As Thanksgiving approaches each year, foodie articles begin to pop up bemoaning the so-called flavorless turkey accompanied by starchy and sweet dull sides. We cry Scrooge (or whoever the embodiment of Thanksgiving humbuggery is)! We love the sides and we adore the flavor of the bird — and make no mistake about it, turkey HAS flavor, although it may take an unjaded palate to appreciate it. Label us unjaded, because we don’t limit our turkey feasting to the fourth Thursday of November. And neither, apparently, does Larry Olmsted, as evidenced by his survey, for USA Today, of eateries across America that do right by the bird all year round.

One of the keys to a good Hot Brown is real roast turkey, not deli slices.

One of the keys to a good Hot Brown is real roast turkey, not deli slices. This is how it is served at the place that invented the dish, Louisville’s Brown Hotel.

From Hart’s Turkey Farm in Meredith, New Hampshire, where you can enjoy turkey in ways you’ve probably never imagined, through Capriotti’s sandwich shops, which began in Delaware but can now be found across America — don’t miss the Thanksgiving-on-a-sandwich Bobbie — to the Brown Hotel‘s famous cheese-and-bacon-topped Hot Brown in Louisville, Kentucky, you’ll dine in the company of like-minded turkey-loving compatriots. Have a read!