As with just about everything in 2020, this year's Thanksgiving will look like no other in memory. Travel advisories, consumer fear of air travel and a hospitality industry still suffering the loss of millions of jobs are all conspiring against many of us planning to get together this year.
And, with fewer people around our tables, how many of us will feel compelled to really put in the time we typically did? And, that's where what's left of the hospitality community has an opportunity. Restaurants around the nation are pivoting again, this time offering Thanksgiving feasts to go. Destination Madison recently shared a growing list of restaurants doing up everything from full holiday menus to pies for take-out.
But our favorite to date has to be what Tulsa's BOK Center and Cox Business Convention Center are doing. With neither facility seeing much business these days, one could expect them to stay dark over the holiday. Instead, the in-house catering team from these facilities is whipping up fully cooked and chilled Thanksgiving dinners (with reheating instructions included with each order) to "make your guests think you spent all day in the kitchen." Honestly, what a sensational way to keep staff from these two facilities engaged and employed while providing a huge number of meals thanks to vast kitchens at their disposal.
Really smart.
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