Dave Portnoy. Mike Coppola/Getty Images for SiriusXM
Getting into the Christmas spirit, Barstool’s Dave Portnoy saved a pizza shop from closing by donating $60,000.
Portnoy, 47, shared an Instagram video on Monday, December 23, which showed him visiting TinyBrickOven in Baltimore. Before trying a slice of pizza, Portnoy learned from the owner Will Fagg that the food establishment was planning to close in a few days because they weren’t able to get a liquor license.
“We can’t get our liquor license here,” Fagg said. “We’re just not making any money, man. It’s been crazy. The market opened and everyone inside was allowed to sell alcohol and we were never allowed to sell alcohol.”
Portnoy turned to the camera and said,, “We’re gonna have to keep this place open.” He asked Fagg how much money he would need to stay open for a year and subsequently gifted the business owner $60,000 to make it happen.
The President of Barstool Sports also gave his signature pizza rating — giving TinyBrickOven a 7.9 — after trying the “very good, thin, New York-kinda style” pizza. Portnoy promised that Fagg, who planned to close the shop on Christmas Day, would get the money by then.
“People say it’s a Christmas miracle,” Fagg later told CBS News on Wednesday, December 25. “It kind of feels like a Christmas miracle!”
Fagg revealed that since Portnoy’s video went viral, TinyBrickOven has had a line out the door. People have also shown their support by contributing to the shop’s fundraiser, which surpassed its goal of $50,000 by Tuesday, December 24.
“We’ve never had a crowd like this,” Fagg continued. “It’s an incredible feeling, I mean I’ve always had a lot of community support — it’s overwhelming and I thank everybody so much.”
Earlier this month, Portnoy visited several Maryland restaurants including Frank’s Pizza & Pasta and Pizza John’s, according to The Baltimore Banner. Portnoy started filming pizza reviews in 2013 and has expanded the reviews to his One Bite app and website.
Portnoy hasn’t just made headlines recently for his philanthropic endeavors over the years. In recent weeks, he has garnered public attention after getting involved in the drama following his podcast cohost Brianna “Chickenfry” Lapaglia‘s split from Zach Bryan.
Dave Portnoy and Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia’s friendship has come a long way over the years. Portnoy, 47, founded Barstool Sports in 2003, but LaPaglia, 25, didn’t join the team until much later. She got her start with the podcast network in 2020 as an intern. The organization contacted her via social media after her videos […]
After speaking out about the former couple — and taking digs at Bryan — Portnoy officially announced his exit from the “BFFs” podcast.
“The subjects don’t interest me at all,” Portnoy said on “The Unnamed Show” podcast in November one month after news broke about Bryan, 28, and Lapaglia’s split. “They show me the topics when I go in there. I haven’t done any research, and I’m just ripping apart 18-year-olds, who I don’t even know. I don’t love necessarily doing that. It’s a little different.”
Lapaglia, 25, and Josh Richards will keep the podcast going, which Portnoy originally launched in 2020.
“It certainly accomplished what I wanted to accomplish when we started it,” Portnoy continued. “Josh and Bri will continue it. It’s super successful. But, yeah, it’s time for me to try the next thing. I had run my course with it.”
