Brad Aboud wouldn’t know what to do without a few hundred people to feed on Thanksgiving morning.

After all, when you’re in the food business, you work when people are ready to eat, and there may be no better day for glutinous gorging than Thanksgiving Day.

“Usually, people ask me for a wheelbarrow to get them out to the car,” said Aboud, who owns Aboud’s Catering.

Families who prefer to leave the cooking and cleanup to the pros need only turn to Aboud’s Catering and restaurants like Golden Corral and Coyote Canyon where workers are more than happy to tie on the apron.

The places fill up with families avoiding the mess of cooking and senior citizens with little family nearby. Perhaps a few diners forgot to thaw the turkey or burned the stuffing. Golden Corral can get so packed that the line can wind outside, said associate manager Bill Baker.

“A lot of people with bigger families,” Baker said. “We get bigger groups in. You never know who’s burning up what (at home).”

Aboud’s, which has moved from having a location at Western Hills Golf Course to being catering only, will be serving food at the Arab Shrine Temple. The meal is open to the public. At Western Hills, Aboud said he would serve about 800 people in five hours. Already, he has reservations for about 700 next week.

Aboud said that each year, he revels in complements that the buffet style meal is better than any Thanksgiving meal patrons have had before. This year, he’ll have all the traditional trappings of a Thanksgiving feast that grandma might make, including roast turkey, baked ham mashed potatoes, gravy, salads, cakes and pie. He’ll also have lots of extra perks like prime rib, cinnamon rolls, and biscuits and gravy.

“Nobody goes away hungry, unless it’s their own fault,” he said.

Here’s a peak at three Thanksgiving Day dining options:

ABOUD’S
Location: Arab Shrine Temple, 1305 Kansas Ave (open to the public)
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Food: Buffet meal include traditional items like ham, turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie with fancy additions like prime rib and breakfast add-ons like quiche and cinnamon rolls.

Cost: Adults, $15. Children, $8.
Benefit: $2 from each plate benefits the Shriners Hospitals for Children.
Reservations: (785) 478-9290
Online: www.abouds.com

COYOTE CANYON
Location: 1251 S.W. Ashworth Place
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Food: Look for all the traditional Thanksgiving items at the buffet with extras like roast beef, steaks, baked salmon, fried chicken and rotisserie chicken.

Cost: Adults, $10.89. Seniors, $9.89. Children, 55 cents multiplied by the child’s age up to age 12.
Online: http://food.topeka.net/food/coyote-canyon and www.stockadecompanies.com/OurRestaurants/CCHome.

GOLDEN CORRAL
Location: 1601 S.W. Wanamaker
Time: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Food: Round out a traditional Thanksgiving meal with fried and baked chicken.
Cost: Adults, $10.99. Seniors, $9.89. Children 9-12, $4.99. Children 4-8, $3.99.
Online: www.goldencorral.com and http://food.topeka.net/food/golden-corral.