Cacia's Bakery in South Philadelphia will cook your turkey for you

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Either they can't cook, or they just don't like to cook. Whatever the case may be, a South Philadelphia eatery has served as the kitchen wing-man on Thanksgiving for more than 50 years.

"I can't cook and they do it good, so here we are," said Meghan Freda of South Philadelphia.

At 4 a.m. Thursday a line of people stretched several blocks on South Mole Street, off of West Ritner in South Philadelphia.

No, it wasn't for a Black Friday deal... it was for turkeys.

While you may enjoy that Thanksgiving feast, especially the turkey, not everyone loves making it. And so, a South Philadelphia bakery is here to help.

"We are used to all kind of weather when it comes to today. I was just glad it didn't rain," said John Mastrobuoni, a Cacia's customer.

"It must be good if they're willing to wait outside for two hours," said Joe Cacia.

For over 50 years the Cacia family has been helping family Thanksgiving dinner dreams come true with their brick oven.

Dozens of people line up, beginning as early as 4 in the morning, to drop off their brined and stuffed turkeys at 6 a.m..

It frees up space in their homes, and well, a mouthwatering turkey is nice too.

Thanksgiving line starts early at Cacia's Bakery. Watch the report from Jeannette Reyes on Action News at 6 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2018.

"It's a little time to wait here, sure. It's cold. They do an awesome job. They pick it up and it just falls apart," said John Delgaiso.

"It's nice and crisp and brown. It's very good," said Isaiah Wilson, who comes down from Northeast Philadelphia.

The turkeys are dropped off and tagged with a number, so no one takes the wrong turkey. Then they're organized according to their size.

Their owners will return between 12 and 1:30 to pick them up.

One by one the Cacia crew places each of the turkeys in the oven. This year they have over 100 turkeys - that's over 100 families depending on Sam Cacia for their Thanksgiving dinner.

"To know that so many people depend on me for their dinner to turn out right, there's a certain amount of anxiety and nervousness that goes into that," Sam said.

Still, each year the turkey comes out good enough that it's hard not play up your cooking skills.

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