Thanksgiving in Berlin: Where to get turkey, pumpkin pie, and more

Thanksgiving turkey. Photo: IMAGO / imagebroker

There are thousands of Americans in Berlin, and chances are that a good number of them will celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 24th. Back in North America, that means a huge meal of turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, stuffing, cranberry sauce – we could go on. Of course, the holiday isn’t celebrated in Germany, but a handful of local restaurants are still cooking up some special menus for the occasion. Even if you don’t celebrate, the classic Thanksgiving meal, with its meat, veggies, sauces and stuffing, is perfect autumn fare, and at these restaurants, still worthy of your attention. Here are some notable spots to find it.

Estelle

This Prenzlauer Berg bistro may be better known for its fluffy sourdough pizza, but chef Jared Bassoff has crafted a whole week’s worth of Thanksgiving specials. The main event is on Thursday night (November 24) with a classic menu for €50 per person (reservations are recommended). You’ll get a roasted turkey with chestnut stuffing, mashed potatoes, autumnal sides from Brussels sprouts to kale salad, and an apple pie sundae.

If that’s too much commitment, a trio of creative lunch specials will pop onto the menu from Wednesday to Friday: turkey confit with chestnut knödel (Wednesday), turkey schnitzel with cranberry sauce (Thursday), and a “leftovers” turkey sandwich on a house-made potato bun (Friday), plus Thanksgiving-inspired specials with turkey, stuffing, gravy and more for brunch on the weekend.

Kopenhagenerstr. 12A, Prenzlauer Berg

Masha’s Bagels

The New York-style bagel-makers at Masha’s are taking over the dining room next door at Quasi Quasi for Thanksgiving dinner on November 24th. It kicks off at 7:30pm, and the fixed-price menu includes salad and pumpkin cream soup, but the main event is the roast turkey. It comes with a sausage-celery-mushroom stuffing plus gravy and traditional sides (cranberry sauce, potatoes, biscuits, and Brussels sprouts), finished off with a bourbon-orange pecan pie for dessert. It’s €40 per person, and reservations with advance payment are required.

Bouchéstr. 15, Alt-Treptow

*Freedom From Want*, Norman Rockwell, ca. 1941-1945, oil on canvas. *Photo: Wikimedia Commons*

Fraulein Kimchi

These top-notch purveyors of bibimbap are briefly pivoting across the Pacific to offer a full Thanksgiving menu for you to enjoy at home. That menu costs €98 for two people: it’s “generously portioned” and should leave you with leftovers, but you need to order in advance.

It includes all the staples: turkey, gravy, biscuits, potatoes, green bean casserole, a full-sized pumpkin pie, and more. A vegetarian option is available, and you can order extras like a painfully American sweet potato-marshmallow casserole. The Fraulein team will deliver orders on Thanksgiving, or they can be picked up that day at their kitchen in Weißensee.

Gürtelstr. 10, Weißensee, pick-up only

Stella & Fortuna’s Table Catering

Stella, the primo Neukölln takeaway and catering outfit, is also doing a heat-up-at-home Thanksgiving special. Chef Suzy Fracassa is offering three options to choose between, based on your appetite: a lean option with turkey and two sides, a bigger option that throws in more classics like stuffing, corn, and potatoes, and a full three-course option that also includes soup or salad and a dessert.

Prices range from €38 to €64 per person, with vegetarian options available. You’ll have to order for at least four people, and you can pick it up at Stella’s Weserstraße location in the afternoons from November 23-25th. Take note: orders must be in by Sunday, November 20th.

Weserstr. 58, Neukölln, pick-up only

Hard Rock Café

Look, it’s almost certainly the least gastronomical option on this list, but the Ku’damm outpost of this Americana-loving chain is putting on a pretty affordable Thanksgiving deal at €19.95 per person for roast turkey, mashed potato, roasted veggies, cranberry sauce and gravy; you can add pumpkin pie for another €7.25. You can eat there between noon and 9pm on Thanksgiving or get it to heat up at home.

Kürfurstendamm 224, Charlottenburg

DIY Thanksgiving

A man carrying home his Thanksgiving turkey ca. 1910-1915. *Photo: IMAGO / UIG*

Preparing your own Thanksgiving meal might require a few stops at different stores around town, but it’s still eminently doable. For the bird, famed Charlottenburg delicatessen Rogacki stocks full turkeys, and a few butcher shops around town sell them, including Fleischerei Bünger in Wedding and KaDeWe’s food hall. You should order in advance (and at Bünger, orders must be in by November 21st).

Most other produce like sweet potatoes and green beans should be available at local supermarkets. For hard-to-find American products, KaDeWe’s sixth-floor food hall has a limited selection. Otherwise, drop by the city’s few American grocery stores: Americanfood4u, with locations at Alexanderplatz and Ku’damm, or American Lifestyle in Tempelhof.