At Mike's City Diner in Boston, it's Thanksgiving year-round. Customers stand in line for The Pilgrim sandwich, a roll piled high with roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy — all of which are made in-house. Chef and owner Jay Hajj says he goes through 600 pounds of turkey every week to meet demand. His secret to juicier turkey is roasting the bird sitting up in the oven.

Before this potato is stuffed and crisped, it's mashed and fried. The side dish has become a customer favorite at New York City's Rotisserie Georgette, where chefs use a traditional French rotisserie oven to cook poultry and fish. But what makes this potato dish so special — and extra rich and creamy — is lots of melted butter, milk, French Gruyère cheese and an egg yolk.

If you're the person who can't go without pie on Thanksgiving Day, then you will definitely want to make a stop at Akasha in Culver City, Calif., where chef-owner Akasha Richmond overs a pie buffet of 160 pies. Her Chocolate Cream Pie is a customer favorite, because it's full of dark chocolate, layered with bananas and spiked with bourbon.

Most people think of mac and cheese as a Thanksgiving side, but at Cheesetique in Arlington, Va., it's the main dish. What makes this recipe so unique is its blend of three cheeses: Gouda made from goat's milk, cacio de Roma made from sheep's milk and Asiago made from cow's milk. The dish features white truffle oil for earthiness and is baked with a topping of breadcrumbs.