Parsippany Restaurant's Meatballs Take 3rd At Pizza Bowl III

CARLSTADT, NJ — The Eagles and Chiefs will soon battle over the pigskin for the Lombardi Trophy. But no matter who wins, a Parsippany restaurant already took home some hardware via its meatballs.

Ferraro's Italian Food Specialties took third in North Jersey on Saturday at Pizza Bowl III, where Garden State eateries competed for pizza and meatball supremacy. The annual, star-studded event supports the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which honors fallen first responders and wounded veterans.

"What an AMAZING Day!!" Ferraro's posted on its Facebook page. "We took 3rd place in North Jersey and met so many great people! Stephen Baker the touchdown maker, Ken Rosato from channel 7, Jack Ciatarrelli, Sopranos, Goodfellas. Such a great event to support so many small businesses and Tunnel to Towers."

The Pizza Bowl pitted more than 3,100 restaurants against one another in a bracket-voting matchup. Jersey Pizza Joints, a Facebook group with 68,000 members, organizes the competition.

Throughout the nine-hour event, 250 judges sampled food from 29 finalists, as well as over 250 pizzas and 2000 meatballs. The event raised more than $21,000, which included a portion of admission and donations from numerous pizza joints.