Two Baltimore-based pizza shops will make an appearance at Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Festival — a celebration of the Barstool Sports founder’s favorite slices across the country.
The Saturday festival will bring TinyBrickOven in Federal Hill and Frank’s Pizza & Pasta in Rosemont East to visit New York City. They will join more than 40 of Portnoy’s top-rated pizzerias, all of which he has scored on his YouTube show One Bite Pizza Reviews.
TinyBrickOven, established in 2019 and located at 1036 Light St., was visited by Portnoy late last year. Owner Will Fagg referred to Portnoy as his “hero,” sharing the pizzeria’s plans to close. After receiving the warm welcome, Portnoy willed the pizza to “please be good” before taking three bites and proclaiming, “This is a reheat but very good.”
He added, “There’s no way this place should be going out of business” before giving the pizza a score of 7.9. After his sample, he asked Fagg how much it would cost to keep the business open for another year, and when Fagg replied, “$60,000,” Portnoy said he’d give the money. Today, TinyBrickOven remains open with a 4.8-star rating on Google.
“Compared to having to close last Christmas, it feels … kind of like a victory march,” said Fagg in an interview with The Baltimore Sun. “Some of those pizzerias [at the One Bite Pizza Festival] have been in business since before I was born and are truly iconic. The privilege of serving a slice next to them is a great honor.”
Frank’s, located at 1814 6620 Belair Road, celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The pizzeria’s team nervously and excitedly greeted Portnoy and his crew in January. Portnoy gave the “spectacular pizza” an 8.3, characterizing it as “light,” “crispy” and “so, so good.” While visiting, Portnoy also tried one of the shop’s cheesesteaks, which he enthusiastically rated a 9.
While in the Baltimore area this past winter, Portnoy visited and reviewed six total pizzerias. Four are not featured on the festival’s roster: Upper Fells Point’s Johnny Rad’s Pizzeria Tavern with a score of 7.1, Little Italy’s Angeli’s Pizzeria with a score of 7.3, Highlandtown’s Matthew’s Pizza with a score of 7.9, and Essex’s Pizza John’s with a score of 7.7.
Tickets for the all-you-can-eat festival start at $199.99 and go up to $1,249.99 for a seat at Portnoy’s Chef’s VIP Tasting table. According to the festival’s website, the event will take place in Randall’s Island Park — accessible by car, public transportation or via Manhattan ferry tickets that the festival is selling for $59.99 each. Daytime tickets are 95% sold out.
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