Each November my inbox is swamped with the same question: Which restaurants serve a traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day? For the 18th year in a row, I made a hundred phone calls to find the answers, which I serve below.

Make your reservations early because many places will sell out; some are booked out three months in advance. And the competition isn’t just from your immediate neighbors: Based on the analytics of who is reading my online posting of this list, it appears that slightly more than half of the people exploring the idea of a Santa Barbara Thanksgiving feast are from outside of the county.

View The Restaurant Guy’s list for 2024: Restaurants serving Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara