Covent Garden Thanksgiving Dinner for £75: Joe Allen

Joe Allen, the New York-style theatre brasserie at 2 Burleigh Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7PX, lists a Thanksgiving menu among its menus at £75 for three courses, built around roast Norfolk turkey with pigs in blankets, stuffing and cranberry sauce. US Thanksgiving falls on Thursday 26 November in 2026, and Joe Allen's kitchen stays open until 10:30pm on Thursdays, which makes it the easiest Thanksgiving dinner in the West End to fit around a show. Book a 5:30pm table before the curtain, or come after the bows when most of the neighbourhood's kitchens have closed.

Starters give four choices. There is a butternut squash soup with ginger and chilli, which is vegan and gluten free, a twice-baked parmesan and cheddar soufflé with mascarpone and chives, Suffolk smoked salmon with crème fraîche and seeded rye, and a shaved fennel salad with orange, oregano and pomegranate. The soufflé is the one to order if you want something rich before the turkey.

The roast Norfolk turkey main comes with pigs in blankets, stuffing, carrots, red cabbage, roast potatoes, cranberry sauce and gravy, a very British plate wearing an American holiday. Anyone who would rather skip the bird can choose a dry-aged, grass-fed sirloin steak with fries and peppercorn sauce for a £5 supplement, a wild mushroom and chestnut risotto, or herb-roasted salmon with creamed potatoes, sprouting broccoli and caper butter sauce.

Dessert is where the menu turns American again. Pumpkin pie is on the list, alongside a baked vanilla cheesecake with fruit compote and a seasonal sorbet or ice cream. The pumpkin pie is marked vegetarian, and the cheesecake is vegetarian and gluten free, so a mixed table can share without anyone missing out.

A discretionary 14% gratuity is added to the bill, and Joe Allen states that 100% of it goes to the staff. With the gratuity, the Thanksgiving menu works out at £85.50 per person before drinks, or £91.20 with the sirloin supplement. The menu asks guests to tell a member of staff about any allergies or dietary requirements, and dishes are marked vegan, vegetarian or gluten free.

If the table splits between the holiday menu and the regular menu, that works too. Joe Allen's menus page describes the cooking as authentic New York-style brasserie dining with classic American dishes served from lunch to late evening, using seasonal ingredients from trusted suppliers, so non-turkey eaters are not stuck with one choice.

Joe Allen opened in New York in 1965 as a simple brasserie tucked just off Broadway, and it became a second home for the city's actors, musicians and night owls, the canteen of show business where opening-night nerves were calmed over Martinis. In 1977 it crossed the Atlantic to Covent Garden, and the restaurant calls itself London's original theatre brasserie, a place for cast parties, working lunches and late-night conversations.

It is named after its founder, the New York restaurateur Joe Allen, and actors, musicians and other creatives still gather here. That history gives Thanksgiving here a different feel from a hotel dining room: the room is busy, the bar is lively, and on a weeknight in late November you are as likely to sit next to a cast from a nearby theatre as next to a homesick American family.

On Thursdays the restaurant opens from 12pm to midnight, with last bookings at 10:30pm, and the kitchen serves until 10:30pm. That window is the reason to choose Joe Allen on Thanksgiving if you also have tickets: an early table gives time for three courses before a 7:30pm curtain, and the late kitchen means you can still eat turkey after the show rather than settling for a sandwich.

For a group, Joe Allen has a semi-private mezzanine overlooking the main restaurant that seats 50 or holds 60 standing, and Joe's Bar downstairs, inspired by downtown New York neighbourhood bars, seats up to 15 for dining or 18 for drinks. The whole restaurant can be hired for up to 110 seated guests. Group packages start from £45 per person, and events are booked through events@joeallen.co.uk.

Theatre groups get their own option. Joe Allen offers express dining for groups, aimed at tour and theatre parties that need to eat and leave on time, as well as buffet dining and wedding receptions. Exclusive hire runs as a lunch slot from 12pm to 4pm, a dinner slot from 7pm to 12:30am or the full day, which suits an office Thanksgiving that wants the whole room.

Burleigh Street runs between the Strand and the streets south of Covent Garden's market, so the restaurant sits within a few minutes' walk of the Lyceum, the Savoy and the theatres along the Strand and Aldwych. Before an early Thanksgiving dinner, walk up to the Covent Garden piazza and its market building, which is usually dressed for the festive season by late November, then come back down towards the Strand.

After dinner, the walk south to Waterloo Bridge takes a few minutes and gives one of the best night views of the Thames, with the South Bank lit on one side and the City on the other. It is a good way to end an American holiday in the middle of London before heading home from Charing Cross, Embankment or Covent Garden station.

Joe Allen is at 2 Burleigh Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7PX. Opening hours are Monday and Tuesday 12pm to 11pm with last bookings at 8pm, Wednesday and Thursday 12pm to midnight with last bookings at 10:30pm, Friday and Saturday 12pm to 12:30am with last bookings at 10:30pm, and Sunday 12pm to 10pm with last bookings at 7pm.

Kitchen hours are shorter: Monday and Tuesday 12pm to 8pm, Wednesday 12pm to 9pm, Thursday to Saturday 12pm to 10:30pm and Sunday 12pm to 7pm. Outside the Thanksgiving menu, the all-day Sinatra menu costs £25 for a 125ml glass of house red or white, linguine and meatballs in red sauce or rigatoni with tomato vodka sauce, and an affogato to finish.