Where does a Monarch Beach household eat Thanksgiving dinner if nobody wants to cook, and the resort at the center of the neighborhood has already planned its own holiday?
This year, the answer mostly isn't at that resort. Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach has four sit-down Thanksgiving services across three dining rooms on Thursday, November 26, 2026. Each one carries the same line in italics: available for resort guests and members. For a resident who belongs to neither group, the holiday comes down to timing. When can you pick up a meal, how long does it take to reheat, and which nearby restaurants open their reservation books to everyone.
Three weeks out, those windows are still open. Here is how they fit together.
Three Dining Rooms, One Phone Number
The Waldorf has put real effort into the day, which makes the access limits easy to miss. All four services take reservations through the same number, 949-234-3900, and all four say the same thing about who can book.
| Venue | Thanksgiving offering | Hours | Price per adult | Who can book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVEO Table + Bar | Brunch buffet | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | $180, $75 per child ages 3 to 12 | Resort guests and members |
| AVEO Table + Bar | Dinner menu plus Thanksgiving feature | 5 to 9 p.m. | Regular dinner menu pricing | Resort guests and members |
| Monarch Bay Beach Club | Three-course prix fixe | 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. | $85, $45 per child 12 and under | Resort guests and members |
| Bourbon Steak | Three-course prix fixe | 5 to 8:30 p.m. | $200, $95 per child 12 and under | Resort guests and members |
The Beach Club has a narrower rule than the rest of the list. Its page says the club is for members and overnight resort guests only all year, not just on the holiday, and reservations open seven days in advance. So the Bourbon Steak entry is the one to read closely. The restaurant books other November evenings through the Waldorf's public experiences page, and it still holds Thanksgiving night for guests and members.
The One Waldorf Meal That Leaves the Property
What the Waldorf does offer the wider community is a meal you carry home. Thanksgiving To-Go is a complete holiday dinner from the resort's culinary team: seasonal soup, roasted turkey, stuffing, vegetables and individual pies. You pick it up from Part & Parcel, just off the Main Lobby.
According to the Visit Dana Point listing, the details are:
- Price: $480 per meal, serving four
- Pickup dates: Wednesday, November 25, or Thursday, November 26
- Pickup window: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Cancellation: full refund up to seven days before pickup, 50 percent refunded four to six days out, and no refund within 72 hours
That works out to $120 per person. That's less than AVEO's brunch at $180 and Bourbon Steak's dinner at $200, and you eat it at your own table. The cancellation schedule matters more than the price. If your guest list is still settling, the full-refund deadline for a Thanksgiving Day pickup falls on Thursday, November 19, a week before the holiday.
Pickup also sets the shape of the day. A Thursday window of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. means someone is driving to the resort around midday, so an evening meal means reheating at home in the afternoon. A Wednesday pickup frees up Thursday morning.
Next Door, the Ritz Takes OpenTable
Just up the bluff from Niguel Shores and the Strand, The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel is running two Thanksgiving services on November 26, 2026. Both are booked through OpenTable from the resort's event pages.
- A Thanksgiving Brunch Buffet from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., which the resort describes as a spread of seasonal favorites
- A three-course Thanksgiving dinner at RAYA from 4 to 7:30 p.m.
Neither page posts a price, and neither says anything about guest-only seating, so ask about both when you book. The resort's event calendar doesn't list a Thanksgiving to-go option this year, so the Ritz is a sit-down choice only.
The RAYA dinner ends at 7:30 p.m., an hour earlier than Bourbon Steak's last seating across the way. Holiday dinner on this stretch of coast runs early.
Monarch Bay Plaza Fills in the Rest
The neighborhood's own shopping center, Monarch Bay Plaza, covers both a public table and a home-cooked meal.
Salt Creek Grille is taking Thanksgiving reservations from 2 to 7 p.m. on November 26, 2026. Its event page lists herb-roasted turkey with the trimmings, slow-roasted prime rib and Chilean sea bass, and calls the meal family-friendly. It is the only sit-down Thanksgiving inside Monarch Beach itself with an open reservation book. The menu link on the event page still points to last year's menu, so the full 2026 lineup may change. Salt Creek Grille's event page has current booking.
Gelson's, the plaza's grocery anchor, sells pre-ordered holiday dinners that come refrigerated and need reheating at home. Its Thanksgiving page lists three sizes:
| Gelson's dinner | Turkey | Serves | Price | Approximate reheat time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sliced Turkey Breast Dinner | About 1.25 lbs | 2 | $65 | About 35 minutes |
| Roasted Turkey Dinner | 12 to 15 lbs | Up to 8 | $199 | 2 to 3 hours |
| Jumbo Roasted Turkey Dinner | 18 to 21 lbs | Up to 12 | $299 | 3.5 to 4 hours |
The Roasted Turkey Dinner comes with mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread stuffing, creamed corn, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and dinner rolls. At full capacity, the eight- and twelve-person dinners each come to about $25 per guest, roughly a fifth of the Waldorf To-Go's per-person price. You pay in oven time instead. The page lists pickup from 11/20 through 11/29, and 11/24 is the last day to order. It prints no year next to those dates, so confirm the schedule with the Dana Point store when you order.
The plaza has one more date worth putting on the calendar. Monarch Bay Plaza lists knife sharpening in the parking lot near Gelson's and CVS on Friday, November 20, from noon to 4 p.m. That's the first day of Gelson's pickup window, six days before anyone carves. The plaza notes the date and time could change. Its Gratitude Giveaway, with $12,500 in prizes, is also open through November 30, 2026.
A Thursday Built Backward From the Oven
The morning belongs to the harbor. The 49th Dana Point Turkey Trot runs on Thanksgiving Day at Dana Point Harbor, and its official race schedule leaves a full morning before any midday pickup.
- 7:00 a.m. Turkey Trot 10K
- 8:30 a.m. First 5K wave
- 9:00 a.m. Costume contest at the start line
- 9:30 a.m. Second 5K wave
- 10:00 a.m. Third 5K wave, Walk the Trot
- 10:30 a.m. Kids' 1-Mile Gobble Wobble, ages 2 to 12
- 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. AVEO brunch, for resort guests and members only
- 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Waldorf To-Go pickup at Part & Parcel
- 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Ritz-Carlton brunch buffet
- About 1:00 p.m. A Gelson's Jumbo dinner goes into the oven for a 5 p.m. meal
- 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. Salt Creek Grille reservations
- 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. RAYA Thanksgiving dinner at the Ritz-Carlton
The 5K walkers finish around the time the Waldorf pickup window opens, so one household can do the race and the pickup in the same morning if it plans for it. A family hosting twelve with Gelson's Jumbo dinner has to start reheating while the first Salt Creek Grille seatings are sitting down. The hosts who order the eight-person dinner instead get back a full hour of the afternoon.
The deadlines come before the holiday itself. Thursday, November 19 is the last day to cancel the Waldorf To-Go for a full refund on a Thanksgiving Day pickup. Friday, November 20 brings the knife sharpening at the plaza and the start of Gelson's pickup window. Tuesday, November 24 is the last day to place a Gelson's order. Salt Creek Grille and the Ritz-Carlton are booking now.
If your Thanksgiving this year is in a home where you're thinking about what comes next, Kathy Samuel is happy to talk it over once the dishes are done, quietly and on your schedule. Request a Private Home Valuation whenever the holiday allows.
