The Breakfast Club – LET'S DISCUSS: What Time Do You Eat On Thanksgiving?

Hosts: DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God
Date: November 26, 2025
Podcast: The Breakfast Club (iHeartPodcasts)

Episode Overview

The Breakfast Club turns its gaze to a light but universally relatable debate: What is the right time to eat Thanksgiving dinner? Sparked by Martha Stewart’s opinion and fueled by the hosts' and callers' family traditions, the episode is a funny, opinionated, and lively exploration of cultural, regional, and generational customs surrounding one of the biggest food days of the year.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Martha Stewart's Take: The 2pm Thanksgiving Dinner

• The hosts play a clip of Martha Stewart suggesting 2 PM as the ideal time to eat Thanksgiving dinner, so guests are "hungry and starting to circle the kitchen," enjoy the food, watch football, have drinks, and eat dessert later. (01:24)
• The hosts riff on this, noting the practicality and social benefits of an early meal.

Charlamagne:

“I'm not mad at the 2:00 o'clock. When I started doing Thanksgiving at my house, I did it at 2 o' clock... Because I get tired early. So after 2 o' clock, you have breakfast and you can sit back, play spades, watch the football game, you can relax, you can go back for more, or you can pass out. And you don’t want people in your house all times of night.” (03:07)

2. Traditional Versus Modern Family Times

• DJ Envy reminisces on how, growing up, dinner was typically around 5 PM, allowing out-of-town family time to arrive.
• Now, with hosting, he prefers earlier—emphasizing the host’s desire to reclaim their evening.

DJ Envy:

“When I used to go to Thanksgiving at grandma’s house... it was about 5 o’clock… Now, 2, 3 o’ clock is a good time. Early afternoon.” (03:19)

• Charlamagne and Jess joke about family overstaying their welcome if dinner is late.

3. The "Too Early" and "Too Late" Spectrum

• Some callers and chat comments mock the idea of noon or 1 PM dinners, referencing different family backgrounds (e.g., “they're white,” “Puerto Rican”).
• Others, like Mimi, talk about family dinners as late as 9–11 PM—met with comedic disbelief from the hosts.

Jess Hilarious:

“9, 10, 11 is nuts. Ain’t nobody eating no goddamn yams and dressing and Turkey for breakfast.” (10:04)

4. Cultural Differences and Dinner Times

• Callers relay their traditions, revealing a wide range of practices:
  • Shine from Boston shoots for 4 PM:

    "4pm is cool. Between 3 and 4, I think I'm going." (13:22)

  • Paulina from Knoxville explains that her Senegalese family often eats very late (8–9 PM), blaming “Africans are always late no matter what.”
  • Kenya says her family eats at 4, noting, “Remember, they call it supper, right? Supper or dinner is the evening meal. The peak time... is between 5 and 7.” (19:36)
  • Nay from Detroit prefers 2 PM, calling it reasonable to counter family lateness:

    “If I tell my family 6 o’clock, they not coming till 8. And then they don’t want to leave until midnight.” (22:17)

5. Changing Tastes and Thanksgiving Food Fatigue

• Charlamagne admits growing less fond of classic Thanksgiving fare:

Charlamagne:

“At my tender age of 47, I just don’t like Thanksgiving food like I used to... If you tell me you made some stuffing, I don’t want nothing. But you tell me you got some dressing—I’ma eat some dressing now. With some gravy on top.” (06:52)

• The hosts and callers share alterations to menus, e.g., jerk turkey, brisket, lobster tails, reflecting evolving family tastes.

6. Daylight Savings and the Practical Side of Dinner Time

• Several guests comment that with daylight savings and early darkness, 3:30-4:00 PM feels logical and convenient.

Charlamagne:

"That is a great time nowadays because of the whole daylight savings time thing, it be dark by 5 o'clock... So 4 is perfect. And it's dark, don't even come in the house." (18:54)

7. Comic Banter, Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Charlamagne’s playful grilling of callers about their names and (in one exchange) the size of a caller's back—a running in-joke testing boundaries and highlighting the show’s teasing, conversational tone.
• The hosts joke about the difference between “dressing” and “stuffing,” with clear culinary preferences.
• Jess comments about family members who get drunk and prolong the cleanup late into the night if dinner is late.
• Chat comments and hosts roasting a caller sound “just a little plump.”
  (23:32–25:10)

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Martha Stewart (01:27):

  “Oh, I think it should be around 2 o’clock in the afternoon. People are hungry and they’re starting to circle the kitchen...”

• Jess Hilarious (04:56):

  “5 o’ clock is late. Cause that means at 5 we starting to eat. Then that means you gonna get dessert about eight, nine, then you’re gonna wanna talk. Then there’s always the family member that’s drinking... And then you gotta clean up. That means y’all not leaving till 11, 12.”

• Charlamagne Tha God (22:40):

  “Get them up off me, baby. You clear the room. Offensive line, I’m running behind you, baby.”

• Paulina (caller from Tennessee) (15:48):

  “Africans are always late no matter what... We got there like 9 o’clock, we started eating. The dishes we make: turkey, brisket, oxtails, Mac and cheese… lot of lobster tails... We just mix it up... It’s like an actual buffet.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Martha Stewart Soundbite & Initial Response — 01:24–04:14
• Host Traditions & Family Stories — 04:15–07:10
• Chat Feedback & Cultural Comparisons — 07:11–09:57
• Callers Share Family Dinner Times — 10:00–19:50
  • Late Dinners & Senegalese Traditions — 15:00–17:00
• Debate Over Thanksgiving Food — 06:52, 17:53–19:20
• Name Banter & Light-Hearted Roasts — 19:51–25:10
• Summary “Moral of the Story” — 27:02–27:45

Episode Tone & Style

The tone is loose, playful, and candid—reflective of family banter and friendly teasing, with realness about changing tastes and the realities of hosting and attending big family gatherings.

Final Thoughts & Recap

Moral of the Episode
The hosts land on a consensus: due to changing daylight, the desire to avoid overstaying guests, and the practicalities of large family gatherings, 3:00 to 4:00 PM is the sweet spot for Thanksgiving dinner. However, traditions run strong—and every family, culture, and host does things their (often hilarious) way.

Charlamagne (27:22):

“Supper time is from five to seven… three to four is perfect. Time to eat Thanksgiving dinner.”

For anyone who’s ever argued about when to eat on Thanksgiving—this episode is a buffet of relatable stories, opinions, and jokes, one plate after another.