The most expensive resort Thanksgiving seat in Paradise Valley this year is also the first one to clear. Rita's Cantina at JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn, 5402 E. Lincoln Drive, charges $189 per adult for its Thanksgiving brunch buffet on Thursday, November 26. The buffet closes at 2 p.m. A few minutes west, Hearth '61 at Mountain Shadows charges $159 and serves until 8 p.m.
Line up this year's posted menus and the gap between the cheapest and most expensive adult price comes to less than $100. The service windows vary more. One table runs four hours, others run eight or nine, and the earliest deadline is for a take-home meal and lands two days before the holiday. For anyone booking close to home, the hour is the first decision and the venue usually follows from it.
Thanksgiving Day, Hour by Hour
Here is how the posted 2026 schedules fall across Thursday, November 26:
- 10 a.m. Rita's Cantina opens its brunch buffet at Camelback Inn.
- 11 a.m. Hearth '61 starts dine-in service, and curbside and bar pickup opens for to-go orders placed ahead of time.
- 11:30 a.m. Seatings begin at elements, Sanctuary Camelback Mountain's restaurant.
- Noon Weft & Warp at Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Bungalows begins its Thanksgiving menu.
- 2 p.m. Rita's Cantina closes its brunch.
- 4 p.m. Hearth '61's to-go pickup window closes.
- 8 p.m. elements, Hearth '61 and Weft & Warp finish service.
Picking a time narrows the field quickly. If you're eating at 3 p.m., Camelback Inn is already off the list. If you're eating after 4, you have three dining rooms to choose from and no resort pickup option. A household that wants a late lunch with the whole family seated by 1 p.m. can choose from all four.
What Each Hour Costs
The posted prices run in a narrow band. What changes from one venue to the next is the format and the length of the window.
| Venue | Format | Hours, Nov. 26 | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rita's Cantina, JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn | Brunch buffet | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | $189 | $79, ages 3 to 12; free for 2 and under |
| elements, Sanctuary Camelback Mountain | Three-course prix fixe | Seatings 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. | $175 | $55, 12 and under |
| Hearth '61, Mountain Shadows | Dine-in holiday menu | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. | $159 | $35, 12 and under |
| Weft & Warp, Andaz Scottsdale | Family-style starters and sides, choice of main and dessert | Noon to 8 p.m. | $95++ per person | No child price listed |
On the adult price, the shortest window carries the highest number. Rita's packs its $189 buffet into four hours, while Hearth '61 spreads a $159 menu across nine. The Camelback Inn event page prices it as a brunch, so a household that eats there has the afternoon and evening free.
The child price moves the comparison more than the adult price does. Take two adults with two children ages 8 and 10. At Hearth '61 the posted prices add up to $388, at elements $460 and at Rita's $536. With a toddler instead of an older child, Camelback Inn gets closer, because children 2 and under eat free at Rita's and Hearth '61's child price covers every age up to 12. Weft & Warp's $95++ is per person, and its Thanksgiving menu page lists no separate child rate. That makes it the lowest posted adult price of the four and a less certain one for a large family.
The formats differ as well. Sanctuary's Thanksgiving page describes a plated three-course prix fixe at elements, opening with a potato croquette amuse. Weft & Warp sets the table family-style with starters and sides, then has each guest choose a main and a dessert. Rita's is the only buffet of the four.
The Deadline That Comes Before the Holiday
Every schedule above runs on Thanksgiving Day. The deadline that matters most falls on the Tuesday before it.
Hearth '61's to-go dinner costs $84 per adult and $42 for children 12 and under. Orders close at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, November 24, and pickup is curbside or at the bar between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. From Thursday, November 5, that leaves 19 days to order. The to-go adult price is a little more than half the dine-in price for the same household, and the pickup window ends four hours before the dining room does.
The deadline also sets an order for the day. A family that picks up at Mountain Shadows by 4 p.m. can serve an early dinner at home. A family that wants to sit down at 6 p.m. somewhere else has to book a dining room, since the corridor's resort pickup option has ended by then.
Dine-in at Hearth '61 also has a step ahead of time. According to the Mountain Shadows Thanksgiving page, reservations take a $25-per-person deposit, which the resort says is refundable if cancelled within 48 hours. For a party of eight, that's $200 committed at the time of booking. The posted pages for elements, Rita's Cantina and Weft & Warp give no takeout option or ordering deadline.
El Chorro, at 5550 E. Lincoln Drive, offers both. Visit Phoenix's Thanksgiving roundup, published October 19, lists El Chorro for November 26 with a dine-in holiday feast and a take-home menu. It gives the price as "Varies" and publishes no hours or order cutoff. If you'd rather have El Chorro's meal at home than Hearth '61's, call the restaurant before November 24 to find out its timing, since its cutoff could fall on any day.
When the Table Is Bigger Than a Reservation
Mountain Shadows extends the holiday past Thursday for one kind of gathering. Hearth '61 runs a private Thanksgiving buffet for groups of at least 20, priced at $159 per adult and $45 for children 12 and under. It's available from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday, November 29.
The adult price matches dine-in, and the child price is $10 higher. What changes is the calendar. A family whose relatives fly in on Friday, or whose gathering is too big for a home kitchen and a single restaurant booking, gets three more days, which none of the other posted menus offer. Of every published option, the private buffet is the only one that still runs on Sunday.
Miralina's holiday page, for comparison, lists seasonal packages but no Thanksgiving dining menu, prices or hours.
Lincoln Drive the Saturday Before
Twelve days before the holiday, Lincoln Drive has an event of its own. The Town's Veterans' Appreciation Vintage Car Show is Saturday, November 14, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Town Hall parking lot at 6401 E. Lincoln Drive, according to the Town of Paradise Valley's announcement. It ends before lunch, which leaves the rest of that Saturday to set Thanksgiving plans while every posted deadline above is still open.
A practical order for the next three weeks: settle the time of the meal, then the format, then the venue. If the plan includes take-home, put the 5 p.m. November 24 cutoff on the calendar now.
At Templeton Walker, we plan Paradise Valley transactions around their deadlines, just as this holiday runs on one. If a holiday visit has relatives asking what it's like to own near Lincoln Drive, or if you're thinking about your own property over the season, Request a Private Consultation and we'll go through the timeline with you.
