Barstool Pizza Review Surprises Union County Shop

GARWOOD, NJ — A Union County pizza shop is getting attention after Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy stopped in on Wednesday for his “One Bite” pizza review at Garwood Pizza Co.

The visit, which owner John Rosenberg said came as a surprise, is now circulating online as part of Portnoy’s ongoing pizza review series.

Rosenberg said there was no advance notice before Portnoy arrived. Watch the review here.

“I know sometimes you can kind of tell when he calls in,” Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg said he was working alone in the shop when Portnoy arrived.

“I was by myself that day,” he said.

During the review, Portnoy gave Garwood Pizza Co. a score of 7.8 on his well-known 10-point scale.

In the review, Portnoy said, “It’s good. It has a lot of taste to it. I only needed one napkin.”

The visit is part of Portnoy’s ongoing pizza review series, where he typically stops into local shops unannounced and rates pizzas on camera.

Rosenberg said the reaction since the review was posted has already been noticeable, though the full impact on business is still developing.

“We’ve been pretty busy,” he said. “His review just came out on Wednesday, so we do expect to start seeing the bump.”

Rosenberg also reflected on opening Garwood Pizza Co., saying it followed a change in his previous working arrangement and eventually led him to start his own shop in Garwood.

Garwood Pizza Co. continues to operate in Garwood as the shop watches to see how the national attention from the review translates into foot traffic in the coming days.