Much of the Christmas holiday is about traditions, and for some, there's a food tradition that dates back centuries: tamales.

One store in the South Bay where the tradition is worth the wait is the Tamale Factory. Every year, people line up in the early hours of Christmas Eve to wait in the annual tamale line.

"It seems pretty busy. Everyone wants their tamales," customer Larry McNary says.

The ladies at the tamale factory in East San Jose cook tamales round the clock in the days leading up to Christmas Eve. Pork, beef, chicken, cheese, sweet.

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And people come for them.

"I think it's because they use manteca (lard) in there," customer Raul Navarete says. "And they’re just good."

The Tamale Factory plans to sell as many as 10,000 tamales on Tuesday, 7,000

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