Skip the Oven: Where to Eat Thanksgiving Dinner In and Around Ridgefield
For the small tables, the long-distance families, the tired cooks and anyone who would simply rather not do the dishes this year — here is where you can sit down to turkey on Thursday, November 26.
A lot of you have asked me the same question lately: is anywhere in town actually doing Thanksgiving dinner? Fair question. Not everybody has a big family table down the street. Some of you moved here from somewhere else and your people are scattered across the country. Some of you are a household of two. And some of you have cooked every Thanksgiving for the past twenty years and would like, just once, to be the one who gets served.
So I went looking. Short version: most of downtown Ridgefield closes for the day, and good for them, because those folks feed us all year. But a couple of hometown spots are open, there are confirmed sit-down dinners within about a 25-minute drive, there are good take-home options, and there are some lovely community meals if what you really want is company.
Family comes in a lot of forms, and so does Thanksgiving. Whatever yours looks like this year, here's where to find a plate.
Thanksgiving at a Glance
The Sure Things: Confirmed for 2026
These two have posted their 2026 Thanksgiving plans and are taking reservations now. Neither is technically in Ridgefield, but both are an easy I-5 drive and both do the full classic spread — turkey, stuffing, the works.
The riverside lodge with the totem poles out front is running its Thanksgiving buffet again: roast turkey with old-fashioned gravy and cranberry relish, cider-glazed ham, mashed potatoes, dressing, roasted roots, green beans, brandied pumpkin pie and assorted desserts. The bar's open, the fireplaces are lit, and the Columbia is right there doing its moody November thing.
McMenamins' 2026 buffet pricing at its other lodges is $55 for adults, $33 for kids 5 to 12, and free for kids 4 and under, and Kalama has matched that in the past. Reservations have been required, by phone. Don't want a buffet? They also run Thanksgiving plates alongside the regular pub menu.
Big stone fireplace, timber everywhere, the whole cozy-lodge situation. Hudson's has been a Clark County Thanksgiving fixture for years, and its 2026 Grand Buffet is up on OpenTable now at up to $64.95 per person. Bookings run from parties of two up to twenty, so it works whether you're a table for two or the whole cul-de-sac.
This one historically books up well before the holiday. If you want a prime dinner time, do it this week.
Right Here in Ridgefield
These are the local names people keep asking me about. The good news is that ilani and two of our hometown spots are open on Thanksgiving Day. For the others, a phone call is still your friend, and I'll update this post as I hear more.
ilani is the easiest yes in town, because pretty much the whole resort is open on Thanksgiving Day. Three restaurants are running a Thanksgiving Special menu alongside their regular one:
Bella Vista, 4 to 10 p.m. Upscale Italian with the mountain views. This is your dress-up option.
sámn, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pacific Northwest coastal seafood, Cowlitz-inspired dishes and steaks. It's open the longest of the three, so it works for an early Thanksgiving lunch or a late dinner.
Rock & Brews, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., with the kitchen closing at midnight. Pub fare, craft beer and football on the screens.
ilani posts the actual Thanksgiving Special dishes as downloadable menus on each restaurant's page instead of listing them in text, so click through to see what's on the plate. Book sit-down tables through the reservations page.
The downtown fixture with the century-old bar, steaks, burgers and a room full of people who all seem to know each other is open on Thanksgiving from noon to 6 p.m. That makes it the only place I know of where you can have Thanksgiving dinner on Main Avenue this year. Walk over, grab a booth, watch some football, and let somebody else handle the dishes.
I know a lot of you were hoping for this one, but Playmakers is closed on Thanksgiving so their crew gets the day off. If watching football is the main event for you (this year it's Bears–Lions, Eagles–Cowboys and Chiefs–Bills), Sportsman's has TVs and is open noon to 6. Save Playmakers for Black Friday, when you'll need a break from your relatives or from the stores.
Comfort food, breakfast all day, zero pretense. Country Cafe is open until 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving, which makes it a good pick for an early holiday meal or a big breakfast before the parade-and-nap portion of the day. Reviewers have mentioned turkey dinners here. Just go early, because they close mid-afternoon.
If You'd Rather Eat on the Couch
Sometimes the best Thanksgiving is pajamas, a parade on TV and someone else's mashed potatoes. No judgment here. Deadlines sneak up fast, so put these on your calendar now.
If What You Really Want Is Company
For some of us the food is the easy part. It's the quiet that gets you. If that's where you are this year, these community meals are open to everyone — and they are some of the warmest rooms in Clark County that week. Showing up to eat is welcome. Showing up to serve is welcome too, and honestly, it's one of the best ways I know to spend a holiday.
Quick Answers
Are any downtown Ridgefield restaurants open on Thanksgiving?
Sportsman's Public House on Main Avenue is open noon to 6 p.m., and Country Cafe near I-5 is open until 3 p.m. Playmakers is closed. Most other small downtown spots close so their staff can be with family. Out at the junction, ilani is open, and three of its restaurants are serving Thanksgiving Special menus.
Do I need a reservation?
For the buffets, yes. McMenamins Kalama Harbor Lodge takes them by phone and Hudson's books through OpenTable. Even for casual spots, a quick call saves you a hungry wait.
Is it weird to go out for Thanksgiving with just one or two people?
Not even a little. Restaurant Thanksgivings are full of couples, solo diners, parents with one kid, friends who couldn't fly home. Book the table and enjoy not scrubbing the roasting pan.
What if I just want to stay home but not cook?
Order a take-home dinner. McMenamins' four-person meal closes at 11 a.m. on Nov. 23, and grocery pre-orders usually close the week before Thanksgiving.
More from Meanwhile in Ridgefield
Whatever your table looks like this year — big, small, borrowed or a booth with a view of the river — I hope you get a good plate and good company. Know a Ridgefield spot doing Thanksgiving that we missed, or heard back from one of the call-ahead places? Tell us and we'll add it. And if you've got a seat open at your table, consider inviting a neighbor who doesn't.
