What does it cost to let a Paradise Valley resort cook Thanksgiving this year, and when do you have to decide? Four resort kitchens within a short drive of each other have posted their 2026 numbers, and they don't line up. A sit-down Thanksgiving runs from $135 to $189 per adult, and the one to-go meal comes in at $84. Children's pricing follows different rules from place to place. The first deadline of the season falls two days before the holiday, and the only one of these nights that doesn't sell a seat comes in early December.
For anyone who uses Lincoln Drive's resorts as an extension of their own dining room, the date that matters most is usually the day you have to book.
Thanksgiving, priced side by side
Here's what each resort has posted for Thursday, Nov. 26.
| Where | Format | Adult | Child | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LON's at The Hermosa Inn | Three-course prix fixe | $135++ | $35++ | Noon to 8 p.m. |
| Hearth '61 at Mountain Shadows | Turkey Day Feast, choose-one courses | $159 plus tax and gratuity | $35, ages 12 and under | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Hearth '61 to-go | Meal for pickup | $84 | $42, ages 12 and under | Pickup 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Elements at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain | Coursed dinner | $175 plus tax and gratuity | $55, ages 12 and under | Seatings 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
| Rita's Cantina at JW Marriott Camelback Inn | Brunch with carving stations | $189 | $79, ages 3 to 12 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
Run the numbers for a table of two adults and two kids under 12 and the spread gets wide. At LON's at The Hermosa Inn, that table comes to $340 before tax and gratuity. At Hearth '61 it's $388, and at Elements it's $460. Rita's Cantina's listed admission works out to $536, though that price also covers bottomless mimosas, live entertainment and family activities, according to the Experience Scottsdale listing. Children 2 and under eat free there.
Rita's Cantina wraps up at 2 p.m., so your evening stays free. LON's and Hearth '61 serve until 8 p.m., and Sanctuary seats from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., which leaves room for a late-afternoon table after a morning hike or a game. Mountain Shadows also serves a shorter breakfast from 7 to 10:30 a.m. and a lounge menu from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. for anyone who wants the patio without the full meal.
Sanctuary opens with a potato croquette amuse topped with manchego, romesco and smoked trout roe, served before the first course. At Hearth '61, the turkey plate is one option on a choose-one menu next to a braised short rib, a Prime New York strip and an herbed ricotta agnolotti. That's useful at a table where not everyone wants turkey.
El Chorro has listed a three-course Thanksgiving dinner for Nov. 26 on its OpenTable page. That listing says menu and pricing details are still to be announced.
The first real deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 24
Every dine-in table above takes reservations. The one hard cutoff belongs to the cheapest option. Mountain Shadows' Thanksgiving to-go meal has to be ordered by 5 p.m. on Nov. 24, and you pick it up curbside or at the Hearth '61 bar between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.
At $84 per adult, the to-go meal costs a little over half the $159 dine-in feast from the same kitchen. Each serving includes a half pound of slow-roasted Two Wash Ranch turkey with white and dark meat, a half pound each of chorizo cornbread stuffing and Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, plus country gravy, orange cranberry relish, buttered green beans and two Parker House rolls. Pies are extra, at $38 for pumpkin with orange chantilly cream and $50 for butterscotch pecan.
The dine-in side has its own rules. Hearth '61 takes a $25-per-person deposit, refundable if you cancel within the 48-hour window on its booking terms. Parties larger than four book by phone at 480-624-5458. Groups of 20 or more can book a private Thanksgiving dinner in one of the resort's indoor or outdoor spaces. Rita's Cantina also asks parties over six to call rather than book online.
November's smaller tables fill before Thanksgiving does
The weeks before the holiday hold the season's most limited seats, and three of them fall in one five-day stretch.
On Wednesday, Nov. 11, Sanctuary hosts a Cigar & Tequila Dinner on its Paradise Views Patio. The reception starts at 6:30 p.m. and dinner at 7, for $250 per person plus tax and gratuity.
The next night, Thursday, Nov. 12, JW Marriott Camelback Inn holds its Spanish Sunset Experience from 6 to 8 p.m. It's $125 per person before tax and service, ages 21 and up.
Sunday, Nov. 15 brings the smallest guest list of the season. The Hermosa Inn's Long Table at Casa Hermosa seats 40 guests at two long tables in the garden of the house cowboy artist Lon Megargee built in the 1930s. Bob Boze Bell, executive editor of True West Magazine, tells Old West stories between the four courses of Executive Chef Brian Peterson's harvest dinner, with live acoustic guitar in the background. Guests arrive at 6 p.m. and dinner starts at 6:30. The $195 price includes wine, cocktails and mocktails, plus tax and gratuity.
Forty seats for one night is a different booking problem than an all-day Thanksgiving service. LON's runs Thanksgiving for eight straight hours, while the Long Table has two tables and one start time.
December has one open-door evening
Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia holds the one complimentary, open-to-the-public event on these resort calendars. "Omni Lights Up the Holidays" lights the tree in Cortijo Plaza on Friday, Dec. 4, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., with a live drumline, Santa photos, s'mores, cookie decorating and hot cocoa, according to Omni's holiday page.
Everything else in December asks for a reservation, a ticket or both. In date order:
- Nov. 28 to Jan. 3. Blitzen's, Omni's over-the-top Christmas bar, takes over Centro Bar at Montelucia.
- Wednesday, Dec. 9, 3 p.m. Sanctuary's Holiday Martini Making Class at Elements, $100 per person, 21 and up.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Breakfast with Santa at Prado, a buffet with cookie decorating and a family photo with Santa. Reservations required.
- Sunday, Dec. 20, 3 to 4:30 p.m. Spanish guitarist Esteban plays a Christmas matinee in the Hermosa Inn garden, with light tapas and wine, for $175 per person including tax and gratuity. Dinner at LON's or a drink in The Last Drop can be booked before or after.
- Thursday, Dec. 24. Christmas Eve dinner at LON's, 4 to 8 p.m., three courses for $135++ with kids at $35++. Prado at Montelucia serves dinner from its regular menu, 4 to 9 p.m., reservations required.
- Friday, Dec. 25. Christmas Day at Elements at Sanctuary, seatings 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., $185 per person or $65 for kids 12 and under. LON's serves noon to 8 p.m. at its Christmas Eve prices. Prado hosts a buffet brunch from 7 a.m. to noon.
- Thursday, Dec. 31. New Year's Eve at Elements, seatings 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., $185 per person. At Montelucia, a five-course prix fixe at Prado with two seating options, live music at Mbar and a midnight champagne toast, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
El Chorro has also listed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners on its OpenTable page, with menus and prices expected in November. LON's notes that patio seating isn't guaranteed for either Christmas dinner, so if you want to sit outside, ask when you book.
Christmas pricing settles into a familiar range. LON's keeps its Thanksgiving price of $135++ through both Christmas dinners. Sanctuary goes from $175 at Thanksgiving to $185 for Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. The Hermosa Inn's two ticketed garden events land near each other on paper, at $195 for the Long Table and $175 for the Esteban concert, but the concert price already includes tax and gratuity and the dinner price doesn't.
The resort calendars and the neighborhood market run on the same timing in Paradise Valley. If the holiday season has you thinking about your own home and what it's worth heading into 2027, The Taege Team can put real numbers behind that question before the first reservation deadline on Nov. 24. Request a free home valuation, and we'll take it from there.