Barstool Sports Founder Visits Doylestown Pizzeria, Rates Pizza

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Barstool Sports founder and noted pizza enthusiast Dave Portnoy brought his famous one bite pizza review to Lucatelli's in Doylestown last Friday.

Portnoy's pizza reviews have garnered a cult following. He'll visit a pizzeria or restaurant - sometimes unannounced - try a plain pie and score it on a 0-10 scale. His video reviews receive hundreds of thousands of views, and the highest-rated pizzerias often get swarmed by fellow pizza lovers in the days after a review is posted to social media.

Standing outside Lucatelli’s in the Mercer Square Shopping Center, the nationally-known pizza critic waited a few minutes to let the piping hot pie cool down before taking a bite.

“Good under carriage right there,” said El Presidente as he picked up a slice. “It does look really good. It has a light feel to it which I generally like. It’s a good, traditional high end football pizza. It’s almost like a more New York vibe to me than a Philly vibe if that makes sense. I give it a 7.8.”

Portnoy’s reviews, which are sent out to 2.9 million Twitter followers and another four million on Instagram, have been know to make or break local pizzerias.

Lucatelli's owner Dave Schiano, who had hoped that one day Portnoy would stop by, said when Portnoy walked through the door just before noon on Friday he thought he was seeing things.

"I haven't been that nervous in years, not since I was a little kid and my father was standing over me while I was making pizza," he said. "He's a really nice guy. He was nice to all the customers. And it's been amazing ever since."

Lucatelli's is known locally for having some of the best pizza and hot sandwiches around. Schiano, who has been making pizza since he was 11, uses family recipes from Italy to bring fresh and delicious pizza, stromboli, hot sandwiches and more to Doylestown.

"It's just amazing. It's great," said Schiano of Portnoy's rating, which he noted is among the highest in the Philadelphia area. "We always wanted him to come here and that day came."

Since Portnoy's visit, lines have been out of the door every day, said Schiano, and that's just from the local buzz. Portnoy has not yet posted the video of his Doylestown visit.

"It's been nuts. We've been running out of food. Yesterday I ran out of rolls and dough," he said.

While at the Doylestown pizzeria, Schiano persuaded Portnoy to also rate their cheesesteak.

The cheesesteak rating scale isn't as refined as his pizza scale, but the sandwich scored an impressive 8.3.

Schiano began making pizza when he was 11 at his dad's Maple Glen Pizza restaurant in Ambler. That's where he learned the pizza trade.

He opened his first pizza place, also named Lucatelli's, in Philadelphia. That dream ended abruptly when he was put out of business by COVID-19.

But he said that dashed dream ended up being a blessing, leading him to Doylestown and to open up a new Lucatelli's at the former Il Melograno Ristorante in the Mercer Square Shopping Center.

"I am so grateful for Doylestown. I love this area. I love my customers," said Schiano. "Honestly, I've had the best staff I've ever had from the back kitchen to the front counter. My help has been a big part of this growth. My customers have been a big part of this growth. It's everyone playing a part in the story of Lucatelli's."