Eat Out

Most people won't admit this, but there are those of us who don't want to cook Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, we also prefer not to accept a sympathy invitation from well-meaning friends to eat a holiday meal with their families. It's so much easier to go out for a restaurant meal, which can be just as well-prepared — maybe even better — than dinners at most family get-togethers. And there are, mercifully, no whiny relatives or wailing infants sharing the table. That's really something to be thankful for. If you simply want a Thanksgiving breakfast, Roxanne's Café (6264 Lewis in Parkville, 816-505-4431) will serve pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and the Gunslinger (choice of pork cutlet, hamburger steak or country-fried steak with three eggs, hash browns and toast or biscuit) from 6 to 11 a.m. Another diner, the new 24-hour Fran's Classic Café, in the Power & Light District (11 East 14th Street, 816-221-4551), will be open and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The venerable Peppercorn Duck Club at the Hyatt Regency (2345 McGee, 816-398-4845) will offer a holiday buffet and its legendary Ultra Chocolatta Dessert Bar. The M&S Grill (4646 J.C. Nichols Parkway, 816-531-7799) will offer its regular menu today as well as turkey or ham dinners and prime rib after 2 p.m. The Avenues Bistro-Brookside (338 West 63rd Street, 816-333-5700) is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a special holiday menu that offers a choice of turkey, ham or prime rib. And for something completely different, there's the Horizons Buffet at the Ameristar Casino (3200 North Ameristar Drive, 816-414-7000), which will offer turkey as well as dozens of other dishes, including tacos, fettuccine, barbecue and Shanghai chicken. You'll need to make reservations at most of these places.