Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy paid a visit to Philadelphia and its suburbs on Tuesday, Aug. 4, to tape new installments of his highly popular One Bite Pizza Reviews.
Italian Delite in Trappe was one of several stops Portnoy made on his pizza journey. He also visited Johnny’s Pizza in Bryn Mawr, Marina’s Pizza in Fishtown, Liguria Pizzeria in Kensington, and Pizza Di Vita in Fairless Hills, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.
In each of his reviews, Portnoy sampled a plain cheese slice — often taking more than one bite — and assigned it a score on a 10-point scale. His ratings have become heavily anticipated endorsements in the pizza sphere. Businesses that score big report having long lines and receiving national attention just from his ratings alone.
Three of Tuesday’s scores became known almost immediately, thanks to onlookers reporting them. Johnny’s Pizza received an 8.3, Liguria Pizzeria netted an 8.2, and Marina’s Pizza hit a 7.9.
The owners of Pizza Di Vita and Italian Delite told the Inquirer they did not hear their scores before Portnoy exited their establishments. They are waiting on the release of his videos to receive the official Portnoy confirmation.
John Bisceglie initially didn’t believe Portnoy was coming to Johnny’s Pizzeria for a review. That all changed when manager Jaison Velásquez contacted Bisceglie to tell him he just got an order from Barstool.
Bisceglie told the Inquirer he remained on the phone, coaching his staff as they prepared the pizza. “I told them, ‘Wait about 10 minutes so the pizza comes right out of the oven. Make it crispy. Well done.’”
When Portnoy awarded the pizza an 8.3, Bisceglie knew he had nailed it.
“Those pizza guys don’t hand out scores like that very often,” he said. “An 8.3 is a big deal.”