Somerville Pizza Shop's Business Booming After Viral Confrontation

SOMERVILLE, MA — Business is booming at one local pizza shop after the owner's argument with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy went viral last week.

But that doesn't mean life has been easy for Charlie Redd, owner of Dragon Pizza, located at 233 Elm St. in Davis Square, or the restaurant's other employees. Redd has admitted in interviews that he's received personal threats and threats to the shop and a number of fake orders from supporters of Portnoy, the brash Massachusetts native who started the digital media company Barstool, sold it, and recently reacquired the company.

The controversy began last week when Portnoy was filming a review of Dragon's pizza for his "One Bite Pizza Review" online series, and he was confronted by Redd outside the shop. Among other criticisms, Redd said he didn't like how Portnoy was judging restaurants and their food based on "one bite."

Heated words were exchanged and the video has received over 1 million views on YouTube. A few days later, Portnoy talked about the confrontation on Tucker Carlson's show.

The controversy appears to be good for Dragon's business. According to NBC 10 Boston, the restaurant sold out of pizza on Saturday and Monday. On Facebook, Dragon Pizza said it had to close Tuesday in order to prepare for the days ahead.

"We are completely sold out and need a day to prepare for the rest of the week. Thank you to our amazing staff and supporters. Couldn’t do it without y'all," the restaurant wrote.

But in an interview in Bon Appétit, Redd explained that the last few days have had their challenges.

"What happened on Instagram was a blip. What happened (on Tucker Carlson's show) is the meat on the bone," Redd said. "Am I scared? Of course. I have everything in my life invested in this shop. (This business supports) five adults, their spouses and partners, and 12 children. And all of a sudden I'm caught in a media typhoon.

"That is not my comfort zone. I can't even pick up my phone because of the Portnoy and Carlson supporters who are motivated to try to shut down my shop. We're getting fake orders for massive amounts of pizza every hour. Everything has to be prepaid now, whereas before, we had a good honest business where you called, you gave me your name, and I made your pizza."

Redd continued: "Now we're having to take security measures that we've never taken before. I'm getting threats to my shop. I've got somebody calling me on my personal cell phone. I'm worried about my children.

"I run a pizza shop, and I've got a bunch of people that are trying to put my pizza shop out of business. And then there are people trying to carry my pizza shop through this with their support, their kind words, and love."

Portnoy addressed the controversy on The Kirk Minihane Show posted on YouTube on Thursday.

"There's been 10 articles in major publications, and none of them have come close to even telling the truth of what actually happened (in the confrontation)," Portnoy said. "(Redd is) making no sense. He doesn't want to talk about it, (but) he's talking to everybody. He doesn't like the way I review pizza, like I only have one bite, I always have bites. Like pizza places hate me — they all love me."

Portnoy added: "You (Redd) inserted yourself into this pizza review that was not a hostile review. I hated the pizza ... I genuinely didn't like the pizza, but I was going to talk my way around it to make it a good review.

"Everything he says is a lie. He's made no sense on any level, but hey, it went crazy viral, so I was happy."