This time of year it’s easy to spend massive amounts of time at home trying to remember what it was like to be warm and dry. But if you’re feeling cooped up, try venturing out to a Sunday supper.

These meals are comfort-food oriented, intended to thaw the deepest recesses of your soul before the slog of the work week during this awful season when you leave home in the dark and return after the sun has gone down. They draw on the old tradition of large family meals, full of mirth and overeating. Some are year-round, others are held only in fall and winter, but they all give you a reason—besides Seahawks games—to look forward to Sundays.

Volunteer Park Cafe holds its Sunday supper once a month at 6 p.m. (next date, Dec. 15). You’ll sit at a communal table and eat from a “chef’s whim” menu of at least three courses. Seats are $40 a person and reservations are recommended. Wine and beer are not included in the price.

At Joule, Sunday dinners are not just a winter occurrence. The Fremont restaurant kicked off its Sunday dinner series in March, intending to show off its extensive Northwest-focused wine list. Each dinner is served family-style and paired with wines from a designated regional winemaker. Tickets are $55 per person.

You’ve got to sign up at dinetteseattle.com for an e-mail notification to partake of Sunday supper at Dinette, which is closing soon as owner Melissa Nyffeler hunts for a new space. Expect a communal setting, where tables are pushed together and food is served family-style. The last three themed dinners in December include “Yucatan,” “Southern French,” and “Spanish Tapas.”

Indulge in fried chicken at Ballard’s Hi-Life every Sunday night year-round. The family-style supper sources its birds from Draper Valley Farms in Mount Vernon, and includes a generous pile of buttermilk-fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, butter-braised green beans, and, natch, biscuits. Service starts at 5 p.m. and lasts until they run out—which reportedly does happen. This one’s quite kid-friendly.

Sunday suppers at Tom Douglas’ Cuoco, in South Lake Union, call to mind rowdy, belly-bursting Italian meals. You’ll dive into lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and your choice of gelato. Reservations are recommended, and the price is $25 per person.

The Sunday supper is especially appropriate at Ethan Stowell’s Tavolata, which means “to gather around a table.” The pasta restaurant serves a monthly four-course “Sunday Feast” at a communal table limited to 26 diners. Prices range from $40 to $65 a person. Each dinner features a different ingredient, such as shellfish.

Matt Dillon’s The Corson Building is in on the Sunday action, too. At 6 p.m. every Sunday, they serve a meal “akin to a simple family supper.” Reservations are required, and the $60 price tag includes wine.

food@seattleweekly.com