Barstool Sports founder and internet personality Dave Portnoy brought the holiday joy to a Baltimore pizzeria Monday when he showered the owner with desperately needed cash needed to keep the struggling outfit in business.
It all went down when the opinionated entrepreneur stopped to get a pie in Maryland, which many people don’t know (including myself until about two minutes ago) is named after Henrietta Maria, the queen consort of King Charles I of England. But back to pizza:
Portnoy was traveling to Maryland for the Army-Navy football in mid-December when he made a pit stop at TinyBrickOven in the Federal Hill neighborhood to wrap up a day of filming his viral pizza reviews, according to his producer Austin Jenkins.
Store owner Will Fagg, a Navy veteran, was working behind the counter when the pizza savant arrived and he shared that his beloved shop was closing for good on Christmas Day.
Fagg said the shop’s inability to acquire a liquor license and cash flow problems was forcing him to close down.
We can’t get our liquor license here,” Fagg told Portnoy in a video uploaded on Monday. “Our politicians gave this market down here their liquor license, but they won’t give us ours… it’s really disappointing.”
“We’re gonna have to keep this place open,” the Barstool Sports founder said as Fagg was boxing up the pizza.
Portnoy then had a taste of the guy’s pizza – and that was all he needed to know, that this injustice could not stand. He stepped up and offered the guy the dough he needed to stay in business – a cool $60 grand – in a move that would make Santa proud.
Watch:
Barstool Pizza Review – TinyBrickOven (Baltimore, MD) pic.twitter.com/hDqhclD45D
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) December 23, 2024
Portnoy has done well in the money part of life, and he told the owner he should take advantage of that while the opportunity was hot:
“Well, if there’s somebody super rich right in front of your face who’s in the pizza business, and by serendipity is like, ‘What do you need to stay open for a year,’ you’ve got to give him some figure, because then he’s going to walk away,” Portnoy said.
“I know it. Listen, I think we could probably get our liquor license and continue to stay open if we had $60,000,” Fagg said.
“Done,” Portnoy responded, immediately shaking his hand to confirm the deal.
Portnoy is a loud figure, and when you’re loud, you get lots of critics. But only the Grinch would criticize this move. Merry Christmas, Dave, and if you’re up to one more act of holiday giving, please send me a large sausage and pepperoni.
