SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU)– According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, last year the average Thanksgiving meal for a family of 10 cost $64.05. However, the bureau reports the same meal will cost $61.17, a 4.5% decrease from last year. Despite prices being lower, Sioux City businesses are expecting to see more people going out to eat this year.

For the past several years, Hy-Vee has given Sioux City families the opportunity for their employees to cook up a Thanksgiving meal. Dale Mitchell, the Sioux City Hy-Vee district store director, says he’s already seeing many orders for next Thursday.

“I’ve been with Hy-Vee for 25 years, but we’ve seen an increase in the amount of meals that are ordered specifically over the last few years,” Mitchell said. “I would say all the stores are doing into the hundreds, so as a market we’ve got hundreds of families that we’re feeding.”

However, Hy-Vee is only one of many places in Sioux City hoping to cater to families during the holiday. The Woodbury Steakhouse at The Warrior Hotel will be hosting a buffet for more than 200 people.

“During COVID we did a Thanksgiving-to-go, so people could order an entire Thanksgiving meal from us and take it home,” Andrew Roberts, director of the hotel’s rooftop bar, said. “Last year we did like a little lunch, like a Thanksgiving lunch, but this will be our first year actually going for the Thanksgiving dinner. We had a lot of people come out for the lunch as well, but Thanksgiving dinner is the big one.”

According to Butterball.com, depending on the size of the turkey it can take anywhere between 2 to 5 hours to cook when thawed.

“Take the hassle out of a lot of the prep and work for the holiday season,” Mitchell said.

“I spend most of my time at work with all of my coworkers, all my employees,” Roberts said, “and a lot of them are here working that day with me, and they’re choosing to spend their time with me as well. So we’ll all be celebrating Thanksgiving together, it’s kind of our work family, and we’re here to take care of you all.”

If a family is planning on cooking the traditional meal at home, Mitchell recommends they gather the elements for their feast as soon as possible.