Most restaurants that sell a Thanksgiving turkey are doing something once a year. Full Moon Bar-B-Que is not: hickory-smoked turkey is a $16.99 plate on the regular menu and turkey goes on salads for $11.99 every day of the year. That is the reason to hand this job to an Alabama pork house — the kitchen has been smoking turkey since long before November.
The short version
- Expect restaurants to be closed on Thanksgiving Day itself and to collect pre-orders in the days before, typically Tuesday or Wednesday.
- Order two to three weeks ahead. Smoker capacity is fixed and holiday slots fill.
- Holiday turkey pricing and formats are set restaurant by restaurant — Full Moon runs about thirty stores individually, so call yours rather than trusting a chain-wide number.
- The everyday reference point is the Hickory-Smoked Turkey plate at $16.99.
Why outsource the turkey
Turkey breast is lean, which makes it the easiest large cut to ruin and the hardest to keep moist. It also occupies your oven for four hours on the one day you need that oven for eight other things. Handing the bird to a kitchen that runs a hickory smoker all year and cooking the sides yourself is, for most households, the sensible division of labor.
Smoked turkey also arrives with real smoke and a proper crust, which is a different dish from roast turkey — and a table that has eaten roast turkey for thirty consecutive years notices immediately.
How much to order
| Guests | Sliced turkey | Sides |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 lb | 3–4 Trimmings |
| 6 | 3 lb | 5–6 Trimmings |
| 8 | 4 lb | 6–8 Trimmings |
| 12 | 6 lb | 10–12 Trimmings |
| 20 | 10 lb | Order sides by the pan — ask the restaurant |
The rule is half a pound of sliced turkey per adult when turkey is the centerpiece. That is more generous than the third of a pound used for a mixed barbecue spread, because at Thanksgiving people go back for seconds and everyone expects leftovers.
What else to put on the table
Full Moon's everyday menu covers a Thanksgiving table better than most barbecue chains, because the Southern sides are already there.
- Trimmings ($3.99). The standard side portion and the building block of the order. Ask which of the day's vegetables are meat-free if anyone at the table needs to know — greens and beans in a Southern kitchen are frequently cooked with pork.
- Chow chow. The pickled cabbage-and-pepper relish is the sleeper addition. Put a bowl on the table next to the turkey; it does what cranberry sauce does, only better, and it is unmistakably Alabama.
- Brunswick Stew ($3.89 a cup). A thick tomato-based stew with corn, lima beans and smoked meat. Order several cups as a starter while the table assembles.
- Fried Green Tomatoes ($8.69 large). Only if you are driving straight home — the crust does not survive an hour.
- Half Moon Cookies. Free with meals; on a large collection order, ask whether the restaurant will include a stack. The children's table is solved.
The timeline
- Three weeks out: call your restaurant and ask whether it is taking holiday turkey orders, what sizes it offers and what it charges. This is a local answer.
- Two weeks out: place the order and get the collection day and time confirmed, not implied.
- Collection day, usually Tuesday or Wednesday: pick up and refrigerate immediately. Kitchens open at 10:30 and the pre-holiday rush is severe — collect early.
- Thanksgiving morning: reheat, carve, serve.
Restaurant opening times around the holiday are covered on the Full Moon hours page, and they are set locally, so confirm rather than assume.
Reheating smoked turkey without ruining it
This is where a good pre-order gets wasted. The turkey is already cooked. You are warming it, not cooking it.
- Ask for it unsliced when you order. A whole piece holds moisture dramatically better and takes two minutes to carve at the table.
- Wrap in foil with a splash of stock and warm at 275°F for 25 to 30 minutes for a three-pound piece.
- Never microwave sliced smoked turkey. It goes grey and rubbery in under a minute.
- Leftovers: chopped into a sandwich with chow chow, or over greens the way the Turkey On A Salad ($11.99) does it.
If turkey is not the direction you want to go, the same call books pork or ribs instead — the catering breakdown prices a group order at about $10.98 a head, and everything referenced here is on the Full Moon Bar-B-Que menu.