Barstool Sports Founder Reviews Cheshire’s Fuoco Apizza

CHESHIRE, CT — Barstool Sports founder, and noted pizza aficionado, Dave Portnoy had high praise for Cheshire’s Fuoco Apizza during his recent stop at several pizzerias in Connecticut as part of his New York to Boston I-95 “Pizza Tour” last month.

Portnoy visited Fuoco Apizza at 461 West Main Street in Cheshire on May 13, but just posted the eagerly anticipated review this week.

Portnoy's popular “One Bite” pizza reviews have garnered a cult following. He'll visit a pizzeria or restaurant, sometimes unannounced, try a cheese pizza 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.

“This looks great,” Portnoy said at first glance of his large Fuoco cheese pizza after wind flipped the top of the box open. “That took my breath away when it opened like that.”

In the video, Portnoy said Fuoco Apizza owner George Constanti was nervous inside the restaurant because he had been waiting for him to come and was looking forward to a big review. Portnoy noted that he had done around nine to 10 pizza reviews in the New Haven area, and said “this is the prettiest looking pie we’ve seen yet. This is the best-looking pie.”

Portnoy took the first of his several “one bites” and noted the pizza had a good undercarriage, coal fired, and good sauce.

“This is very good,” he said. “George in there, is going to be happy.”

Portnoy then gave Fuoco Apizza a score of 8.5.

“This is my favorite pizza of the whole trip,” he said. “Basically, spectacular pizza. I loved it.”

Portnoy previously declared New Haven the “Pizza Capital of the World” and said Sally’s was the best he’s ever had.

Portnoy gave Sally’s a 9.2, Modern Apizza on State Street an 8.8, Pepe’s an 8.5 and Bar on Crown Street a 7.4. He said Modern and Pepe’s were very close in quality and noted that Bar was more of a nightlife pizza, but was still good.

After Portnoy gave the review, Constanti told him that the restaurant had burned down in a fire in 2021 – which was the same year that his father passed away. Constanti gave Portnoy a tour of the brick oven, and showed him photos from the fire and the rebuild.

Watch the full review here. (Note: there are some expletives in the review).

For more information about Fuoco Apizza, visit its website here and on Facebook here.