That's right: It's Thanksgiving — that is, unless you're secretly Canadian. While Americans celebrate the bounty of autumn on the fourth Thursday of November, Canada observes Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October, a date known as Columbus Day — or if you prefer, Indigenous Peoples' Day — down south.

Whatever your passport says, both holidays are borne of the idea that at some point way back when, a mixed bunch of natives and honkies with funny hats sat down to eat some bird and watch football in peace. Canadians, of course, will point out that their inaugural Thanksgiving took place first: in 1578, when Martin Frobisher gave thanks for discovering land (Newfoundland), though he was actually searching for a Northwest Passage to Asia.

American Thanksgiving can be traced to a couple of different meals, including a feast held by the Wampanoag and the Pilgrim Fathers in 1621, as well as a "Praise be!" happening when 38 British religious wackos got off the boat in Virginia in 1619. But what was probably the first first Thanksgiving in North America was actually neither Canadian nor American: In 1541, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado held a Thanksgiving feast with Teya natives in what is now Texas.

In any case, both American and Canadian Thanksgivings have influenced each other over the centuries, finally ending up as similar cornucopia-turkey-and-pumpkin-flavored festivals in different months. If you're American, Thursday, Nov. 24, is the time to give thanks. If you're Canadian, now's a chance to have a second helping.

Where to go for thankgiving dinner

Allegro

Veleslavínova 2a

(inside the Four Seasons hotel)

Prague 1–Old Town

Tel. 221 427 000

For Thanksgiving, chef Vito Mollica blends the New World and the Continental in a menu of warm goat cheese on young spinach, lobster chowder with Jerusalem artichoke and fresh figs, pumpkin agnolotti with amaretti duck ragout and foie gras sauce, roast turkey with herb stuffing and mascarpone cheesecake with cinnamon ice cream or quince tortino with pecan ice cream for dessert. Four courses 1,950 Kč ($78); five courses 2,250 Kč.

Buffalo Bill's

Vodičkova 9

Prague 1–New Town

Tel. 224 948 624

You can practically taste the prairie: The city's Wild West bar-a-gril serves up roast turkey with sage dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry relish, carrots lyonnaise, peas, strawberry gelatin with pecan and pumpkin pies for dessert. Noon–11:30 p.m. 349 Kč.

Culinaria

Skořepka 9

Prague 1–Old Town

Tel. 224 231 017

Call it Turkey Weekend: This gourmet traiteur sells takeaway specials from Nov. 24–26, including deviled eggs, cranberry brie bites, pumpkin soup, clam chowder, walnut salad, maple pecan carrot salad, arugula salad with cranberry vinaigrette, green salad with pomegranates and almonds, roast turkey, wild rice with hazelnuts, bacon and chestnut stuffing, glazed carrots, two kinds of mashed potatoes and chocolate pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie for dessert. Prices are a la carte.

Jama

V Jámě 7

(off Vodičkova)

Prague 1–New Town

Tel. 224 222 383

From 3–9 p.m. this roguish New Town pub puts on a clean white shirt and finally acts like a gentleman in front of the grown-ups. The spread includes creamy clam chowder, white and dark turkey cuts, almond stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and chicken gravy with a cinnamon pumpkin pie for dessert. 350 Kč.

Red Hot & Blues

Jakubská 12

(behind Kotva)

Prague 1–Old Town

Tel 222 314 639, 222 323 364

This Old Town juke joint brings it all home with roast turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, cornbread, apple dressing, sweet potatoes, honeyed carrots, creamed corn, green beans and more with pumpkin, mincemeat, apple or — yes, please! — pecan pie for dessert. The price for adults is 475 Kč; a children's plate costs 275 Kč. Seatings at 2, 5 and 8 p.m.

TGI Friday's

Na Příkopě 27

Prague 1–Old Town

Tel. 221 967 228

Faded old signs, camp advertising posters, crazy hats and button-clad servers prepare you for an unusual menu: turkey breast roulade stuffed with chestnut filling, deep fried potato wedges, boiled broccoli and a red-wine demi-glace, served up on the Na Příkopě shopping strip for 295 Kč.

V Zátiší

Liliová 1

Prague 1–Old Town

Tel. 222 221 155