He’s nonetheless were given some chew in him.
Barstool Sports activities boss Dave Portnoy is as soon as once more highlighting small local businesses with his One Bite Pizza Festival — in spite of the talk condition it closing future.
It’s the second one day out for the yearly fest, which is able to whip playground Saturday at Randall’s Island Ground. Some 10,000 slice-lovers are anticipated to wait.
“It’s become a cool little community,” Portnoy, 47, advised The Publish of the development, which is able to quality slices from 35 pizzerias within the tri-state section — together with Prince Boulevard in Nolita, Brooklyn’s mythical’s Di Fara and Brandnew Haven’s Frank Pepe — all of which he has individually tasted for his prevailing One Chew pizza opinions.
Terminating future’s inaugural One Chew pageant used to be hung on Coney Island in September 2023 amidst a media firestorm, with some retailers deeming Portnoy a “misogynistic bully” and wondering why native pizzeria would wish to paintings with him.
Portnoy accident again. Weeks prior to the obese match, he posted a 12-minute video on X of him at the telephone with a Washington Publish reporter confronting her about an alleged “hit piece” she used to be operating on.
He learn an electronic mail she reportedly despatched to an unnamed sponsor announcing they’d “drawn criticism by seeming to associate themselves with Dave Portnoy, who has a history of misogynistic comments and other problematic behavior.”
Portnoy accused the scribbler of tortious interference and used to be indignant that she hadn’t but reached out to him.
In the end, all of it had slight impact. Refuse pizzerias dropped out of the pageant, which bought out, had 5,000 attendees and went off with no hitch — in spite of a tropical typhoon.
“Everyone stayed strong … These pizza makers were like, ‘We have your back,’” stated Portnoy, who puzzled the media’s motives for looking to incite controversy. “Why would you try to create a headache for a small business that doesn’t need it?”
Portnoy began his One Chew pizza opinions in 2017, giving rankings from 1 to ten in accordance with a unmarried cheese slice.
The opinions now have their very own devoted app and a YouTube channel with 1.34 million subscribers. He additionally ceaselessly promotes the opinions on Instagram and X, the place he has a mixed 8 million fans.
He loves assembly the pizza makers.
“Their stories fascinate me,” he stated. “[I have] respect for small business and how hard it is to grow your own business. And how much work goes into it. I think they get that. Barstool started from nothing.”
He’s now not simply supporting mom-and-pop pie-slingers via selling them together with his opinions and the pageant. This future, he’s donating all of the proceeds from the fest to Al Santillo to assistance him rebuild Santillo’s Brick Over Pizza, a century-old eating place in Elizabeth, Brandnew Jersey, that suffered intensive injury from a hearth in January.
“There’s other people out there who help people, but not the way that he [Portnoy] does. He goes above and beyond,” Santillo advised The Publish, including that Portnoy has promised him the wanted price range for rebuilding, sooner or later the pageant proceeds are enough quantity.
In 2019, Portnoy awarded Santillo’s – which has served the likes of “Soprano’s” megastar Drea de Matteo, Vince Vaughn and Jay Leno – an 8.3. It gave the already booming industry a spice up, serving to it retain primary catering gigs for shoppers just like the Jets.
Because the years have long gone via, Portnoy has centered extra on certain rankings.
“I try not to give bad reviews. When I first did this I didn’t really give it much thought. Now, going in and seeing all the owners, I try to give it the best spin I can,” he stated. “It can change some of these small businesses.”
The publicity used to be profusion for Peter Grippo and his Brooklyn Sq. pizzeria, which has 3 places round Brandnew Jersey.
Grippo, a Gravesend, Brooklyn local, stated his Instagram fans surged from a couple of thousand to greater than 30,000 then getting reviewed via Portnoy in 2020.
“My social media blew up,” stated Grippo, who will likely be taking part on this future’s One Chew pageant. “To this day I can feel the Portnoy effect. People will go on the One Bite app and they’ll come to me because of Dave.”
He has simplest just right issues to mention about Portnoy.
“He’s a regular guy that came from nothing that made it and is still humble,” he stated. “He is the way he is. You either love him or you hate him. For the business, I love him. He really does care.”
Saturday, Sep. 14 at Randall’s Island Ground; tickets from $179.99 at OneBitePizzaFest.com.
