Why Dave Portnoy’s South Jersey Pizza Reviews Matter More Than You Think

Over the years, well-known online personality Dave Portnoy, who owns and operates the website Barstool Sports.com, has been in the South Jersey area and all over the county giving pizza reviews.

Our local website often covers it when he is in the area, scoring the pizza on a scale of 1 to 10 for his One Bite App.

Portnoy has been to many places in Atlantic and Cape May County, like Tony's Baltimore Grill in Atlantic City (4.9), Manco and Manco on the Ocean City boardwalk (7.3), Carluccio's Coal Fired Pizza in Northfield (7.1), Sam's Pizza Place in North Wildwood (7.9), Phil's Famous Pizzeria in Sea Isle City (7.6), and Prep's Pizzeria in Ocean City (7.1) are just a few of the spots Portnoy has reviewed in the area.

Read More: Every Pizza Dave Portnoy has rated in AC Area

The Local Backlash Over Barstool’s One Bite Reviews

It generally never fails: we post an article talking about Portnoy's review, and someone will comment, "Who cares what he thinks, or "This pizza guy needs to go away," or "Still don't know who made him the authority on pizza lol."

I recently wrote an article about a place I had never heard of before, Gervasio's, which is in Burlington County.

It’s Not About the Score—It’s About the Exposure

What people need to understand is that nobody madePortnoy the authority; the pizza reviews are not to be taken seriously. You can do what you want with the score. What they do is give local small businesses a ton of exposure from his millions of followers and fans, bringing attention to a place that many may not have heard of.

Reaching Millions Beyond South Jersey

His X account alone has 3.8 million followers; that doesn't even count his following on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media accounts.

So regardless of whether you think he has any pizza credibility, you should acknowledge that Portnoy showing up at any local small business is a huge deal for many of these places. Many times, people who travel to the Jersey Shore will say, " Hey, I want to go check out that place that Portnoy reviewed.

Local Favorites and Differing Opinions: From Tony’s to Gervasio’s

Do I think Tony's Pizza is worthy of only a 4.9?  Of course not.  I grew up on Tony's, and while it's not a 9.0, it's a different style of pizza that locals enjoy.  What it did was introduce millions of people to Tony's, who, if they have an open mind, will likely try to see for themselves if they like the pizza or not.

Do you have to take his score as the gospel?  Of course not.  But have the ability to be excited for the small, local business that gets a ton of exposure from his visit.

One commenter on the 97.3 ESPN Facebook page said: "Gervasio’s didn’t need his score; their pies are spot on. 8.4 sure is nice; I’m thinking more like 8.6-7."

That's fine to disagree with the score and give it your own, but I will say, I never heard of Gervasio's, and now I have, and will try it out if I am in the area.

Another commenter said: "I'm gonna start doing ratings on pizza. Real ones." The comment suggests that he knows more about pizza and will do a better job rating the pizza.

Which may be accurate; the issue is that the commenter doesn't have millions of followers, so his review may not actually do much to help the business out, outside of his group of friends.

Final Thoughts: Appreciating the Spotlight on Local Spots

In the end, like Portnoy, or hate Portnoy, he created a niche that has given tons of local pizza shops recognition, so instead of rating his ratings, appreciate the recognition he gives small businesses all over, including here in South Jersey.

I'm not a huge Barstool guy, or Portnoy fan (I don't dislike him), but I can appreciate the platform he has built and what he has done for small businesses. I think you should try to do the same.