For me, Thanksgiving has already started. I'm working on all of it right now: chasing the best prices on everything we buy, scheduling staff and planning out the cooking.
Everything is more expensive this year, and we're doubling our efforts to keep prices down. I'll be honest with you: we are not profitable. But Tommy's will never close as long as our friends and family keep holding us up by coming in when they can. Thank you for that.
Thanksgiving is our biggest day of the year, and most people only see the part where they get in line and get a plate. Here's what goes on before that.
It starts the Friday before
Prep starts 7 days out. Cooking turkeys takes 2 full days. We bring in about 3,000 pounds of turkey in two deliveries and roast it continually 24 hours a day, in six ovens, around 15 birds at a time.
Everything else is made here by hand too. The stuffing starts as bread we cut ourselves, and that alone takes one cook a full day. Potatoes get peeled and mashed by the case, 16 cases of them. Cranberry sauce gets cooked in big pots on Monday and Tuesday. The pies show up Monday.
Thanksgiving morning
The first cooks walk in at 4am to start packing to-go and pre-order dinners. Pre-order pick-ups start at 10am, and the doors and the to-go window open at 11. There's tape on the floor so the line can run down the stairs and through the room without anybody getting lost.
Last year's curveball
In 2025, one of our ovens died in the middle of turkey week. We cooked birds all thanksgiving day and just barely kept up with the line.
A few insider tips
- You don't need to be here at 11. The line moves faster than it looks. Recently the wait from getting in line to eating has usually been about half an hour.
- Want to skip the line completely? Pre-order a dinner for 4 and pick it up at a set time. Pick-up slots go fast, so don't wait.
- Stuffing people: on the to-go and pre-order dinners, stuffing is already included, and you can still pick it again as your extra side.
The details
Thursday, November 26, 2026
- Dine-in: 11am–8pm, $36, no reservations. Dine-in menu
- To-go window: 11am–5pm, $36 dinners. To-go menu
- Dinner for 4: $168, pre-order now, pick up 10am–5pm. Order online
Questions? Text us at 415-949-0399.
See you on the 26th.
The Tommy's Joynt Team