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Thanksgiving To-Go Meals On The Rise This Holiday

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Whether they're downsizing their Thanksgiving meals or just don't want to cook, many people are looking to have someone else handle the thanksgiving cooking stress this year.

Rows of turkeys ready to go with all the fixings, it's the makings of a Thanksgiving dinner without all the work at Sacramento's Camden Spit and Larder.

"We have special medical needs in our family, so we have had to tell other family members to not come this year," said customer, Laura Lucero.

With more families downsizing their plans this year, restaurants like Sacramento's Camden Spit and Larder are seeing a spike in pre-cooked holiday dinner sales.

"We want to try to stay healthy and safe and follow the guidelines," said customer, John Heilbron. "We are just trying to support as many local businesses as we can," he explained.

Camden more than doubled their orders from last Thanksgiving.

"We've been hit up through Facebook, Instagram, email, phones, there is a demand and I'm hoping that's all over town that phone has not stopped ringing," said Chef and Owner, Oliver Ridgeway.

Urban Roots Brewing and Smokehouse Wednesday put their finishing touches on 100 turkeys that sold out in less than a week.

"Sales-wise, we quadrupled from last years, which was really cool, especially with everything going, on," said Executive Chef, Gregory Desmangles.

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Their fridge is stocked with close to 300 sides waiting for pickup. Despite the large amount of sales, Desmangles says his customers are limiting who sits around the dining room table.

"It's a lot of two-person thanksgiving, three-person or four-person seems to be most of it," he explained. "We are seeing smaller orders this year. More orders but smaller orders for smaller unit families," Desmangles said.

Grocery stores like Raley's and Nugget are also selling Thanksgiving to-go.

"It's much easier to have something already made," said Ana Hernandez.

Hernandez, whose extended family usually cooks the holiday meals, is glad to have the help after choosing to stay home.

"We have two big dinners that we usually attend, we have a big family, a big Mexican family, so it's hard," she explained.

Restaurants say they sold out so fast that they had to turn a lot of people away. Mangers say they knew there would be an increased demand this year but are still shocked with the number of people calling in.

As you can imagine, they are already planning for Christmas.

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