Alright, so Thanksgiving is coming up, and like every year, the pressure’s on to deliver a killer dinner. This year, I decided to ditch the DIY stress and see what the local stores were offering. Landed on checking out Lunds & Byerlys – heard some good things, figured I’d give their Thanksgiving dinners a shot.
First thing I did was hop online and check out their website. It was pretty straightforward, showed all the different meal options they had. They had everything from the whole shebang – turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, the works – to smaller, simpler options if you’re just feeding a few people. I was feeding a crowd this year, so I went for one of their larger packages. I think it was called the “Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner” or something like that.
Next up, ordering. This was super easy. Just selected the meal, chose a pickup date and time, and paid online. They give you a confirmation email, so you know everything’s good to go. The whole process took maybe 10 minutes. Big win right there – saved me hours of shopping and prepping.
Then came the pickup. I drove to my local Lunds & Byerlys at the time I had selected. There was a specific area for Thanksgiving dinner pickups, which was well-organized and efficient. Showed my confirmation email, and they brought out my order in like two minutes. Everything was packaged up nicely, with clear instructions on how to heat everything up.
Now, the moment of truth – the eating. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. The turkey was moist and flavorful, not dry like you sometimes get with pre-made meals. The stuffing was good, maybe a little on the sweet side for my taste, but still solid. Mashed potatoes were creamy, and the gravy was decent. Overall, everything was pretty darn good. I heated everything up according to the instructions, and it all came out perfectly.
Clean up was a breeze, which is always a huge bonus. No mountains of dishes to wash, no endless scrubbing of pots and pans. Just tossed the disposable containers, and I was done.
- The Good: Super convenient, saved a ton of time and effort, food was surprisingly good.
- The Not-So-Good: It’s not exactly cheap. You’re paying for the convenience, so it’s definitely more expensive than making everything from scratch.
Would I do it again? Yeah, probably. For a busy Thanksgiving, when you just want to enjoy the day with family and friends, Lunds & Byerlys Thanksgiving dinners are a solid option. It’s not going to be exactly like Grandma’s cooking, but it’s a heck of a lot easier.
