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South Philly Bakeries Take On Easter Crowds All Weekend

By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA  (CBS)  --  It's an Easter time tradition that many people in the area have been doing for more than a 100 years, making a stop to a South Philadelphia bakery for holiday treats.

At times the line at Isgro's Pastries at 10th and Christian goes out the door and around the block. On Saturday they even have police directing traffic along Christian Street to manage parking.

And Customers say its worth the wait. Meg Berlin of Center City had a shopping bag full of goodies.

"Easter breads and a wheat ricotta pie, the perfect things for my grandchildren. Oh my God these things are so cool."

gus isgro mcdevitt
(Gus Isgro runs Isgro Bakery off the Italian Market. Credit: John McDevitt)

Gus Isgro (photo, right) runs the family business now.

His grandfather Mario immigrated from Sicily and started the bakery 109 years ago.

"The big seller right now is our ricotta pie, which is a little bit of lemon zest it's, all ricotta, a little bit of half and half, its insane, we sell tons of it, its like the way my grandfather use to make."

Gus' mother, Mary Isgro, is almost 98-years-old, she was in the back decorating treats. She uses
hand-carved molds in the shape of lambs that were passed down by her father.

"It's not hard work - you know what - if you enjoy what you are doing it's not hard."

A little deeper in the heart of South Philly, customers were lining up at Cacia's Bakery at 16th at Ritner in South Philadelphia for tomato pie.

It's been big seller on Good Friday for nearly 6 decades.

The bakery is celebrating it's 60th anniversary on Easter Sunday.

Customers also drop off lamb for holiday feasts to be cooked in the bakery's brick oven.

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