It’s all hands on deck for two local restaurants as they prepare thousands of Thanksgiving orders for residents across Owensboro and Daviess County. Old Hickory and Moonlite say the days leading up to Thanksgiving are some of their busiest days of the year.
Both barbeque restaurants custom cook hams and turkeys for customers who bring in meat purchased from other places.
“Since 9 a.m. today, we’ve already taken in over 300 pieces of meat,” Old Hickory Manager Keith Cook said Monday. “We’ll probably take in over 500 to 600 hams and turkeys before Thanksgiving.”
Monday was the deadline for customers to bring their hams and turkeys to Old Hickory for custom cooking and Cook said 699 pieces of meat were brought to the store since last Friday.
At Moonlite, Corporate Vice President Pat Bosley said the restaurant will custom cook about 500 turkeys and 100-200 hams for their customers. Around 500 Moonlite-based hams and turkeys have been ordered so far, Bosley said.
“The cutoff for custom cooking was Nov. 23, but people are still bringing in custom cooking orders,” he said. “I haven’t turned anyone away yet.”
Both restaurants don’t have totals for the number of sides that have been ordered from their establishments because they are still taking orders. However, Cook and Bosley predict they will sell thousands of pounds of green beans, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and dressing, which are what both restaurants say are their most popular side dishes sold during Thanksgiving.
“It’s all hands on deck — we always say, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to do it,’ but we always get it done,” Bosley said. “The pit times and pit space are always logistical issues we deal with as we custom cook meats and then cook our own at the same time. There are a lot of late nights in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, and Wednesday is the big day.”
Bosley said the number of custom cooking orders feels higher this year than in years’ past, and said that’s a telltale sign that fewer people are cooking at home these days.
“We charge $11 to custom cook hams and turkeys,” Bosley said. “On Wednesday, you can walk in and order ham and turkey by the pound or in full, but custom cooking is really over at this point.”
Bosley said sides can still be ordered up until Wednesday, but the restaurant will be closed Thursday so employees can celebrate Thanksgiving with their families.
Cook said the same thing for Old Hickory. The store will be closed Thursday and the deadline for custom-cooked meat orders ended Monday. The store will continue to sell turkeys, hams and sides through Wednesday.
“We’ve got hundreds and hundreds of pounds of sides going out every day,” Cook said. “Customers can actually come in and order meat and sides they need, or they can order ahead of time.”
