Best place to buy a fresh turkey in San Mateo/Burlingame area?

[rednails]

I am going to do a pre-Thanksgiving dinner on the Tuesday before T-day. I am working long days thru that Saturday, so I need to buy a fresh turkey, preferably brined, on Sunday. Any suggestions where to go? Draegars, Whole Foods, Safeway....does it really matter? All are convenient to me. Does Costco sell fresh turkeys? Do I have to order ahead of time?

I don't need a huge one, will probably have no more than 7 pp total including myself. My guests are all going to (or hosting) their own dinner on T-day and I don't need alot of left-overs. I'll be an empty-nester T-day morning when my son leaves for 8 months (hence the desire to have a turkey dinner for him).

I should add that I haven't cooked a turkey in at least 15 years or so, but think I can pull it off. I'll probably make everything except the pie. I hear Costco sells a good one.

Thanks!

[originalfig]

Williams-Sonoma is selling pre-brined, hormone-free turkeys from Sonoma's Willie Bird Ranch. I haven't tried them and they are pricey but the birds are free range, which in general means more flavorful meat-- so if you're worried about making it taste good that give you a boost right there. :)
Good luck!

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Willie Bird's Restaurant
1150 Santa Rosa Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95404

[ML8000]

I stopped at the Willie Bird Restaurant this past summer...stuck in the 70s faux tutor...excellent turkey, as good as any grandmothers. The lunch turkey plate was $12 bucks with everything. Subtle but a pile of food.

[rednails]

Thanks for the TJ recs...I didn't think of them but will pursue that route. I'll call or stop by the large store in San Mateo this weekend.

Happy T-day in advance :)

[JoyM]

When I lived in San Mateo, I checked out the options at Dragers, Piazzas, Whole Foods, Trags, Lunardis, & Molly Stones, and decided on Molly Stones and bought my turkey from them every year. They seemed to have the best options in terms of price, availability of natural/organic birds, & different brands/sizes.

[artemis]

If you give them advance notice, Draeger's will get you pretty much whatever you want even if they don't typically carry it. It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask!

I do remember hounds reporting good results with the TJ's pre-brined turkey last year.

[dolcevita_sf]

I've had good results with the fresh kosher turkeys from Trader Joe's, which are already brined.

Here's a therad re TJ's turkey from the Home Cooking board: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/572836