In Paradise Valley, Thanksgiving's First Deadline Is a Take-Home Order
The first Thanksgiving deadline around Paradise Valley this year comes from El Chorro, the restaurant on Lincoln Drive that calls itself a holiday tradition since 1937. Orders for its take-home feast close Wednesday, November 18, at 5 p.m., eight days before the holiday.
The resort dining rooms in the 85253 corridor take reservations right up to Thanksgiving. The take-home menus are the options that close early. Anyone weighing a resort table against a turkey picked up and served at home is really choosing which deadline to meet.
El Chorro's Thanksgiving To-Go Feast is a full meal for your own table, made by the kitchen that has served Lincoln Drive for close to nine decades. The 2026 menu starts with a roasted butternut squash and Granny Smith apple bisque and a Brussels sprouts and radicchio salad. Every feast includes half a dozen of the restaurant's sticky buns, a whole pumpkin pie with cinnamon whipped cream, and individual bourbon pecan tartlettes.
The pickup window is narrow. Feasts go out Wednesday, November 25, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., which is the day before Thanksgiving. Picking up a day early means the bird comes home with a day to spare, and someone needs a free two-hour slot on a weekday lunch hour. El Chorro takes orders through its SevenRooms events page, which lists the To-Go Feast under November 25.
Mountain Shadows runs the second take-home deadline, six days after El Chorro's. Hearth '61 orders close at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, November 24. The meal costs $84 per person, or $42 for children 12 and under.
The pickup window is the reverse of El Chorro's. Hearth '61 hands orders out on Thanksgiving Day itself, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., curbside or at the Hearth '61 bar. Portions are listed per person:
Pies cost extra, at $38 for pumpkin with orange chantilly cream and $50 for butterscotch pecan. Orders go through the resort's Thanksgiving page.
El Chorro needs a decision by November 18 and gets the food home Wednesday, with dessert included. Hearth '61 allows six more days to decide, prices by the head, and puts the pickup on the holiday morning.
Every dine-in option for Thursday, November 26, keeps taking bookings after both take-home menus close. Within a short drive along Lincoln Drive and Scottsdale Road, the per-adult price roughly doubles from the lowest to the highest.
| Venue | Format | Hours on Nov. 26 | Adult price | Child price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weft & Warp, Andaz Scottsdale | Family-style starters and sides, choice of main and dessert | Noon to 8 p.m. | $95++ | Not listed |
| LON's at The Hermosa Inn | Three-course prix fixe | Noon to 8 p.m. | $135++ | $35++ |
| Prado, Omni Montelucia | Five-course plated dinner | Not listed | $155 | Not listed |
| Hearth '61, Mountain Shadows | Choice of starter, entrée and dessert | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. | $159 plus tax and gratuity | $35, ages 12 and under |
| Elements, Sanctuary Camelback Mountain | Three courses with an amuse | Seatings 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. | $175 plus tax and gratuity | $55, ages 12 and under |
| Rita's Cantina, JW Marriott Camelback Inn | Brunch buffet with carving stations | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | $189 plus 20% service charge | $79, ages 3 to 12 |
Several of these resorts use Scottsdale mailing addresses in the 85253 ZIP code. Camelback Inn, for example, lists 5402 East Lincoln Drive, Scottsdale. All of them sit in the resort corridor around Camelback and Mummy Mountain.
The $94 gap between Weft & Warp and Rita's Cantina mostly reflects what kind of meal each one is, more than the kitchen behind it.
Weft & Warp serves its starters and sides family-style, with each guest choosing a main and a dessert. A 20% service charge applies to parties of six or more. Its Thanksgiving menu is the only one on this list built around shared platters.
Prado at Omni Montelucia lists a five-course plated dinner on OpenTable for parties of one to ten. That is the most courses here, at a price just under Hearth '61's.
Hearth '61 offers the widest entrée choice. The holiday turkey with chorizo cornbread stuffing sits beside an Iberian pork chop, herbed ricotta agnolotti, braised beef short rib, Parmesan-crusted salmon and a Prime New York strip. Starters include McClendon's Farm organic fall squash soup and a beet and burrata plate. Hearth '61 is also the only dining room here with written booking terms. It takes a $25 deposit per person, says full refunds are available if cancelled within 48 hours, and asks parties larger than four to call 480-624-5458. Groups of 20 or more can book a private Thanksgiving dinner indoors or out.
Elements at Sanctuary serves a three-course dinner with an amuse and mountain views. Its page says the dishes use locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. Its $55 child price is the highest among the dinner menus, second only to the $79 child rate at Rita's Cantina.
Rita's Cantina charges the most and is the only one that is less a meal than an event. Camelback Inn's brunch includes seafood, chef-attended carving stations, breakfast dishes and bottomless mimosas. It also comes with live entertainment, face painting, caricatures and professional family photography. Children 2 and under eat free, high chairs are available, and the resort asks parties of more than six to call 480-596-7011. Because it ends at 2 p.m., it is also the only option here that leaves the evening free.
LON's at The Hermosa Inn sits in the middle of the range at $135 plus tax and service for three courses, served from noon to 8 p.m. The Hermosa Inn posts the full menu on its experiences page.
Taken together, the price climbs with the amount of production around the food more than with the food itself. Family-style platters cost the least. Plated courses fall in the middle. A brunch with carving stations, entertainment and a photographer costs the most.
Thanksgiving week comes right after one of the town's busier mid-November weekends, and two of those events need advance planning.
On Saturday, November 14, the Town of Paradise Valley holds its Veterans' Appreciation Vintage Car Show at Town Hall, 6401 E. Lincoln Drive, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. The Paradise Valley Independent reports that this is the 21st annual show. It's free for spectators, with a $50 entry fee for cars, trucks and motorcycles built before 1986. Proceeds go to Military Assistance Mission and Sentinels of Freedom.
The next evening, Sunday, November 15, The Hermosa Inn hosts The Long Table at Casa Hermosa, a garden harvest dinner for 40 guests seated at two long tables. Bob Boze Bell, executive editor of True West Magazine, shares Old West stories between the four courses from Executive Chef Brian Peterson. The garden belonged to the house cowboy artist Lon Megargee built in the 1930s. Arrival is at 6 p.m. and dinner at 6:30. The $195 price per person includes wine, cocktails and mocktails, plus tax and gratuity. With only 40 seats, it is likely to fill before any Thanksgiving table does.
The cheapest Thanksgiving table in the corridor costs $95 per adult. The earliest deadline belongs to a turkey you pick up and carry home on November 25.
If you're hosting family at home this Thanksgiving, or wondering whether your dining room and kitchen are set up for the gatherings you have in mind, I'm glad to talk it through privately. Marianne Bazan has helped Paradise Valley and Scottsdale families find homes that suit how they host for more than 25 years, and a confidential conversation is always welcome.
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