Barstool podcaster Dave Portnoy has been on our radar quite a bit this year, and he popped up again this week for a “Christmas miracle” involving a Baltimore pizza shop.
In recent months, Dave has been very publicly supporting his BFFs Podcast co-host Brianna Chickenfry after her messy, ugly breakup from country singer Zach Bryan.
After Zach “blindsided” Brianna by apparently breaking up with her via Instagram, Dave held nothing back as he told the world how genuinely awful he believed Zach to be.
During a podcast where Brianna wasn’t present, Dave asserted that Zach maliciously tried to upset her while she was on the red carpet at the Golden Globes, and he said:
Like, you insecure baby, like, she’s on the … like, the red carpet, being interviewed.
In 2024, the Barstool head honcho has also been obsessively following Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, and Brianna “went full Swiftie,” too.
However, pizza has long been a huge focus for Dave, who maintains One Bite Pizza Rankings — which appears to be a comprehensive pizza quality aggregator, if slightly inaccurate (as it lists Brooklyn’s DiFara Pizza in second place, not first).
Any news reported around Christmas can get “lost in the sauce” due to the holiday hubbub, as was the case with Dave’s intervention in the closure of a Baltimore pizza place that was literally about to close its doors on Christmas day.
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Dave Portnoy’s receipts basically prove that Zach paid for a fake shoutout to make his ex uncomfortable.
Dave Saved Baltimore’s TinyBrickOven After Two Bites
On December 23, Dave shared an Instagram Reel on his main account, @stoolpresidente.
In the clip, Dave enters a pizza joint, Baltimore’s TinyBrickOven, in a rush, and says he’s parked illegally.
A man behind the counter appears to be the owner, and the guy is absolutely starstruck to see Dave, thanking the Barstool founder for keeping pizza shops from closing during the pandemic.
The man – who later identifies himself as “Will” – wants to make a fresh pizza for Dave, and Dave says he doesn’t have time, but they begin talking:
Will mentions that TinyBrickOven was “getting ready to close,” and Dave warily asks what Will means by “getting ready to close.”
In response, Will explains that the city hasn’t approved their liquor license, making it difficult to stay afloat, and clarifies he means “close for good.”
Will also says that a customer from Portnoy’s hometown of Swampscott, Massachusetts has been tagging Dave on Instagram in the hopes he’d visit and bring TinyBrickOven viral attention and customers, so they wouldn’t have to close.
Dave then asks what would happen if the video attracts customers, and he and Will briefly bicker over whether Dave should pay; Dave insists before going outside to try the pizza.
He walks no more than a few steps out of the door before opening the box, complimenting the pizza’s “undercarriage,” and says to the pizza: “Please be good.”
The rest of it unfolds very quickly, and within seconds, Dave renders his verdict, pointing out that the pizza was reheated and is still fantastic:
Okay, this is a reheat and very good …
There’s no way this place should be going out of business. None.
Dave closes the box and moves to re-enter, but Will meets him at the door, where they have a very hasty conversation about what it would cost to keep TinyBrickOven open for another year.
Dave says:
“Well, if there’s somebody super rich right in front of your face who’s in the pizza business, and by serendipity is like, ‘what do you need to stay open for a year,’ you’ve got to give him some figure, because then he’s going to walk away.”
Will is a bit flustered, but says $60,000 should be enough to keep the place afloat if they get their liquor license, to which Dave says: “Done.”
The saving of TinyBrickOven happens so abruptly in the video, and it must have been even more of a whirlwind for Will, who confirms to Dave that they planned to close TinyBrickOven for good on Christmas Day, December 25.
Dave then tells him that he’ll have the $60,000 before Christmas, and the staff is in a stunned but happy kind of disbelief.
Dave also rated the pizza a respectable 7.9 out of 10.
On Christmas, Will talked to a local CBS News affiliate about Dave’s last-minute intervention to save TinyBrickOven, saying: “People say it’s a Christmas miracle. It kind of feels like a Christmas miracle!”
Dave Portnoy
- Birthname
- David Scott Portnoy
- Birthdate
- March 22, 1977
- Birthplace
- Swampscott, Massachusetts, United States
- @stoolpresidente
- @stoolpresidente
- Parents
- Linda and Michael Portnoy
- Education
- University of Michigan
- Net worth
- $150,000,000
- Source of Wealth
- Sports media personality and internet entrepreneur
- Nationality
- American
