Num Pang just expanded its Cambodian sandwich empire to the Financial District, opening at 75 Broad St. with an exclusive new menu addition. The Thanksgiving-inspired Hoisin BBQ Pulled Turkey Pang ($8.50) has shredded slow-roasted turkey with housemade spicy hoisin barbecue sauce, topped with ginger-pickled cranberries, spicy mayo and the Cambodian version of pico de gallo: cucumber, cilantro and pickled carrots. The Chicken Gobbler ($8.50) at Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken is worth breaking with tradition because it gets everything else right. The special sandwich, new this year, has matzo-coated fried chicken (of course, since these days it’s fry it or don’t bother showing up) with every Thanksgiving side dish piled on top in layers of stuffing, mashed potatoes, housemade gravy and cranberry sauce. You don’t need to be cracked to enjoy the Quacked Up Turkey Burger at Wayback Burgers. The bird patty is spiked with jalapeno, then topped with broccoli slaw, duck bacon, cranberry ketchup and sweet potato fries, served on a potato chip bun. Wash it down with a Pumpkin Butterscotch Milkshake, which literally puts a slice of pumpkin pie in a glass.
Momofuku Milk Bar usually has a monopoly on the sweet side of the baking world, but Thanksgiving inspires the best in us all. For its holiday treat, Milk Bar rolls up and bakes the holiday into a croissant, made with stuffing-flavored dough (it’s the celery salt) and filled with dark and light meat turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce. Dig Inn’s holiday sandwich special only lasts through Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving, so get on it. Braised turkey with sage stuffing is piled on a grilled sourdough bun, topped with vegetable gravy and cranberry sauce, piled on a grilled sourdough bun. Also onboard is the restaurant’s staple Brussels sprouts made with orange peel confit for a citrus kick that makes us want to try grating some into the stuffing next week. Pret a Mangermay be a British company, but they’re not above getting in on American holidays. The company’s Christmas Lunch is well known in the U.K., and it arrives stateside this year as the Holiday Lunch ($7.99), a sandwich of roasted turkey, pork sausage, pancetta and apricot stuffing, cranberry sauce, crispy onions and fresh spinach on nine-grain bread. Unique on this list is a hot item, the Holiday Turkey Dinner Hot Wrap, which has all of the above ingredients plus roasted butternut squash, wrapped up in a flour tortilla.
Two beer halls, one hangover-killing sandwich. Sop up the suds atWest End HallandClinton Hallwith their turkey burger ($20, including a flight of four beers), a ground turkey patty dipped in hot brown gravy, then topped with jalapeno cheddar cheese stuffing and housemade orange cranberry sauce, sandwiched between tater tots that have been pressed into a waffle bun shape. The East Village’s new Venezuelan fast-casual spotArepa Factoryalready makes its arepas with unusual ingredients, but they’ve outdone themselves with the Thanksgiving Arepa ($12.95). A sweet potato-corn flour pocket gets a filling of turkey and stuffing, drizzled with gravy and cranberry sauce. They will be closed for the holiday, but the sandwich is available through Nov. 30. Mexican mini-chainBlockheadsups the festive ante with a Thanksgiving-themed cranberry-agave margarita to go with its specials for the holiday: the Turkey Picadillo Tacos with spicy bird, cranberry-corn salsa, goat cheese and rice and beans folded up in a soft flour tortilla.
