CHICAGO — It happens every year. Thanksgiving sneaks up before the jack-o’-lanterns have rotted on your doorstep, and before you know it, it’s time to order a turkey and haul out the platters.
This year, why not get professional help in the form of extra side dishes you can heat and serve with your bird?
We’ve put together a guide to neighborhood restaurants offering Thanksgiving appetizers and sides you can order à la carte to enhance your home cooking and round out the table.
Thanksgiving a la carte options at Heritage Restaurant Partners include oyster and kimchi stuffing and caviar. Credit: Provided/Ryan Beshel
Albany Park
The Fish Guy, 4423 N. Elston Ave.
Sometimes on Thanksgiving, there’s just no room on the stove for making turkey stock, even though it’s key to the most flavorful gravy. This year, grab a quart ($12) from the Fish Guy.
The seafood shop offers whole and spatchcocked birds, too, and turkey necks and backs if you want to do it yourself. Pro tip No. 1: Make the broth in your Instant Pot. Pro tip No. 2: Grab some crab cakes to serve as a first course on Turkey Day. Order it all here.
Avondale
Honey Butter Fried Chicken, 3361 N. Elston Ave.
The Avondale fried chicken restaurant is offering a host of “Take and Bake” packages and à la carte options for Thanksgiving.
You can make a meal of the “Just The Sides” kit ($45) consisting of pimento mac and cheese, brown butter mashed sweet potatoes, kale and cabbage slaw, chicken schmaltz-smashed potatoes and 10 corn muffins with honey butter, or take your pick of any of those sides or salads. Order online by Nov. 25 for pickup Nov. 26. Items are packed cold and come with reheating instructions.
The Sanders BBQ team, from left: Janell M. Richmond, Nick Kleutsch, James Sanders, Nehemiah Holmes and Bill Jones. Credit: Crystal Paul/Block Club Chicago
Beverly
Sanders BBQ Supply, 1742 W. 99th St.
You can (and probably should) let the pros at Sanders BBQ Supply handle your turkey-roasting duties. After all, the South Side spot was recently named to The New York Times’ list of the 50 best restaurants in America.
But if it’s just side dishes you’re after, Sanders has you covered, too. Options include candied yams, mashed potatoes and dressing. A half-pan is $80 and feeds 8-10 people; a full pan serving 10-12 is $150. Order online for pickup on Thanksgiving Day.
Bridgeport
The Duck Inn, 2701 S. Eleanor St.
Uncle Bob still insisting on deep-frying that turkey? Chef Kevin Hickey and his crew at The Duck Inn have the rest of the meal covered.
For $175, you can order their “Everything But the Turkey” menu for four people. It includes: duck sausage stuffing; giblet & sage gravy; rum-glazed and spiced sweet potatoes with housemade pumpkin spice marshmallows; buttermilk mashed potatoes; cranberry tangerine chutney, Brussel sprouts in caper Caesar and brown butter crumble; and pumpkin cheesecake! Order here and shut down the kitchen.
Baked chicken is a menu staple at Bronzeville Soul, 4655 S. Martin Luther King Drive. Credit: Facebook/Bronzeville Soul
Bronzeville Soul, 4655 S. Martin Luther King Drive
Fried cabbage, fried corn and greens or string beans with smoked turkey are just a few of the highlights on the Thanksgiving menu at Bronzeville Soul. Order by phone at 872-244-7127 for pickup Nov. 26.
Soul Veg City, 203 E. 75th St.
Chatham’s vegan soul food spot (formerly known as Original Soul Vegetarian) has been supplying the South Side with a bounty of plant-based items for decades.
Options on their catering menu include their famous kale with cornbread ($85), creamy soy cheddar mac and cheese ($65) and mashed potatoes and vegan gravy ($50). Consider sunflower seed pate ($10/pound) as a starter for your Thanksgiving dinner, and grilled BBQ seitan ($50 for a small pan) instead of a bird this year. Your guests may not miss the meat.
Garfield Park
Jerk Taco Man, 4001 W. Jackson
Julius Thomas, Chicago’s Jerk Taco Man, makes a set of mean smoked jerk meats, which he serves folded into tacos and eggrolls, tossed in salads, and, famously, piled onto french fries and nachos.
If you are not ready to fully commit to a jerk Thanksgiving, Thomas’s sides are definitely worthy of your table. Order pans of rice and peas (red kidney beans), candied yams, mac and cheese and cabbage, then sit back and watch your cousin carve the turkey. While you’re there, can you resist grabbing an order of jerk rib tips for snacking?
Humboldt Park
Spinning J Bakery & Soda Fountain, 1000 N. California Ave.
The word is out on Spinning J’s unique pie selection, but did you know owner Dinah Grossman and her team make an herby cheesy roasted vegetable stuffing with chewy sourdough bread and frozen buttermilk biscuits to bake along with your turkey?
Be sure to order early. Pickup is Nov. 25-27.
Lakeview
Chicago Diner, 3411 N. Halsted St.
Vegans and vegetarians rejoice with festive offerings like gluten-free jalapeno corn fritters ($9) and mashed potatoes with country gravy ($9) at the stalwart Chicago Diner. Place your order by Nov. 23 for pickup noon-7 p.m. Nov. 26.
Oak & Honey, 3124 N. Broadway
The team at Oak & Honey, East Lakeview’s cozy storefront cafe, wants to put bread on your table this Thanksgiving. Preorder loaves of gorgeous sourdough ($10), plus cultured honey butter ($10) to spread on everything.
Buy a tray of take-and-bake cinnamon rolls ($24) for morning-of (or after) noshing. Orders close Nov. 21 for pickup 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 26.
Find all kinds of encased meats for Thanksgiving appetizer platters at Gene’s Sausage Shop in Lincoln Square. Credit: Provided.
Gene’s Sausage Shop and Delicatessen, 4750 N. Lincoln Ave.
European meats abound at Gene’s, and its homemade pork and veal sage stuffing is not to be missed. Mine the catering menu for delicious sides and salads. Would a Bavarian meat and cheese platter be too much to start? We think not.
Place your order by phone (773-728-7243) and arrange a pickup day and time.
Los Comales, 3141 W. 26th St.
The family-run Los Comales opened in 1973 as one of Chicago’s first taquerias. More than 50 years later, it’s a firmly established institution serving crowd-pleasing tacos, burritos and tortas at 18 locations in the city and suburbs, including its original Little Village location.
Weave Mexican flavors into your Thanksgiving table with Los Comales’ tamales, a holiday favorite, or add guacamole and quesadillas (or churros — why not?) to your appetizer spread. Place orders by phone (773-523-1689) a week ahead of Thanksgiving and schedule pickup on Thanksgiving Day.
Noodlebird’s Thanksgiving side dishes include (from left) Brussels sprout salad, mashed potatoes and maitake mushroom wild rice. Credit: Instagram/Noodlebird
Logan Square
Noodlebird, 2951-57 W. Diversey Ave.
Add an Asian spin to your holiday table with sides from Noodlebird. Start with a fresh shaved Brussels sprout and pomegranate salad ($26), add pumpkin milk bread dinner rolls with sage butter ($14) and a gai lan and mustard greens gratin ($28), and you may never serve ordinary green bean casserole again.
Order here for pickup Nov. 26 — and maybe throw in some egg tarts for the turkey chef.
Farm Bar, 1970 W. Montrose Ave.
The roster of sides from farm-to-table spot Farm Bar will make your meal a rustic Midwestern feast. Order stuffing ($20), garlic mashed potatoes ($20), biscuits ($10) and roasted turkey gravy by the quart ($20) for pickup noon-6 p.m. Nov. 26.
Thanksgiving preorders are sold out at Farm Bar’s Lakeview location, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.
Tanta’s empanada sampler features beef tenderloin, shredded chicken and chille, and corn and queso fresco fillings. Credit: Provided/Jonathan Cooper
Tanta Cocina Peruana, 118 W. Grand Ave.
Tanta Cocina Peruana has served authentic Peruvian dishes in a splashy River North setting for a dozen years. Pick up a half-dozen ($48) of the restaurant’s tasty empanadas to serve as an appetizer while the turkey is roasting or as a gift for your Thanksgiving Day host.
Empanadas feature three fillings: Estofado de Carne, beef tenderloin with a green huaycatay sauce; Aji de Gallina, shredded chicken with fruity, piquant aji amarillo chile; and Tamalito Verde, with two kinds of corn and queso fresco. Orders can be placed here Nov. 17-25 for pickup at the restaurant Nov. 26.
Chef Brian Jupiter of Frontier, 1072 N. Milwaukee Ave., is offering classic Thanksgiving sides like roasted brussels sprouts and cornbread stuffing. Credit: Instagram/Frontier
Frontier, 1072 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chef and owner Brian Jupiter has Thanksgiving on lock. Frontier’s straightforward selection of sides can be picked up hot and ready-to-eat if you don’t want to bother turning on the oven. Choose from the likes of mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts and cornbread stuffing.
Order here for pickup 3-7 p.m. Nov. 26 or 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving Day). Add a bottle of the restaurant’s batched cocktails, like the tequila-spiked Flor de Jamaica ($75), for an extra kick.
Roasted sweet potatoes with candied hazelnuts at The Publican, 837 W. Fulton Market. Credit: Facebook/The Publican
West Loop
Heritage Restaurant Partners, 1516 W. Carroll Ave.
Although Heritage Restaurant in Ukrainian Village closed this summer, chef Guy Meikle of Heritage Restaurant Partners can’t stop cooking. He’s put together a unique Eastern European-inflected menu of items, including caviar and oysters, to grace your Thanksgiving table.
Place orders online for pick up 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Nov. 26 at Meikle’s catering team’s home base in the West Loop. Smoked oyster and kimchi stuffing ($30)? Cranberry pear chutney ($25)? Giblet and wild mushroom gravy ($25)? We’re coming over.
The Publican, 837 W. Fulton Market
Every year, the Publican pros are ready to bail out turkey procrastinators and gravy-phobics. Think stuffing made from Publican Quality Bread sourdough ($30), maple compound butter ($10) and orange ginger cranberries ($12).
Order here. Available for pickup or local delivery Nov. 24-26.
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