Barstool boss Dave Portnoy gives incredible Christmas gift to struggling Baltimore pizzeria
Dave Portnoy’s final pizza review of the year scored more than his usual score when he gave a small pizzeria in Baltimore an incredible Christmas gift that will help keep the business open into 2025.
Portnoy visited TinyBrickOven in Maryland on December 13 while on his way out of state. After tasting the pizza, he promised to give the restaurant $60,000 to stay open for about another year.
The review was uploaded to Portnoy’s social media on Monday night, where he scored the pizza a 7.9 out of 10, with everything rated an 8 or above saying it was undoubtedly a great pizza.
Barstool’s CEO is won over by ‘the most optimistic pizzeria owner’ Will, who didn’t expect Portnoy’s arrival and quickly makes him a cheese pizza.
Will informs Portnoy that because local politicians won’t give the restaurant a liquor license, it would have to close for good on Christmas Day.
The first sign that the restaurant plans to close on social media was on November 27, when they announced the latest round of pizza courses.
Portnoy has given a pizzeria in Baltimore a Christmas gift that will help the business stay open
Portnoy’s pizza reviews are known to increase sales for the places he loves and hates
“There’s no way this place is going to go out of business, none,” Portnoy said.
After sitting outside the restaurant for a moment after giving his score, Portnoy stands in the doorway and asks Will how much money he needs to stay open another year.
At first, Will doesn’t answer, saying he “wasn’t sure,” his bewilderment at the celebrity entering his business still lingering.
“Well, if right in front of you there was someone super rich who was in the pizza business and by serendipity he said, ‘What do you need to stay open for a year?’ You have to grade him because then he walks away,” Portnoy continued.
As soon as the number “60,000” came out of Will’s mouth, Portnoy replied “done.”
In addition to the monetary gift, Portnoy’s presence will likely increase sales for TinyBrickOven.
After four hours live on his YouTube channel, the review had almost 100,000 hits and his channel has more than 1.3 million subscribers.