Figuring out how to celebrate thanksgiving in paris might sound like the setup to a romantic comedy — but for the tens of thousands of Americans living in the French capital, it is a serious annual operation. Thanksgiving 2026 falls on Thursday, November 26: an ordinary working day in France, in a city with no native Thanksgiving tradition, where the turkey is a Christmas bird and cranberries are canneberges. And yet Paris does Thanksgiving with unmistakable style. A constellation of Franco-American restaurants serves full holiday menus in the last week of November; the American Church in Paris hosts a beloved communal dinner; American grocery stores stock canned pumpkin and fried onions; and expat Friendsgivings fill apartments from the Marais to Montmartre. Whether you want a gastronomic tasting menu, a $33 diner feast, or a home-cooked spread with French wine, this guide covers every way to do Thanksgiving in Paris — restaurants, groceries, events, football, and the delicious Franco-American fusions along the way.
Thanksgiving in Paris: The Essentials
First, the lay of the land. Thanksgiving is not observed in France — Thursday, November 26, 2026 will be a normal jeudi, and most Americans in Paris work the day and celebrate in the evening or across the long weekend. Paris is home to one of Europe’s largest American expat communities, concentrated in the western arrondissements, and the city has developed a genuine Thanksgiving infrastructure: restaurants that plan for it months ahead, shops that import the ingredients, and community institutions that anchor the holiday.
The timing is half the magic. Late November is one of the loveliest moments in Paris: the Christmas lights go up along the Champs-Élysées and in the department store windows, the marchés de Noël begin to appear, museum lines are short, and the city takes on a golden, cinematic glow. Thanksgiving weekend flows naturally into the festive season — dinner on Thursday, Christmas market on Saturday, and none of the summer crowds.
Your options mirror those in any expat capital: dine out at a Thanksgiving-serving restaurant, cook the feast at home, or join a communal or Friendsgiving dinner. Paris being Paris, the dining-out options range from a €33 diner to a €105 seven-course tasting menu — and the home-cooking options come with French butter, which improves everything.
Dine Out: Paris Restaurants Serving Thanksgiving
Paris’s Thanksgiving restaurant scene is deep, varied, and — unlike in some cities — genuinely Franco-American in character. Restaurants typically announce their Thanksgiving menus in late October or early November, and the best tables book out fast. Offerings below reflect recent years’ programs; always confirm 2026 details when reserving.
The Gastronomic Rooms
Rivages at Sofitel Le Scribe Paris Opéra (1 rue Scribe, 9th) has become a Thanksgiving destination under chef Martin Simolka: recent menus featured pumpkin velouté, autumn salads, classic stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and green beans, and both pumpkin and pecan pie — with live American music adding to the atmosphere. Around €95 per person in recent years, reservation required.
Le Drugstore (133 avenue des Champs-Élysées, 8th) does Thanksgiving with Parisian flair: recent menus ran from crispy corn tempura through pumpkin gnocchi to farm-raised turkey with Brussels sprouts, pan-seared apple and cranberry jus, finishing with the restaurant’s famous banana cream pie. Around €89 per person in recent years.
Verjus (1st arrondissement) offers a Thanksgiving-themed tasting menu across two evenings — a refined, wine-paired take on the holiday for serious food lovers, with lunch sittings sometimes available. Booking is essential.
Le Coq & Fils (98 rue Lepic, 18th) brings French poultry obsession to the holiday: recent celebrations featured top-tier French turkey with American-inspired preparations. Le Fouquet’s (99 avenue des Champs-Élysées) has served butternut soup with chestnuts, roast stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce, and pecan pie in its iconic dining room. Ellsworth (34 rue de Richelieu, 1st) offers a Franco-American neo-bistro take, and Ralph’s (173 boulevard Saint-Germain, 6th) — Ralph Lauren’s restaurant — does the holiday with all-American polish: butternut squash soup, roast turkey stuffed with pork sausage and chestnuts, and Charleston pecan pie.
The American Comfort Rooms
Chez Carrie is an expat institution for Thanksgiving, serving lunch and dinner across several days in the holiday week — book early, as its seatings are among the first to fill. Cocoricains, the Franco-American bistro, celebrates across four days with roast turkey, pecan or pumpkin pie, and its famous peanut soup, plus vegetarian options. CHOcho (10th arrondissement), from Franco-American chef Thomas Chisolm, has served a seven-course Thanksgiving tasting — truffle mac and cheese, roast turkey, New York cheesecake, corn and crab tarte — at around €105 per person. Treize au Jardin is the Friendsgiving headquarters: recent years offered a turkey roulade menu with the holy trinity of pies (apple, pumpkin, pecan) at around €73, with seatings across the holiday week including a dedicated Friendsgiving evening.
The Budget Heroes
Breakfast in America (17 rue des Écoles, 5th) — the beloved American diner in the Latin Quarter — has served a full traditional Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pie) at around €33 per person in recent years: astonishing value, maximum nostalgia. Joe Allen’s (30 rue Pierre Lescot, 1st), the theater-district brasserie, has offered turkey with all the trimmings plus baked ham at around €45. Harry’s Bar (Sank Roo Doe No — 28 rue Daunou, 2nd), the legendary American bar, has served a Thanksgiving lunch with pumpkin soup and turkey club sandwiches.
The Communal Table
The American Church in Paris (65 quai d’Orsay, 7th) hosts one of the city’s most beloved Thanksgiving traditions: a communal dinner with family and adult seatings, children’s activities, and the full turkey spread at remarkably gentle prices (around €25 for adults and €18 for children in recent years). Tickets are purchased through the church and sell out — this is the warmest, most community-spirited Thanksgiving in Paris, and an ideal option for newcomers, students, and anyone far from family.
Hotel Thanksgivings
Several palace hotels join in: the Paris Marriott Champs-Élysées and the Hôtel des Grands Voyageurs have offered special Thanksgiving menus in recent years. Hotel dinners are reliably elegant, reliably bookable, and a good fallback when the bistros are full.
Cook at Home: Sourcing an American Thanksgiving in Paris
Cooking Thanksgiving in a Paris apartment is absolutely doable — and with French ingredients, arguably an upgrade. Here is the sourcing guide.
The Turkey: Order Your Dinde Early
The French word for turkey is dinde, and your local boucherie is your best friend. Order at least a week ahead — two is safer — specifying the weight you need (about 500g per person). French turkeys are excellent; a dinde fermière (farm-raised) from a good butcher will rival anything stateside. Note that French ovens, like British ones, run small: measure before you buy, and consider a turkey breast or two legs plus a breast if a whole bird will not fit. Supermarkets (Carrefour, Leclerc, Auchan) also sell turkeys in November, though the butcher’s bird is worth it for the day.
The American Grocery Stores
Paris has dedicated American grocery stores — the best known is the shop literally called Thanksgiving, an American grocery in central Paris stocking canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce, fried onions, pecans, cornmeal, marshmallows, and all the expat essentials. Stock up in early November; shelves empty as the holiday approaches. For fresh cranberries (canneberges fraîches), check larger supermarkets and Picard, the beloved French frozen-food chain, which often carries them frozen.
French Substitutions That Work
Many Thanksgiving ingredients have natural French equivalents: patates douces (sweet potatoes) are widely available; potimarron (a French pumpkin variety with chestnut notes) makes a superb pie — many expats prefer it to canned pumpkin; noix de pécan appear in baking aisles in autumn; and French butter and cream will elevate every side dish. Cornmeal is sold in organic shops (magasins bio) and Italian groceries as polenta. For the full science of swaps, see our guide to Thanksgiving ingredient substitutes abroad.
Friendsgiving, Paris Style
The Paris Friendsgiving is a refined species. Apartments may be small, but Parisian art de la table is real: candles, proper wine glasses, a table that seats eight if everyone breathes in. The potluck format rules — the host roasts the bird, guests bring the sides — and the Franco-American fusion that results is half the fun: your potimarron pie next to someone’s cornbread stuffing, a Burgundy next to the cranberry sauce. Treize au Jardin’s dedicated Friendsgiving seating (noted above) is the restaurant version; the home version happens in apartments across the city, organized through expat groups, offices, and university networks. If you are invited, bring your best dish and a good bottle — the French contribution to Thanksgiving is the reminder that the table itself is part of the feast.
Expat Community and Holiday Events
Paris’s American community organizes a full Thanksgiving season. The American Church in Paris (65 quai d’Orsay) is the institutional heart — its communal dinner is the headline, but its community boards and services connect newcomers year-round. Democrats Abroad France and other civic groups host holiday gatherings; the city’s many “Americans in Paris” social groups run Friendsgivings, bar nights, and potlucks throughout the week; and international schools (the American School of Paris, EABJM) hold celebrations that sometimes welcome the wider community. University students should check their institution’s international office — Paris’s universities host large American populations and usually organize something. For the emotional landscape of the holiday abroad, our piece on American expat Thanksgiving traditions is worth a read.
Football, Parade, and Time Zones
Paris is six hours ahead of Eastern Time, which rearranges the Thanksgiving broadcast schedule into something surprisingly civilized. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (9am–12pm ET) airs at 3pm–6pm Paris time — perfect late-afternoon viewing with the turkey in the oven. The NFL’s three Thanksgiving games kick off at approximately 6:30pm, 10:30pm, and 2:20am CET — the first two are ideal evening viewing, and several American-style sports bars in Paris show the games (or stream from home with the NFL’s streaming service). Explaining the turkey pardon to French friends remains a cherished expat ritual; for the story behind the bird, see why we eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
Make a Weekend of It: Thanksgiving in Late-November Paris
Thanksgiving weekend is one of the finest times to be a tourist in your own expat city — or to host visiting family. The Christmas markets open across the city (the Tuileries Garden market is the flagship), the department store windows on Boulevard Haussmann unveil their animated displays, the Champs-Élysées glitters, and the ice rinks appear. Take Friday off, do Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, and spend the weekend doing Paris at its most magical: the Musée d’Orsay without the crowds, a long lunch in Saint-Germain, and the lights. It is the strongest argument for celebrating Thanksgiving in Paris rather than flying home — home will still be there at Christmas, but Paris in late November is fleeting.
Frequently Asked Questions About Thanksgiving in Paris
Do the French celebrate Thanksgiving?
No — Thanksgiving is not a French holiday, and most French people know it only from American films. But Paris’s large American community celebrates enthusiastically, with dozens of restaurants serving special menus. If you are curious about the reverse question for London, see does the UK celebrate Thanksgiving.
What date is Thanksgiving 2026 in Paris?
Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November — November 26 in 2026 — everywhere in the world. In Paris it is a normal working Thursday; most celebrations happen in the evening or across the long weekend.
Where can I buy Thanksgiving ingredients in Paris?
The American grocery store Thanksgiving in central Paris stocks canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce, fried onions, pecans, and cornmeal. Larger supermarkets carry turkeys (order your dinde from a butcher for the best bird), sweet potatoes (patates douces), and pecans; Picard often has frozen cranberries. More swaps in our ingredient substitutes guide.
Which Paris restaurants serve Thanksgiving dinner?
Recent years’ options span Rivages at Sofitel Le Scribe, Le Drugstore, Verjus, Ralph’s, Le Coq & Fils, Chez Carrie, Cocoricains, CHOcho, Treize au Jardin, Breakfast in America, Joe Allen’s, and the communal dinner at the American Church in Paris. Menus are announced in late October/November — book early.
What time is the Macy’s parade in Paris?
The parade airs 9am–12pm Eastern Time, which is 3pm–6pm in Paris — ideal afternoon viewing while dinner cooks. Streams and highlights are widely available online.
Is there an American community Thanksgiving dinner in Paris?
Yes — the American Church in Paris (65 quai d’Orsay) hosts a beloved communal Thanksgiving dinner with family and adult seatings, children’s activities, and gentle prices. Tickets sell out, so book as soon as they are announced. Expat social groups also organize Friendsgivings all week.
Conclusion: Thanksgiving, à la Parisienne
Learning how to celebrate thanksgiving in paris teaches you that the holiday is not about geography — it is about intention. The turkey may be a dinde fermière, the pie may be potimarron, and the wine will certainly be better than anything you drank at home, but the gratitude circle is the same. Paris gives you restaurants that treat the holiday as a gastronomic event, shops that import the essentials, a community that welcomes newcomers to the table, and a city that has never looked more beautiful than in late November. So book the bistro, order the bird, or take your seat at the American Church’s communal table — and give thanks, Parisian style. For more expat Thanksgivings worldwide, see our guides to Thanksgiving in London and Thanksgiving in Dubai, and browse all our Thanksgiving guides on DayZora.
A Paris Thanksgiving Menu: Franco-American Fusion
The most delicious way to celebrate in Paris is to let the two food cultures collide. Here is a menu that honors both:
- Apéritif: Champagne (obviously) with gougères — French cheese puffs that outclass any dinner roll.
- Entrée: Velouté de potimarron — silky French pumpkin soup with chestnuts, the potimarron lending a chestnut depth canned pumpkin cannot match.
- Plat principal: Dinde fermière rôtie — farm turkey with a classic American-style bread stuffing, plus a French gratin dauphinois alongside the mashed potatoes. Serve the cranberry sauce (sauce aux canneberges) proudly; the French will be intrigued.
- Fromage: a small cheese course — because you are in France, and skipping it would be a crime. A creamy Camembert and a sharp Comté bridge the savory-sweet divide.
- Dessert: tarte au potimarron (pumpkin pie, French-style) and/or pecan pie. Serve with crème crue instead of whipped cream.
- Digestif: Calvados — apple brandy from Normandy, the perfect autumn nightcap.
Cook it with French butter, serve it with French wine, and explain each American dish as you go — your French guests will leave converts.
What the French Think of Thanksgiving
It is worth knowing how the holiday lands on French ears, because you will be explaining it all week. Most French people know Thanksgiving from American films and series — the giant turkey, the family arguments, the parade — and view it with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. The concept of a dedicated day of gratitude strikes many as très américain in the best sense: earnest, generous, slightly excessive. French friends invited to dinner tend to be delighted by the gratitude circle (it feels novel and touching) and bewildered by sweet potato casserole with marshmallows (it feels like a dare). Lean into it: Thanksgiving is cultural diplomacy at its most delicious, and every French guest you convert is a small victory for the holiday. Our guide to how to explain Thanksgiving to non-Americans has talking points for every skeptic.
Thanksgiving Weekend Itinerary in Paris
- Thursday: Work the day; Thanksgiving dinner in the evening — restaurant, home-cooked, or the American Church’s communal table. Parade at 3pm while the bird roasts.
- Friday: Take the day off. Morning at a Christmas market (Tuileries), afternoon at the Musée d’Orsay, evening leftovers and the first NFL game replay.
- Saturday: The grand day out — morning pastries in the Marais, afternoon on the Champs-Élysées among the lights, evening at a bistro. This is the day to show visiting family why you live here.
- Sunday: Slow morning, turkey sandwiches on baguette (a genuine upgrade), a walk along the Seine, and an early night. Thanksgiving weekend, Parisian style.
More Paris Thanksgiving Questions
Is it expensive to celebrate Thanksgiving in Paris?
It can be — the gastronomic rooms run €90–€105 per person — but it does not have to be. Breakfast in America’s €33 dinner and the American Church’s communal table (around €25) are genuine bargains, and a home-cooked feast from a butcher and the supermarket is very reasonable by Paris standards. The potluck Friendsgiving remains the best value of all.
Can I order a Thanksgiving meal for delivery in Paris?
Some restaurants offer takeaway Thanksgiving menus — Treize au Jardin has offered to-go orders in recent years, and traiteurs (caterers) will prepare a full spread with advance notice. For the bird itself, order from your boucherie and roast at home; it is the centerpiece worth doing yourself.
The Day After: Black Friday à la Française
Black Friday has been adopted in France with characteristic ambivalence — officially it even has a government-approved French name, Vendredi Noir, though few use it. Parisian retailers run the full playbook of discounts, and the big department stores (Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, Le Bon Marché) combine Black Friday deals with their unveiling Christmas windows, making the Friday after Thanksgiving a genuinely fun shopping day. Online, French e-commerce goes all-in. The sales traditionally stretch across the week, so there is no need for dawn raids — sleep in after Thanksgiving dinner, then browse. It is the gentle French coda to the American holiday: gratitude on Thursday, soldes on Friday.
In Pictures: How to Celebrate Thanksgiving in Paris
Thanksgiving in Paris is an expat art form — tiny kitchens, epic ambition, and a city that couldn't care less about the holiday. Here's how Americans do it in the City of Light.
A charming Parisian apartment table set for Thanksgiving with a roast turkey, French wine, and autumn flowers.
Watch: How to Celebrate Thanksgiving in Paris
Cooking Thanksgiving dinner in a tiny Parisian apartment — the real expat experience, small oven and all.
At a Glance: How to Celebrate Thanksgiving in Paris
Planning essentials for Thanksgiving in Paris.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| 2026 date | Thursday, 26 November — an ordinary weekday in France |
| Cook at home | Parisian ovens are small — consider a turkey breast or crown instead of a whole bird |
| Sourcing | Order turkey from a boucherie in advance; cranberries and pumpkin can be found at expat grocers |
| Dine out | A handful of American-style restaurants serve Thanksgiving menus each November |
| The upside | French wine, cheese, and patisserie make the sides and dessert effortlessly world-class |
