Medium Rare restaurant will hold its 17th annual Free Turkey Fry from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, at its Cleveland Park location, 3500 Connecticut Avenue NW, just a few steps from the Red Line’s Cleveland Park metro station.
Known for its affordable steak frites menu, the restaurant started offering its turkey fry service in 2008. It is available for free to anyone who brings a thawed, eight-to-12-pound bird with them.
This year, Medium Rare co-owner Mark Bucher estimates they’ll fry up to 600 turkeys (approximately 96 birds an hour) using a dozen fryers filled with almost 500 gallons of oil.
The service has become a Thanksgiving Day tradition for many people, with a line forming as early as 8 a.m. However, Bucher says anyone in line by 4 p.m. will be helped.
Although not required, those who have the resources are encouraged to show their appreciation for Medium Rare’s service by making a small donation to Feed the Fridge, which provides meals daily to food-insecure families in the D.C. region. Bucher launched the nonprofit at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Since then, it has provided more than a million meals and paid local restaurants $2 million in donated funds to prepare them.
