Thanksgiving menu template
One price per guest, choices by course, sides for the table, pie, and a to-go list for the Wednesday pickup. This is a sample Thanksgiving dinner set in Gaslamp’s Classic American design, rendered by the same engine that prints every Gaslamp menu.
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The real menu, first two pages
The sample opens with the dinner itself: the per-guest price, the children’s price, and the wine pairing on their own lines. Then the courses, the sides that come with every dinner, pie, and a to-go section with its order deadline.
Sample menu. Dishes and prices are examples. Want to see one on a phone? Scan a live sample menu.
- The filePDF, 94 KB
- Pages4, with a coverThe cover carries the name and a QR code to the live menu.
- PaperUS Letter, portrait
- To download and printfree
No signup, no email. It is a finished sample, so it carries sample dishes. Putting your own menu into it takes the free trial. The trial includes one published live menu with QR codes. PDF downloads and additional menus start when you pick a plan.
What belongs on a Thanksgiving menu
Thanksgiving is one meal served to every table at once. The menu’s job is to tell a guest what the price includes before they order, and to tell the kitchen how many turkey plates to fire.
The dinner, priced per guest
The first thing on the page is what the dinner costs and what it includes. Put the per-guest price, the children’s price, and any pairing on their own lines so nobody has to ask the server to do math.
- Thanksgiving Dinner, per guest68Starter, main, sides for the table, pie
- Children 12 and under28
A starter, choose one
Two or three light starters. Soup and a salad cover most tables; one richer option (shrimp cocktail, a terrine) gives the regulars something to pick.
- Roasted squash soup12
- Harvest salad12
The main, choose one
Turkey first, one other meat, and a real vegetarian main. The vegetarian line matters more on Thanksgiving than any other night: it is often a whole family deciding where to book.
- Roast turkey plate34White and dark meat, gravy, stuffing
- Wild mushroom Wellington30
Sides for the table
Served family style with every dinner. Listing them tells guests they do not need to order extras, and tells the kitchen how many platters each table gets.
- Buttermilk mashed potatoes8
- Green bean casserole8
Pie, and the to-go list
Pie is its own course on this night. A to-go section with whole pies and quarts of gravy sells to guests who are cooking at home tomorrow, with the order deadline in the note under the heading.
- Whole pie to go32Order by Monday, pick up Wednesday
Example lines and prices show format only. They are not pricing advice.
How Classic American sets it
Classic American runs one centered column with small-caps section heads, a diamond rule under each, and dotted leaders out to the price. On a prix fixe night that column is an advantage: the per-guest price sits at the top of the first page where the eye lands, and every course reads down in the order it is served.
The note under each heading is where a Thanksgiving menu does its explaining. “Choose one. Included in the dinner; à la carte prices shown” is one line, printed in italic under the course name, and it covers every item below it.
The printed PDF opens with a cover page that carries your name and the QR code to the live menu. Each Gaslamp menu has its own code, so decide early: run Thanksgiving as its own menu with its own table tents for the day, or edit your everyday menu for the day and restore it from version history on Friday.
Prices on a Thanksgiving menu
The dinner is sold per guest, so the per-guest line is the price that matters. Every Gaslamp item needs a price of at least $1, so the courses below carry an à la carte price with a note under each heading that they are included in the dinner. That also answers the guest who wants just pie and coffee at the bar.
Children’s pricing goes on its own line with the age cutoff in the name. Supplements (a pie flight, a reserve pairing) are their own lines too, each with its own price, so the server never has to quote a number from memory.
Set the per-guest price from your plate costs before you print. The menu item price calculator takes the cost of the plate and the food cost you want to run and gives you a starting number.
Set it up in Gaslamp
- 1
Start from this Thanksgiving dinner
Pick Classic American and start from this sample. Every section, line, and price is already in place, so you type your own over it instead of building a blank page.
- 2
Type your dishes over it
Replace each name, description, and price in the editor. Delete the lines you do not serve and add the ones you do. The layout reflows as you type.
- 3
Set the per-guest price
Change the dinner price, the children’s price, and the pairing on their own lines. Leave the course prices as your à la carte numbers or set them to match what you would charge on a normal night.
- 4
Publish, then print
Publish the live menu behind one QR code that never changes, print the table tents once, and print the PDF whenever the paper copy needs to catch up.
Running it on the day
4:10 p.m.
The Wellington is gone
The kitchen made twenty and the second seating booked twenty-six vegetarians. On your phone, mark the Wellington sold out and save. About thirty seconds later the QR menu shows it struck through with “Sold out”, and the next printed copy leaves it off; the server offers the squash risotto you added as a hidden line last week.
11:30 a.m.
Wednesday pickups close
At the order deadline, switch off the To Go section so nobody reads Thanksgiving pies on the QR menu on Thursday. Switch it back on next year.
Friday
Back to the everyday menu
If Thanksgiving was its own menu, collect its tents; the everyday code never changed. If you edited the everyday menu for the day, restore Wednesday’s version from version history, which keeps the last 50 saves.
For the six-week timeline, the seating plan, and a worked pricing example, read the Thanksgiving playbook.
Thanksgiving menus, straight answers
- Is this Thanksgiving menu template free?
- Yes. The Classic American PDF on this page is free to download and print, with no signup. It is a sample, so it carries sample dishes and prices. To put your own menu into the design, start the 14-day free trial, no card needed. The trial includes one published live menu with QR codes. PDF downloads and additional menus start when you pick a plan.
- How should a restaurant price a Thanksgiving dinner?
- Most restaurants sell it as one price per guest that includes a starter, a main, sides for the table, and pie, with a separate children’s price. Set the per-guest price from your plate cost; the sample shows the lines, not a recommended number.
- Why do the courses have prices if the dinner is one price?
- Every Gaslamp item needs a price of at least a dollar; there is no unpriced line. On a prix fixe menu the course items show an à la carte price, and the note under each heading says they are included in the dinner.
- Can I take a dish off the menu mid-service?
- Yes. Mark it sold out on your phone and save. About thirty seconds later the menu behind your QR code shows it struck through with a “Sold out” label, and the next PDF you print leaves it off. Tap it again when it is back. To take a dish off the phone menu entirely, use the show/hide switch instead.
- Should the to-go menu be separate?
- If you take preorders, a To Go section at the end of the dinner menu is enough for most places. If you sell a long to-go list, make it its own menu with its own QR code, which needs a paid plan.
- How much does it cost?
- Start with a 30-day free trial, no credit card needed. Then it is $19 a month, or $190 a year (2 months free). No setup fee. Cancel anytime. The trial includes one published live menu with QR codes. PDF downloads and additional menus start when you pick a plan.
If you run one
Every design takes every menu. Switch between them anytime and your dishes stay put.
For the day-to-day, menu software for diners covers what changes on menus like yours and how often. For what to serve and how to price it, read how to build a prix fixe menu.
The free QR code menu generator makes a code for whatever menu you have now.
All menu templates
The Wellington ran out at 4:10. The menu can say so at 4:11.
No card needed · then $19/mo or $190/yr · cancel anytime