As of Wednesday, Italian Kitchen had cranked out 60,000 meatballs in December. With five cooking days left in the month, that's more than half a meatball for each of Brockton's 106,000 residents. It's a Brockton (MA) tradition in its fourth generation. And it's all hands on deck from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day, says Jeremy Jamoulis, chief operating officer of the Main Street mainstay.

"By the end of the night, everybody's exhausted. Everybody's worked so hard. And we've been on top of each other. It's small quarters back there," Jamoulis said, gesturing from the dining room toward the surprisingly small kitchen. "Crank out" is not a figure of speech. Italian Kitchen employees still grind and spice the certified Angus beef and pork by hand.