When Dave Portnoy, founder and president of media company Barstool Sports, walked into Baltimore-based pizza shop TinyBrickOven, he didn't know the shop was in its final days — or that he would play a crucial role in saving the his.
In one video posted on YouTube AND social media on Monday, Portnoy ordered a pizza from TinyBrickOven for his One Bite Pizza Reviews channel, which has over 1.3 million YouTube subscribers (and everyone knows the rules).
While waiting for his food, Portnoy chatted with the store's owner, Will Fagg, who revealed that TinyBrickOven would be closing for good in a few days, on Christmas.
“We're just not making any money, it's been crazy,” Fagg said, adding that TinyBrickOven hadn't been able to get a liquor license, but a nearby location had, which put his restaurant at a disadvantage.
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Portnoy paid for the pizza and took a bite out of it. His first impression of the slice was that it was a “very good” New York-style pizza and that he “really liked it.”
“There's no way this place is going out of business, none,” Portnoy said. He returned to the store and asked Fagg, “How much money do you need to stay open for a year?”
Fagg said $60,000 – and Portnoy said, “Done.” Portnoy rated the episode 7.9 out of 10.
The free publicity that followed, reaching millions of people, would be invaluable.
Barstool Pizza Review – TinyBrickOven (Baltimore, MD) pic.twitter.com/hDqhclD45D
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 23, 2024
Since it was posted earlier this week, Portnoy's video with TinyBrickOven has been viewed 14.5 million times in X AND 300,000 views on YouTube. The post has almost 70,000 likes on Instagram as of press time. Fagg said CBS News that on Christmas Eve, TinyBrickOven had a line out the door and the phone was constantly ringing.
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“It feels like a Christmas miracle,” Fagg told the media. “We've never had a crowd like this.”
After Portnoy's video went up, other donations poured in.
TinyBrickOven's GoFundMe page exceeded $120,000 in donations at the time of writing. Portnoy told CBS that Fagg received his separate $60,000 donation by Wednesday.
Portnoy began filming pizza reviews in 2013 and now there is a review website called A Pinch.