One of the shows that I have binged watched over the past year of COVID is Barstool Pizza, a pizza review show from Dave Portnoy, better known for his Barstool Sports company, and his sports website barstooolsports.com. As I was surfing through YouTube one night, a fell upon Portnoy’s reviews of some of New York City’s Pizza spots, and thus began my journey down the rabbit hole of hundreds of Pizza reviews from his Pizza reviews, called one bite, from all over the country.
Portnoy, who sold a stake in Barstoolsports.com for $163 Million but still runs the website, also created the Barstool fund for small businesses hit hard by the coronavirus. The fund, TheBarstoolFund.com, has raised over $37 Million and has helped 332 small businesses. If you are a small business owner in need of help due to the impacts of COVID, you can submit your application at: TheBarstoolFund.com/apply. One Yonkers restaurant that has already benefitted from TheBarstoolFund is San Martino Ristorante, on Young Avenue. off Central Park Ave.
But on a recent visit to Yonkers, Portnoy visited Raceway Pizza, located on 775 Yonkers Avenue. The owner Luigi Petrozza. has been in business for 50 years. But like many small businesses, he has fallen on tough times, making it difficult for him to stay afloat.
“I lost my mom a few months ago, she was my partner here for 50 years, I’m struggling now because we close early there is nobody around. We have regulars from the neighborhood for years, but because of the pandemic nothing has been the same. I’m a big believer in Chirst and God, sometimes things are meant to be. We opened in 1971, since I was a kid. The past year i’m behind in my rent and Con Edison, I’m trying to struggle and keep going,” said Petrozza.
Portnoy said, “I’m glad we are here. We will help you with our fund and help you get caught up. I’m glad we got to meet.”
But according to Portnoy himself, people most associate him as being the guy that reviews pizza restaurants on YouTube and Twitter. “That’s probably the one number one thing people know me by,” Portnoy said, adding that his popular catchprase of the show is “one bit everyone knows the rules.” Portnoy has celebrities on some of his review shows.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano took notice of the video and the vist, posting on Facebook, “The aftermath of the pandemic has left many brick-and-mortar businesses across the country including here in Yonkers in need of some much-needed support. In addition to the city’s efforts to provide relief to small businesses, David Portnoy at Barstool Sports visited Raceway Pizza in Yonkers and has committed to providing them with financial assistance. Your investment in some of our city’s local businesses has not gone unnoticed, and Yonkers, thanks you.”
Portnoy gave Raceway Pizza a “good basic football pizza, and that’s a compliment. you know what you are getting.” He gave the pizza a 7.4 Rating, which is on the high end of his ratings, (nobody gets a 10). Portnoy asked everyone to help this business.
We will be paying a visit to Raceway Pizza and buying a pie to try it out and to help Louie.
