Portnoy and his team, in town for the Super Bowl, dropped into Mama\u2019s Boy unannounced around 1 p.m. Tuesday, steered there by commenters on X who said it is one of the best slice shops in the Bay. Although he has yet to drop his \u201cOne Bite Review (opens in new tab)<\/a>\u201d on YouTube, Portnoy posted his unequivocal thoughts to Facebook (opens in new tab)<\/a>. \u201cI found the best pizza in the Bay Area, and it\u2019s not particularly close so far,\u201d he wrote in his pizza-reviewing \u201cEl Presidente\u201d capacity. \u00a0<\/p>\n While quick to acknowledge Portnoy\u2019s extensive rap sheet of abuse allegations and provocations \u2014 including claims of sexual assault (opens in new tab)<\/a>, calling for the murder of former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll (opens in new tab)<\/a>, and comparing former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to a terrorist (opens in new tab)<\/a> \u2014\u00a0Mama\u2019s Boy owners Ezra Berman and Miles Palliser recognized that his endorsement carries considerable weight.<\/p>\n \u201cHim coming in and saying good things is better than him coming in and saying bad things,\u201d said Berman.<\/p>\n Receiving a glowing review doesn\u2019t mean endorsing any of Portnoy\u2019s non-pizza beliefs, Palliser added. \u201cYou can probably tell from where I live and what I choose to do in my life that I probably don\u2019t align with his politics,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the truth is I don\u2019t know enough about his politics to completely judge a person. We don\u2019t talk politics. We talk pizza.\u201d<\/p>\n As fewer than 24 hours have elapsed since Portnoy\u2019s Facebook post, the shop hasn\u2019t seen a bump in business, but the owners are hoping for a boost from the forthcoming One Bite Review. To their knowledge, no other celebrity of Portnoy\u2019s stature had ever visited their 12-seat restaurant near the bustling corner of Grand Avenue and Broadway. \u201cIf they did, we didn\u2019t know about it,\u201d Berman said.<\/p>\n Still, Mama\u2019s Boy has received no shortage of acclaim, as framed plaques on its walls attest. Berman and Palliser won seventh place last year (opens in new tab)<\/a> in the Top Pizza Slice USA competition \u2014\u00a0better than any other pizzeria on the West Coast. Palliser credits their success to high-quality ingredients, consistency he attributes to low staff turnover, and the fact that the two partners once ate 44 slices of pizza<\/a> in four days as they figured out their business plan. These days, the fan favorite is burrata pizza with hot honey.<\/p>\n Mama\u2019s Boy wasn\u2019t the only Bay Area pizzeria on El President\u2019s radar. On Monday, Portnoy stopped by The Pizza Shop (opens in new tab)<\/a> in the Mission, giving it 7.2 out of 10 during a review (opens in new tab)<\/a> in which he erroneously called it \u201cSlice Shop\u201d and embarrassingly referred to the city as \u201cSan Fran.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a good review, not great,\u201d The Pizza Shop employee Paul Wanushek said. \u201cI\u2019m an abrasive East Coast guy like he is, but obviously with the SF progressive soul. It is what it is. He seems like a nice enough guy. We just talked the Patriots.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770244140_900_-S3840x5120-FPNG.png\"\/)
Mama\u2019s Boy owners Ezra Berman and Miles Palliser. | Source: Astrid Kane\/The Standard<\/p>\n