is a mixed bag: McDonald's and Dunkin' typically stay open, while Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, and Chili's close for the day.

Details shift year to year, so confirm hours directly with the restaurant before driving over expecting a table.

Thanksgiving Take-Out and Pre-Order in Jacksonville

Hosting but not cooking? Pre-order the whole dinner and pick it up the day before. Pre-order menus have hard cutoffs, so check the order deadline first.

  • Well-Oiled Events (sponsored), Beach Boulevard, Jacksonville Beach. Thanksgiving Take & Bake menu with roasted turkey or glazed ham that serves 8 and sides that serve 4. Order by email by Wednesday, November 18, and pick up Wednesday, November 25, from noon to 3 p.m. Delivery is available for a fee. See the full menu and prices
  • The Butt Hutt Smokehouse, Roosevelt Boulevard, Riverside. Smoked meats by the pound: brisket $30, smoked turkey breast $25, pulled pork $25, pulled chicken $25, and a whole rack of ribs for $32. Scratch-made sides (mashed potatoes with brisket gravy, mac and cheese, dressing, and sweet yams) come by the pint ($10), half pan ($45, feeds 15 to 20), or whole pan ($90, feeds 40 to 45). Banana pudding too. Call (904) 503-5985 to order by 1 p.m. Tuesday, November 24, and pick up Wednesday, November 25, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Friday.

What's Open on Thanksgiving Day in Florida

Outside of restaurants, Thanksgiving Day in Florida runs mostly closed. Major grocery chains including Publix, Aldi, Winn-Dixie, Walmart, and Trader Joe's have closed on Thanksgiving in recent years, though specialty grocers like The Fresh Market have sometimes stayed open on shortened hours. Pharmacies inside grocery stores typically follow the store's hours, while standalone pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens often run limited hours rather than closing outright.

If you forgot an ingredient, gas stations and convenience stores are the most reliable fallback, since most of them never close in the first place.

Before Thanksgiving Hours Run Short

Most grocery stores keep normal or slightly extended hours on Thanksgiving Eve, then close entirely on the day itself. If you're missing cranberry sauce or a last bag of stuffing mix, Wednesday night is the window, not Thursday morning.

If Nobody's Cooking

Between the Turkey Trot, Petesgiving, and family dinner, plenty of Jacksonville households skip cooking entirely and let a restaurant handle it. If that's the plan, book now rather than Thanksgiving morning. The good tables go first, and by the time Petesgiving lets out, the wait lists are longer than the walk back to the car.

Waffle House has never closed for anything short of a hurricane, and Thanksgiving isn't a hurricane.

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