Syracuse, N. Y. — There are balls and then there are balls. Just ask Terry Riley.
For about 30 years, Riley’s Restaurant on Syracuse’s North Side has dedicated the month of October to what it calls its “Testicle Festival.” This year, however, Riley has had a problem sourcing the main ingredient.
Instead of featuring breaded and deep-fried anatomical parts from bulls, boars or tom turkeys, Riley’s this month is featuring balls that are a little more mainstream.
“No balls?” Riley said. “Well we’ll just have to go with meatballs. I hope that’s OK with everybody.”
The new version of the fest started this weekend with meatballs from Ascioti’s Meatballs and More on Milton Avenue. Riley’s will add other varieties like sausage meatballs, and maybe some ground chicken, as the month wears on. The restaurant is using a variety of local suppliers.
The meatballs offered will change each day.
Traditionally, the Testicle Festival offers the fried balls for free, as a way to lure customers in and try other menu items and drinks. With the meatballs, Riley’s is offering a “buy one get one free” promotion for $2.
Or, as they say at Riley’s, “buy a ball get a ball.”
The supply issue is related to the Covid pandemic and its after-effects, Riley said. The Catskills butcher that he usually buys most of the testicles from is slaughtering fewer animals this year, due to staffing and other issues. That means there are fewer testicles to be had.
In past years, Riley’s, at 312 Park St., has served as much as 150 pounds of testicles through the month of October. In addition to beef and pork varieties, Riley’s has also served sheep, goat and more.
Despite the big change in the core product, Riley hopes people still come by to see what has made this the nuttiest event in Syracuse for the past few decades.
“It’s an adjustment,” he said. “But we just can’t go through October with no balls.”
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Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.