Aside from the Native Americans who invited the Pilgrims to join their harvest celebration, we are all immigrants here. So it makes sense that when we celebrate our American heritage, the food we eat reflects our ethnic and regional backgrounds: Whether we baste our Thanksgiving turkey with soy sauce, cover the skin with olive oil, or slather it with butter says something about where our ancestors came from.

And it follows that New York chefs will be offering a melting pot of choices – for dining in and taking out – on Thanksgiving. Aside from the Native Americans who invited the Pilgrims to join their harvest celebration, we are all immigrants here. So it makes sense that when we celebrate our American heritage, the food we eat reflects our ethnic and regional backgrounds: Whether we baste our Thanksgiving turkey with soy sauce, cover the skin with olive oil, or slather it with butter says something about where our ancestors came from. And it follows that New York chefs will be offering a melting pot of choices – for dining in and taking out – on Thanksgiving.

Chef Bobby Flay of Mesa Grill splits his time on Thanksgiving: “I spend half of the day with my restaurant family and the other half with my actual family. The majority of my staff at Mesa Grill has been with me for about 10 years. I spend more time with them than I do my own family throughout the year so it would seem strange for me not to spend part of the day with them on Thanksgiving,” he said in an e-mail interview.

Mr. Flay “sticks to the classics” for a holiday “that is all about tradition,” but gives his creations a Southwestern flair at Mesa Grill (102 Fifth Ave., between 15th and 16th streets, 212-924-3076), where he serves a three-course prix-fixe Thanksgiving dinner ($65 a person). “My turkey is stuffed with blue cornbread. My sweet potato gratin and gravy for the turkey are flavored with smoky chipotles. Serrano chiles add a little heat to my cranberry relish,” he said. Other choices at the Thanksgiving dinner include appetizers such as pumpkin soup with pomegranate pecan relish or cornmeal-crusted oysters, and entrees such as roasted venison with cranberry-ancho chile sauce with sweet pota to gratin or hot smoked salmon and smoked yellow pepper grits with crawfish and spinach.

Chef David Burke is used to working on the holiday, too. He loves it because “people really look forward to eating on Thanksgiving,” he said. The staff and their families at david burke & donatella (133 E. 61st St., between Park and Lexington avenues, 212-813-2121) are treated to a big spread after the dinner service on Thanksgiving. But earlier in the evening you can indulge in Mr. Burke’s food, which is so creative that it sometimes seems to have come from another planet. Choices on the three-course, $70 prix-fixe menu ($45 for those aged 12 and under) include appetizers such as sweet-corn-and-scallop chowder or warm oysters with lobster and black truffle “giblet” gravy (the giblets are bits of lobster), and entrees such as roasted turkey brined in seaweed and served with cornbread sausage stuffing or wild salmon with braised short rib lasagna. Desserts include pumpkin creme brulee and warm apple tart. One disadvantage to eating in a restaurant on Thanksgiving is that you don’t get to see the whole bird. Mr. Burke has a solution: He sends out a decoy – a whole roasted bird that’s just for show.

Kalustyan’s Cafe (115 Lexington Ave., at 28th St., 212-686-5400) will be closed on Thanksgiving Day itself, but on the two days beforehand (November 23 and 24), chef Mohan Ismail will be serving Indian and Southeast Asian-flavored turkey stuffed with Medjool dates, plus two side dishes for $19 a person. (Nonturkey enthusiasts can opt instead for lemon thyme-rosemary lamb.) Intriguing side dishes include green-tomato succotash, roasted cauliflower spiced up with coconut relish, or roasted large and baby turnips with pumpkin in a chunky casserole, topped with crispy fried shallots. If you’d like to add some of this spice to your Thanksgiving table, you can order the side dishes ($7 a pint; $12 a quart) from now until November 24, if you order at least 24 hours in advance.

Virgil’s Real BBQ (152 West 44th St., between Broadway and Sixth avenues, 212-921-9494) also offers Thanksgiving staples to go. For a Southern Thanksgiving, order a smoked turkey with cornbread stuffing ($79 for a 16-18 pound turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce), sides such as creole green beans or sweet potatoes with marshmallows ($4.95 a pint; $6.95 a quart), and a holiday pie ($21.95-$24.95).

For a Chinese-American holiday filtered through the haute sensibilities of Jean-Georges Vongerichten, head to 66 (241 Church St., 212-925-0202) for a 12-dish, $66 tasting menu designed for sharing that riffs on seasonal ingredients. Chestnut soup is augmented with Chinese sausage; roasted pumpkin makes an appearance in dumplings; and Peking duck plays the part of the starring bird. Other dishes include lobster soup dumplings, Chinese long beans, steamed cod, sirloin with garlic and soy, and vegetable fried rice.

Greek-American Thanksgiving at Molyvos (871 Seventh Ave., between 55th and 56th streets, 212-582-7500) includes a traditional lemon-broth soup with egg and tiny meat balls or wild green ravioli with walnut pesto and mizithra, a fresh, ricotta like Greek cheese, reflecting executive chef Jim Botsacos’s Greek heritage. These are followed by a slow-roasted turkey with chestnut and sausage stuffing (prix-fixe $42 a person, served from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.).

Mr. Botsacos is part-Italian, too, so Molyvos’s just-opened sibling restaurant, Abboccato (136 W. 55 St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-265-4000), presents “La Festa Del Ringraziamento,” a Thanksgiving feast featuring traditional American ingredients prepared according to techniques from various regions of Italy: half-moon pasta filled with pumpkin and petto di tacchino alla Bolognese, sauteed breast of turkey with prosciutto di Parma, and spaghetti squash (prix-fixe $55 a person; $90 paired with wines, served from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.; a la carte and regular menus are also available at both restaurants).

Chef Andy D’Amico makes turkey Mediterranean-style at Marseille (630 Ninth Ave., at 44th St., 212-333-3410), interpreting bouillabaisse with turkey, sweet potatoes, and swiss chard, finished with a poached egg, but using the predominant Marseillaise flavors of leek, fennel, orange peel, pastis, saffron, and tomato in the all-important stock. Other choices on the special Thanksgiving a la carte menu include creamy polenta with Roquefort cheese and grilled baby artichokes and pumpkin ravioli with chanterelles. The Thanksgiving prix fixe ($29.50 a person) includes a choice of soupe de poisson or blue Hubbard squash soup; frisee salad; roast turkey breast with dried fruit and sausage bread pudding; Brussels sprouts; parsnip puree; cranberry chutney; and pumpkin tart or quince cranberry semolina pudding for dessert.

At Counter (105 First Ave., between Sixth and Seventh streets, 212-982-5870), the Thanksgiving menu is Mediterranean-flavored, too, and the wine list is global, but you won’t find any turkey. A vegetarian restaurant and wine bar, Counter celebrates the harvest with a meat-free menu and no apologies. “We use sustainable and organic ingredients to give thanks to the earth, to support farmers and growers that are not mass-marketed or genetically modified and don’t contribute to the destruction of our planet,” said co owner Deborah Gavito. The $50 a person menu ($75 with wine) begins with a “seasonal harvest sampler” that includes pickled lotus root and baby Brussels sprouts; crispy roast figs with ricotta, smoked eggplant caviar, and cauliflower; and roasted apple bisque. The centerpiece of chef Scott Barton’s menu is troffie pasta, handmade from chestnut flour and served with deep, rich black trumpet mushrooms, roasted chestnuts, and pine nut Parmesan (seatings at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.).